Bill CunninghamBarack Hussein Obama, Jr.: that is the full name of the junior Senator from Illinois - neither a contrivance nor, at face value, a slur. But John McCain couldn't apologize quickly enough after Bill Cunningham, a conservative talk radio host, warmed up a Cincinnati rally with a few loaded references to "Barack Hussein Obama." Asked afterwards if it was appropriate to use the Senator's middle name, McCain said, "No, it is not. Any comment that is disparaging of either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama is totally inappropriate."
The pundits were quick to applaud McCain's fatwa against the use of Hussein, and broadcasters began trying to report on the controversy without actually saying the name too much, dancing around the offending word as if they were doing a segment on The Vagina Monologues. In both cases, the word comes off as not quite illicit, but certainly a little taboo.
So who gets to say Hussein? At the Oscars, host Jon Stewart took innuendo about as far as it can go, saying that Barack Hussein Obama running today is like a 1940's candidate named Gaydolph Titler. But that reference, served up to a crowd that presumably swoons for Obama, got laughs. So maybe the H-word is more like the N-word: you can say it, but only if you are an initiate. Blacks can use the N-word; Obama supporters can use the H-word.
Obama's campaign thanked McCain's for his apology, claiming a victory for the high road. Fine. But McCain might also know that if middle names become fair game, John Sidney McCain III has his own liabilities. Recently, it has been the unmanly middle names that have caused their owners the most political trouble. In 2006, Jim Henry Webb hammered home the fact that his Virginia Senate opponent was actually George Felix Allen - a middle name that conjured up images of Felix Unger, or perhaps the real life Prince Felix of Luxemburg, either one a far cry from the tobacco-chewing good ole boy Allen styled himself as. In the last presidential election, both Bush and Kerry had middle names inherited from elite East Coast families. But Bush's middle name had much more swagger; you'll never see a TV show called Forbes, Texas Ranger.
Online, the onomastics are already in high gear. Lefty bloggers, in full Obama rapture, point out that Hussein means "beautiful". One conservative observer insinuated that Obama, as a Christian with a Muslim name, might be marked for death by even our allies in the Islamic world, if they think he converted from Islam (for the record, he was never Muslim). By that ornately twisted logic, though, one might add that it was the martyrdom of Hussein in the year 680, beheaded at Karbala in a clash with the caliphate, that gave rise to 1400 years or so of Sunni/Shi'a violence. So how on earth could Obama be a fair broker in Iraq?
The real problem is that if the right wants to start a whispering campaign about the name Hussein, Obama is only helping them. By cutting short the discussion, Obama is banishing his name to the voters' subconscious, where the dark opposites of hope - bigotry and fear - can turn the word over and over again in their minds until November.
The same day that Cunningham was dropping H-bombs on Cincinnati, Obama was at the Democratic debate in Cleveland, hastily accepting Hillary Clinton's assertion that she didn't order the leak of a picture of Obama wearing a turban in Kenya. "I think that's something we can set aside," he said.
It was a missed opportunity. He could have explained that he has nothing to hide. Explained why there's nothing wrong with him dressing in ceremonial clothes on official visits - like batik Bill in Indonesia in 1994 or headscarf Hillary in Eritrea in 1997. Maybe even explained why his middle name is Hussein - what his heritage means, and what it doesn't mean. In short, to reintroduce himself to those general election voters who are just starting to pay closer attention.
No matter what his advisers say, Obama wins nothing by shying away from his differences. After all, Obama is the candidate of change. He should take a cue from McCain's courage on Iraq. Say what you will about McCain, but he knows he's the war candidate. And though may have regretted saying it out loud, McCain clearly accepts that if voters don't buy his vision for the war, he'll lose. It's not too much risk for Obama to stake his campaign on voters' ability to rationally understand the difference between a Hawaii-born Christian and Saddam Hussein, the butcher of Baghdad. View this article on Time.com
Friday, February 29, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Nader For President ???
Ralph Nader's announcement that he is running for president again in 2008 has provided us with perhaps the least surprising surprise of the campaign so far.
Mr Nader has played some sort of role in every race for the White House since 1992 although his record in public life stretches back further still.
As a writer and political activist, Mr Nader has been an influential figure in American public life for 40 years - the scourge of corporate greed and wasteful defence spending and champion of consumer rights and the need to protect the environment.
His public life as measured through the ballot box is not perhaps very successful - he achieved 2.74% of the popular vote in 2000 for example - but his supporters argue that he is a kind of grassroots visionary whose ideas start life on the fringes of political debate then move to the centre.
Consider how all serious politicians are now expected to talk about the environment, they say.
Mr Nader will be best-remembered for the central role he played in the dramas of the 2000 contest between George W Bush and Al Gore which still rankles with many Democrats to this day.
That contest hinged on a virtual dead-heat between the two main candidates in the state of Florida - which after a series of battles in the courts, eventually went the way of Mr Bush.
Democrats point out though that where only a few hundred votes separated Mr Bush from Al Gore, nearly 100,000 people voted for Mr Nader.
Those voters, say Democrats, would clearly have been likely to vote for Mr Gore had Mr Nader not been on the ballot - and so they blame Mr Nader for handing the presidency to George W Bush.
Third-party impact
Mr Nader and his supporters do not buy that argument - and of course America is a democracy where the voters are entitled to vote for the candidate of their choice - but there is no doubt that his candidacy in 2008 will once again raise the whole issue of how tight presidential races between Democrats and Republicans can be affected by third party candidates.
Now very few races will ever be as tight as Florida in 2000, but there is no doubt that a third candidacy can help to determine who wins the White House.
Would Bill Clinton ever have become president in 1992 for example if Ross Perot had not run and taken around 19% of the popular vote?
It is reasonable to assume that at least some of those voters would have plumped for the Republican candidate George Bush senior if Mr Perot had not been around.
There are two ways in which third-party candidates can have a real impact.
First, like Mr Perot they can simply attract a huge number of votes.
Second, like Mr Nader in Florida in 2000, they can attract votes in a finely balanced race and thus effectively hold a kind of balance of power.
It seems reasonable to assume - on the basis of his track record - that Mr Nader is not going to get anywhere near the 19% of the vote that Mr Perot once achieved, so any influence he may have in 2008 will depend on the race being a desperately tight one again.
If it is, then Mr Nader's presence on the ballot may once again be highly significant.
It is reasonable to assume that at least some of those voters would have plumped for the Republican candidate George Bush senior if Mr Perot had not been around.
There are two ways in which third-party candidates can have a real impact.
First, like Mr Perot they can simply attract a huge number of votes.
Second, like Mr Nader in Florida in 2000, they can attract votes in a finely balanced race and thus effectively hold a kind of balance of power.
It seems reasonable to assume - on the basis of his track record - that Mr Nader is not going to get anywhere near the 19% of the vote that Mr Perot once achieved, so any influence he may have in 2008 will depend on the race being a desperately tight one again.
If it is, then Mr Nader's presence on the ballot may once again be highly significant.
The first candidate to discuss the Nader candidacy, Barack Obama, did not appear troubled by the prospect, though, merely noting that it was the job of a Democratic contender to be so compelling that the prospect of a few per cent of the vote being diverted to another candidate would make no difference to the outcome.
But we should beware of treating the contest for the White House simply as a horse race - rather than as a battle for ideas.
Ralph Nader once characterised the Democrat and Republican contenders for the presidency as "Tweedledum and Tweedledee" - implying that there was very little to choose between them.
Mr Nader's consumer-focused, environment-driven brand of radicalism ensures that a whole other set of ideas will once again get an airing this time around.
But we should beware of treating the contest for the White House simply as a horse race - rather than as a battle for ideas.
Ralph Nader once characterised the Democrat and Republican contenders for the presidency as "Tweedledum and Tweedledee" - implying that there was very little to choose between them.
Mr Nader's consumer-focused, environment-driven brand of radicalism ensures that a whole other set of ideas will once again get an airing this time around.
Even if he does not affect the outcome, the candidate who now replaces John McCain as the oldest man in the race will at least make it more politically interesting.
Clinton Knocks Obama tactics
US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has made her fiercest denunciation so far of Barack Obama, her rival for the Democratic Party nomination.
Mrs Clinton accused the Illinois senator of producing a misleading leaflet on her health care policy.
"Shame on you, Barack Obama!" the New York senator said at a rally in Ohio, which holds its primary in 10 days.
But Mr Obama said he stood by the leaflet, saying he was puzzled by what he called his rival's change in tone.
"Enough with the speeches and the big rallies and then using tactics that are right out of Karl Rove's playbook," said the former first lady ahead of Ohio's crucial primary early next month.
Both the Ohio and the Texas primaries, both being held on 4 March, are being seen as must-wins for Mrs Clinton.
'Sharper elbows'
Mr Obama, who has won 11 consecutive primaries and caucuses in recent weeks, is now seen as the Democratic front-runner.
But Mrs Clinton's campaign has struggled to find an effective way to cope with her rival's extraordinary momentum and has decided to "go negative", says the BBC's Kevin Connolly in Washington.
She and her advisers have clearly calculated that the state of the race now calls for sharper elbows and a sharper tone, our correspondent adds.
Mr Obama now has at least 1,353 of the 2,025 delegates he needs to secure the Democratic nomination at the party's convention in August, according to an Associated Press projection.
Mrs Clinton has 1,264 delegates. Texas and Ohio have a combined total of 334 delegates up for grabs.
Correspondents say the blue-collar vote will be crucial in both contests, and the Clinton campaign has already begun targeting lower-income workers in its ads.
But in his drive to become the first black US president, Mr Obama has recently gained support from some powerful unions, including the Teamsters and the Service Employees International Union.
Pacific delegates
Meanwhile, John McCain was given a further boost by the Pacific islands of Northern Marianas which chose its nine Republican delegates on Saturday.
The islands are among three US Pacific territories each sending nine delegates to the Republican convention in Minnesota this September, and delegates have praised the former Vietnam prisoner for his knowledge of their islands.
Republicans in American Samoa also announced that all nine of their delegates would support Mr McCain.
Guam Republicans take their decision on 8 March.
The latest results give the Arizona senator a total of 976 delegates, according to the Associated Press, and he needs 1,191 delegates to secure the Republican nomination.
His rival, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, trails far behind with 254 delegates.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
US missile hits 'toxic satellite'
The US has successfully struck a disabled spy satellite with a missile fired from a warship in waters west of Hawaii, military officials say.
Operatives had only a 10-second window to hit the satellite - USA 193 - which went out of control shortly after it was launched in December 2006.
Officials were worried its hydrazine fuel could do harm, but it is not yet known if the fuel tank was destroyed.
The controversial operation has been criticised by China and Russia.
On Thursday, China called on the US to provide more information about the mission.
Russia suspects the operation was a cover to test anti-satellite technology under the US missile defence programme.
The US denies the operation was a response to an anti-satellite test carried out by China last year, which prompted fears of a space arms race.
Precision needed
The BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says this operation was hugely ambitious.
The operation went ahead hours after the space shuttle Atlantis landed, removing it as a safety issue for the military.
The satellite - believed by some commentators to be a radar imaging reconnaissance satellite - was passing about 130 miles (210km) over the Pacific.
Earlier the military said it would use an SM-3 missile fired from the cruiser USS Lake Erie, which is posted on the western side of Hawaii along with the destroyers USS Decatur and USS Russell.
But it is not yet known how successful the operation was - the missile needed to pierce the bus-sized satellite's fuel tank, containing more than 450kg (1,000lbs) of toxic hydrazine, which would otherwise be expected to survive re-entry.
The Pentagon said confirmation that the fuel tank has been hit should be available within 24 hours.
US officials said without an attempt to destroy the fuel tank, and with the satellite's thermal control system gone, the fuel would now be frozen solid, allowing the tank to resist the heat of re-entry.
If the tank were to land intact, it could leak toxic gas over a wide area - harming or kill humans if inhaled, officials had warned.
Debris
Officials expect that over 50% of the debris will fall to Earth within the first 15 hours after the strike - or within its first two revolutions of Earth.
Left to its own devices, about half of the spacecraft would have been expected to survive the blazing descent through the atmosphere, scattering debris in a defined "corridor" which runs across the Earth's surface.
Professor Richard Crowther, a space debris expert with the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), said that if struck with the missile, about 25% of USA 193 is likely to survive the fall to Earth.
"The smaller the debris is the more likely you are to get burn-through. So if you fragment something before re-entry, less mass will survive to hit the Earth," he told BBC News.
Russian suspicion
But Russia's defence ministry has effectively branded the US operation a cover for testing an anti-satellite weapon.
The Russian defence ministry argued that various countries' spacecraft had crashed to Earth in the past, with many using toxic fuel on board, but that this had never before merited "extraordinary measures".
Last year, China carried out a test using a ground-based ballistic missile to destroy a satellite in space, prompting international alarm and fears of a space arms race.
On Tuesday, a US State Department spokesman stressed that the action was meant to protect people from the hazardous fuel and was not a weapons test.
The US government has also denied claims that the main aim of the operation was to destroy secret components on USA 193.
Officials say classified parts would be burned up in the atmosphere and, in any case, that would not be a reason for shooting down the satellite.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Dems battle for Wisconsin, Hawaii; McCain wants knockout
Wisconsin and Hawaii become the latest battlegrounds in the struggle for the Democratic presidential nominee Tuesday, while Republican Sen. John McCain is looking for victories to finally knock his last remaining major rival out of the race.
Obama was able to stake a claim on the front-runner position after winning eight contests in a row, including the Potomac primaries in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia last week.
Obama leads Clinton, a senator from New York, in the overall delegate count -- 1,262 to 1,213, according to CNN estimates. The estimate includes the support of superdelegates, the party officials and elected officials who are free to vote for any candidate at the party's national convention.
Both candidates are short of the 2,025 delegates needed to win the nomination, and it is very likely the roughly 800 superdelegates will ultimately decide who will be crowned the Democrat's presidential nominee.
Recent polls show Clinton has a chance in Wisconsin at ending Obama's winning streak. According to an American Research Group poll conducted February 15 and 16, the two candidates are in a statistical tie, with Clinton at 49 percent and Obama at 43 percent. The poll's margin of error is plus-or-minus 4 percentage points.
In Wisconsin, Clinton is expected to do well in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and the the industrialized Fox River valley, which includes Appleton and Green Bay, in the northeastern portion of the state. Both areas have a high percentage of blue collar voters, a group Clinton has done well with in previous primaries.
In a campaign stop in the Green Bay-area town of De Pere, Wisconsin, Clinton continued to hit on economic issues.
Obama is expected to do well in the state's capital, Madison, which is known for its progressive politics. Obama, who has outperformed Clinton among younger voters, should also do well in the Madison area because of the large student body at the University of Wisconsin.
While on the campaign trail last week, Clinton questioned whether Obama could deliver on his rhetoric, saying "I am in the solutions business. My opponent is in the promises business."
While campaigning in Youngstown, Ohio, Monday, Obama responded to Clinton's criticism.
No polling is available for the Hawaii Democratic caucus. The Clinton campaign dispatched Chelsea Clinton, the candidate's daughter, to rally support. Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, has stumped for her brother.
McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, is looking for big wins in the Wisconsin and Washington state primaries to demonstrate he is starting to unify the Republican party behind his nomination, including conservatives upset by his positions on immigration, campaign finance and other issues.
In a further sign the GOP establishment was starting to rally around him, former President Bush endorsed McCain Monday during an event in Houston, Texas.
McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, is looking for big wins in the Wisconsin and Washington state primaries to demonstrate he is starting to unify the Republican party behind his nomination, including conservatives upset by his positions on immigration, campaign finance and other issues.
In a further sign the GOP establishment was starting to rally around him, former President Bush endorsed McCain Monday during an event in Houston, Texas.
Recent polls suggest the Republican race in Wisconsin is closer than McCain would like. The American Research Group poll conducted February 15-16 has McCain and Huckabee in a statistical tie, with McCain with 46 percent and Huckabee at 42 percent. The poll's margin of error was plus-or-minus 4 percentage points.
The WISC poll conducted February 13-14, however, gave McCain a clear lead over Huckabee, 48 percent to 32 percent. The poll's margin of error was plus-or-minus 5 percentage points.
No recent poling is available for the Washington Republican primary, which the state party uses to allocate nearly half of the state's delegates. The other half of the state's delegates were allocated according to the results of caucuses held February 9.
McCain won a plurality of the caucus vote with 26 percent. Huckabee came in second with 24 percent and Texas Rep. Ron Paul came in third with 22 percent.
In the Democratic presidential race, Sen. Barack Obama is looking to increase his lead over Sen. Hillary Clinton in the race for delegates with wins in the Wisconsin primary, one of the nation's oldest, and the Hawaii Democratic caucuses, the state were the Illinois senator was born and where he still has family.
Obama was able to stake a claim on the front-runner position after winning eight contests in a row, including the Potomac primaries in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia last week.
Obama leads Clinton, a senator from New York, in the overall delegate count -- 1,262 to 1,213, according to CNN estimates. The estimate includes the support of superdelegates, the party officials and elected officials who are free to vote for any candidate at the party's national convention.
Both candidates are short of the 2,025 delegates needed to win the nomination, and it is very likely the roughly 800 superdelegates will ultimately decide who will be crowned the Democrat's presidential nominee.
Recent polls show Clinton has a chance in Wisconsin at ending Obama's winning streak. According to an American Research Group poll conducted February 15 and 16, the two candidates are in a statistical tie, with Clinton at 49 percent and Obama at 43 percent. The poll's margin of error is plus-or-minus 4 percentage points.
Another poll of Wisconsin Democratic primary voters conducted by Research 2000 for Madison television station WISC also indicates the race is too close to call. The WISC poll had Obama at 47 percent and Clinton at 42 percent. The poll's margin of error is plus-or-minus 5 percentage points.
In Wisconsin, Clinton is expected to do well in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and the the industrialized Fox River valley, which includes Appleton and Green Bay, in the northeastern portion of the state. Both areas have a high percentage of blue collar voters, a group Clinton has done well with in previous primaries.
In a campaign stop in the Green Bay-area town of De Pere, Wisconsin, Clinton continued to hit on economic issues.
"The economy is not working, " she said. "What we really need in America is an economy that's producing good jobs with rising wages for everybody willing to work hard. I've been focused on the economy throughout the campaign."
Obama is expected to do well in the state's capital, Madison, which is known for its progressive politics. Obama, who has outperformed Clinton among younger voters, should also do well in the Madison area because of the large student body at the University of Wisconsin.
In the week leading up to Tuesday's primaries, Obama spent much of his time campaigning in Wisconsin, while Clinton split her time between Wisconsin, Texas and Ohio. Texas and Ohio hold primaries March 4, and even Clinton's own supporters suggest she must do well in those two delegate-rich states to keep Obama from winning the nomination.
While on the campaign trail last week, Clinton questioned whether Obama could deliver on his rhetoric, saying "I am in the solutions business. My opponent is in the promises business."
While campaigning in Youngstown, Ohio, Monday, Obama responded to Clinton's criticism.
"Speeches don't put food on the table, but the only way that we're going to bring about change is if all of you get excited about change, because that's the only way that we're going to take on the special interests," he said.
No polling is available for the Hawaii Democratic caucus. The Clinton campaign dispatched Chelsea Clinton, the candidate's daughter, to rally support. Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, has stumped for her brother.
Washington State Democrats are also heading to the polls Tuesday to vote in that state's primary, but the results will have no impact on how the Washington state delegates will be distributed. The delegate allocation was determined February 9 when Washington state Democrats held caucuses. Obama won those handily over Clinton, 68 percent to 31 percent.
McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, is looking for big wins in the Wisconsin and Washington state primaries to demonstrate he is starting to unify the Republican party behind his nomination, including conservatives upset by his positions on immigration, campaign finance and other issues.
In a further sign the GOP establishment was starting to rally around him, former President Bush endorsed McCain Monday during an event in Houston, Texas.
Washington State Democrats are also heading to the polls Tuesday to vote in that state's primary, but the results will have no impact on how the Washington state delegates will be distributed. The delegate allocation was determined February 9 when Washington state Democrats held caucuses. Obama won those handily over Clinton, 68 percent to 31 percent.
McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, is looking for big wins in the Wisconsin and Washington state primaries to demonstrate he is starting to unify the Republican party behind his nomination, including conservatives upset by his positions on immigration, campaign finance and other issues.
In a further sign the GOP establishment was starting to rally around him, former President Bush endorsed McCain Monday during an event in Houston, Texas.
"I'd like to think we've got enough support in Wisconsin, that we can actually win here, and it would be a very big thing for us," Huckabee said during a campaign stop in Hudson, Wisconsin, Monday. "But it would also be a good thing for Wisconsin for me to win, because it would show that the party was wrong to say this is over, and it would also be wrong to end the game before people in places like Wisconsin had a chance to vote."
Recent polls suggest the Republican race in Wisconsin is closer than McCain would like. The American Research Group poll conducted February 15-16 has McCain and Huckabee in a statistical tie, with McCain with 46 percent and Huckabee at 42 percent. The poll's margin of error was plus-or-minus 4 percentage points.
The WISC poll conducted February 13-14, however, gave McCain a clear lead over Huckabee, 48 percent to 32 percent. The poll's margin of error was plus-or-minus 5 percentage points.
No recent poling is available for the Washington Republican primary, which the state party uses to allocate nearly half of the state's delegates. The other half of the state's delegates were allocated according to the results of caucuses held February 9.
McCain won a plurality of the caucus vote with 26 percent. Huckabee came in second with 24 percent and Texas Rep. Ron Paul came in third with 22 percent.
Monday, February 18, 2008
US Orders Massive Recall Of Beef
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has ordered the recall of 143m lb (64.9m kg) of beef - the largest meat recall in the country's history.
The recalled products come from a California meat plant, which officials say broke rules on cattle inspections.
However, the department says the health hazard is minimal. Much of the meat was purchased for school lunch and other federal nutrition programmes.
The plant is also being investigated over alleged animal cruelty.
Caution
The USDA recalled frozen beef products from the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co, dating back to 1 February 2006.
The move surpasses a 1999 recall of 35m lbs of ready-to-eat meats, officials said.
Some of the beef was destined for federal welfare assistance programmes, as well as some major fast-food chains.
But officials said most of the recalled meat has probably already been eaten.
The USDA described the recall as Class 2 - meaning there is a remote probability that the product could harm health if consumed.
"We don't know how much product is out there right now. We don't think there is a health hazard, but we do have to take this action," Dick Raymond, USDA undersecretary for food safety, told AP news agency.
Downer
The recall was ordered after department officials said the plant did not consistently order inspections of cattle which lost the ability to walk prior to slaughter.
Such "downer" cattle are at greater risk of contamination by E. coli, salmonella or contracting mad cow disease, as they have weaker immune systems and greater contact with faeces than walking cattle.
They should either be removed from the food supply, or receive a more thorough inspection following slaughter, officials say.
Operations at the plant had already been suspended after an undercover video shot by the Humane Society of America came to light.
The video appeared to show crippled and ill animals being prodded with the blades of a forklift truck, kicked, given electric shocks and sprayed with high-pressure water hoses by staff.
Two former employees were charged with animal cruelty on Friday, and the investigation continues.
The company says it has now taken action to ensure all employees handle animals humanely.
The recalled products come from a California meat plant, which officials say broke rules on cattle inspections.
However, the department says the health hazard is minimal. Much of the meat was purchased for school lunch and other federal nutrition programmes.
The plant is also being investigated over alleged animal cruelty.
Caution
The USDA recalled frozen beef products from the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co, dating back to 1 February 2006.
The move surpasses a 1999 recall of 35m lbs of ready-to-eat meats, officials said.
Some of the beef was destined for federal welfare assistance programmes, as well as some major fast-food chains.
But officials said most of the recalled meat has probably already been eaten.
The USDA described the recall as Class 2 - meaning there is a remote probability that the product could harm health if consumed.
"We don't know how much product is out there right now. We don't think there is a health hazard, but we do have to take this action," Dick Raymond, USDA undersecretary for food safety, told AP news agency.
Downer
The recall was ordered after department officials said the plant did not consistently order inspections of cattle which lost the ability to walk prior to slaughter.
Such "downer" cattle are at greater risk of contamination by E. coli, salmonella or contracting mad cow disease, as they have weaker immune systems and greater contact with faeces than walking cattle.
They should either be removed from the food supply, or receive a more thorough inspection following slaughter, officials say.
Operations at the plant had already been suspended after an undercover video shot by the Humane Society of America came to light.
The video appeared to show crippled and ill animals being prodded with the blades of a forklift truck, kicked, given electric shocks and sprayed with high-pressure water hoses by staff.
Two former employees were charged with animal cruelty on Friday, and the investigation continues.
The company says it has now taken action to ensure all employees handle animals humanely.
Fight For Superdelegates Heats Up
With the Democratic presidential race tied to a complex delegate system, the Clinton and Obama camps went after each other Sunday over "superdelegates."
Superdelegates -- delegates to the National Democratic Convention --are not selected based on the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state, but rather based solely on their status as current or former elected officeholders and party officials. They are free to choose the candidate they like.
"'Superdelegates' doesn't mean that they should leap over the will of the people in a single bound," joked Sen. Barack Obama's chief political strategist David Axelrod on CBS' "Face the Nation."
But Sen. Hillary Clinton's communications director Howard Wolfson told CBS that those approximately 800 delegates "are supposed to vote their conscience."
And Lanny Davis, a former White House special counsel supporting Clinton, told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" that Obama "very ironically wants to change the rules of the game in the middle of the game."
Obama leads in the overall delegate count and among pledged delegates, who are assigned based on primaries and caucuses. Clinton has more superdelegates supporting her, and the overall count is close. Neither is expected to have enough pledged delegates to win the nomination before the party's convention in August.
Making things even more complicated, the pledged delegate count does not directly reflect the popular vote. For example, in the Nevada caucuses, Clinton won by six points, but Obama ended up with one more delegate because of the way that state awards its delegates.
Upcoming contests this week in Wisconsin, Washington state and Hawaii are expected to favor Obama, but the campaigns are looking to March 4, when delegate-rich Texas and Ohio hold their contests.
Clinton is aiming for those critical victories that could help her recover in both the delegate count and the fight for political momentum.
Clinton is also hoping for a win in Pennsylvania in April.
The Clinton camp is also working to shore up its support among superdelegates. News reports in recent days have indicated that some African-American superdelegates are rethinking their support for her, given the strong support for Obama among their constituents.
But Wolfson wrote off those concerns Sunday, telling reporters, "I think that all Democrats have a difficult choice in this election. We have two strong candidates with broad appeal. We feel very good about our support in the African-American community and we are quite confident that our superdelegate support is holding firm."
While divided over which candidate to support, Democrats are largely agreed that the battle over delegates needs to be resolved without a sense that superdelegates -- which include Democratic lawmakers, governors, and other VIPs -- are making a decision that opposes what voters want.
"There has to be some agreement between the Clinton and Obama campaigns as to how to handle it," New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, a prominent supporter of her campaign, said Sunday. "We need to win in November and if one side tries to shove down the throats of the other side any rule, so that that camp today or all of her or his supporters walk away upset, we will lose."
And that's not the only potential looming battle. There's also the matter of seating delegates from Michigan and Florida. The Democratic Party penalized those two states for moving their primaries early, and determined their delegates would not be seated at the convention, where the nominee is decided.
Both states voted overwhelmingly for Clinton -- though in Michigan, her name was the only one on the ballot. In Florida, voters turned out in record numbers despite the party's decision.
If the party sticks to its plan, Democratic voters in those two key swing states may be turned off and be less likely to turn out in November.
Superdelegates -- delegates to the National Democratic Convention --are not selected based on the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state, but rather based solely on their status as current or former elected officeholders and party officials. They are free to choose the candidate they like.
"'Superdelegates' doesn't mean that they should leap over the will of the people in a single bound," joked Sen. Barack Obama's chief political strategist David Axelrod on CBS' "Face the Nation."
But Sen. Hillary Clinton's communications director Howard Wolfson told CBS that those approximately 800 delegates "are supposed to vote their conscience."
And Lanny Davis, a former White House special counsel supporting Clinton, told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" that Obama "very ironically wants to change the rules of the game in the middle of the game."
Obama leads in the overall delegate count and among pledged delegates, who are assigned based on primaries and caucuses. Clinton has more superdelegates supporting her, and the overall count is close. Neither is expected to have enough pledged delegates to win the nomination before the party's convention in August.
Making things even more complicated, the pledged delegate count does not directly reflect the popular vote. For example, in the Nevada caucuses, Clinton won by six points, but Obama ended up with one more delegate because of the way that state awards its delegates.
Upcoming contests this week in Wisconsin, Washington state and Hawaii are expected to favor Obama, but the campaigns are looking to March 4, when delegate-rich Texas and Ohio hold their contests.
Clinton is aiming for those critical victories that could help her recover in both the delegate count and the fight for political momentum.
Clinton is also hoping for a win in Pennsylvania in April.
The Clinton camp is also working to shore up its support among superdelegates. News reports in recent days have indicated that some African-American superdelegates are rethinking their support for her, given the strong support for Obama among their constituents.
But Wolfson wrote off those concerns Sunday, telling reporters, "I think that all Democrats have a difficult choice in this election. We have two strong candidates with broad appeal. We feel very good about our support in the African-American community and we are quite confident that our superdelegate support is holding firm."
While divided over which candidate to support, Democrats are largely agreed that the battle over delegates needs to be resolved without a sense that superdelegates -- which include Democratic lawmakers, governors, and other VIPs -- are making a decision that opposes what voters want.
"There has to be some agreement between the Clinton and Obama campaigns as to how to handle it," New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, a prominent supporter of her campaign, said Sunday. "We need to win in November and if one side tries to shove down the throats of the other side any rule, so that that camp today or all of her or his supporters walk away upset, we will lose."
And that's not the only potential looming battle. There's also the matter of seating delegates from Michigan and Florida. The Democratic Party penalized those two states for moving their primaries early, and determined their delegates would not be seated at the convention, where the nominee is decided.
Both states voted overwhelmingly for Clinton -- though in Michigan, her name was the only one on the ballot. In Florida, voters turned out in record numbers despite the party's decision.
If the party sticks to its plan, Democratic voters in those two key swing states may be turned off and be less likely to turn out in November.
Pakistanis Vote In Tense Election
People in Pakistan are voting in a crucial election overshadowed by political violence and fears of fraud.
The parliamentary poll was delayed after the killing of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, and is intended to complete a transition to civilian rule.
The two major opposition parties say President Pervez Musharraf's allies are planning massive fraud. They have vowed to protest if they suspect foul play.
One of the worst acts of violence saw 47 killed at a rally on Saturday.
Voting was slow in major cities on Monday morning.
The BBC's Chris Morris, in Islamabad, says 80 million people are eligible to vote, but many are expected to stay at home, largely because of fears about security.
He adds the slow start may also be due to people taking advantage of the public holiday and enjoying a lie-in.
He says that while voters are mindful of the broader significance of the election, concerns about the price of food and fuel are also affecting their choices.
Polls close at 1700 (1200 GMT).
Another correspondent said apprehensive voters might be waiting in front of their televisions to see if there were any attacks on polling stations. Since there were no reports of major incidents by midday, that might encourage them to get out and vote.
'Nation at stake'
Both Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which is leading in opinion polls, and the party of her former rival Nawaz Sharif reiterated concerns that the vote would be rigged on Sunday.
President Musharraf says the vote will be free and fair
Ms Bhutto's widower and successor as party leader, Asif Ali Zardari, has threatened street protests in the event of vote-rigging.
"I think we have reached the breaking point where if we don't band together, we will lose this great nation which we call Pakistan," he said on Sunday.
There are many local election observers on the ground. But apart from a contingent from the EU, not many international observers are present - some have not been invited, while others have stayed away due to concerns about gaining access to the vote.
Security tight
The authorities have stressed repeatedly that the vote will be free and fair.
However, one polling station in Lahore was shut down on Monday due to suspected irregularities, while an election officer in another constituency was arrested over hundreds of missing ballot papers.
President Musharraf has warned against street protests.
Close to half a million security personnel, including about 80,000 soldiers, have been deployed for the voting.
The BBC's Barbara Plett, outside a polling station in Lahore, described a barrier designed to prevent car bombs and a heavy police presence.
She said men and women were in separate queues for voting.
There were reports that some people had struggled to find their names on the register and were going away angry, suspecting rigging - though it may just have been poor organisation.
In one tribal area near Peshawar, she said, elders had banned women from voting. The area is a PPP stronghold and the ban may affect the outcome, since the party is well supported by women.
On Sunday, four soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit an explosive device in Balochistan province, police said.
In two separate incidents in Lahore, gunmen opened fire on supporters of Mr Sharif's PML-N party, with at least three people killed, including a candidate in the provincial election.
Two bombs went off in a volatile north-western province, but no injuries were reported.
Prospects
Analysts say polls suggest a fair vote is likely to result in a hung parliament, with none of the three biggest parties winning a majority.
Barbara Plett says that if the PPP then joins forces with pro-Musharraf parties, there may be a backlash within its rank and file, which blames the president for Ms Bhutto's murder.
But, she says, if it forms an alliance with Mr Sharif's party there could be confrontation with the presidency.
Mr Sharif has refused to work with the president unless he reinstates judges sacked when he imposed emergency rule late last year, in what was widely seen as an attempt to head off a challenge to his re-election as president.
It the two opposition parties jointly gain two-thirds of the seats, they may try to impeach President Musharraf.
Mr Musharraf stepped down as army chief late last year. He has ruled the country since seizing power in a coup in 1999.
The nuclear-armed country is a key ally in the so-called US "war on terror", with President Musharraf's government facing a growing pro-Taleban insurgency.
The parliamentary poll was delayed after the killing of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, and is intended to complete a transition to civilian rule.
The two major opposition parties say President Pervez Musharraf's allies are planning massive fraud. They have vowed to protest if they suspect foul play.
One of the worst acts of violence saw 47 killed at a rally on Saturday.
Voting was slow in major cities on Monday morning.
The BBC's Chris Morris, in Islamabad, says 80 million people are eligible to vote, but many are expected to stay at home, largely because of fears about security.
He adds the slow start may also be due to people taking advantage of the public holiday and enjoying a lie-in.
He says that while voters are mindful of the broader significance of the election, concerns about the price of food and fuel are also affecting their choices.
Polls close at 1700 (1200 GMT).
Another correspondent said apprehensive voters might be waiting in front of their televisions to see if there were any attacks on polling stations. Since there were no reports of major incidents by midday, that might encourage them to get out and vote.
'Nation at stake'
Both Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which is leading in opinion polls, and the party of her former rival Nawaz Sharif reiterated concerns that the vote would be rigged on Sunday.
President Musharraf says the vote will be free and fair
Ms Bhutto's widower and successor as party leader, Asif Ali Zardari, has threatened street protests in the event of vote-rigging.
"I think we have reached the breaking point where if we don't band together, we will lose this great nation which we call Pakistan," he said on Sunday.
There are many local election observers on the ground. But apart from a contingent from the EU, not many international observers are present - some have not been invited, while others have stayed away due to concerns about gaining access to the vote.
Security tight
The authorities have stressed repeatedly that the vote will be free and fair.
However, one polling station in Lahore was shut down on Monday due to suspected irregularities, while an election officer in another constituency was arrested over hundreds of missing ballot papers.
President Musharraf has warned against street protests.
Close to half a million security personnel, including about 80,000 soldiers, have been deployed for the voting.
The BBC's Barbara Plett, outside a polling station in Lahore, described a barrier designed to prevent car bombs and a heavy police presence.
She said men and women were in separate queues for voting.
There were reports that some people had struggled to find their names on the register and were going away angry, suspecting rigging - though it may just have been poor organisation.
In one tribal area near Peshawar, she said, elders had banned women from voting. The area is a PPP stronghold and the ban may affect the outcome, since the party is well supported by women.
On Sunday, four soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit an explosive device in Balochistan province, police said.
In two separate incidents in Lahore, gunmen opened fire on supporters of Mr Sharif's PML-N party, with at least three people killed, including a candidate in the provincial election.
Two bombs went off in a volatile north-western province, but no injuries were reported.
Prospects
Analysts say polls suggest a fair vote is likely to result in a hung parliament, with none of the three biggest parties winning a majority.
Barbara Plett says that if the PPP then joins forces with pro-Musharraf parties, there may be a backlash within its rank and file, which blames the president for Ms Bhutto's murder.
But, she says, if it forms an alliance with Mr Sharif's party there could be confrontation with the presidency.
Mr Sharif has refused to work with the president unless he reinstates judges sacked when he imposed emergency rule late last year, in what was widely seen as an attempt to head off a challenge to his re-election as president.
It the two opposition parties jointly gain two-thirds of the seats, they may try to impeach President Musharraf.
Mr Musharraf stepped down as army chief late last year. He has ruled the country since seizing power in a coup in 1999.
The nuclear-armed country is a key ally in the so-called US "war on terror", with President Musharraf's government facing a growing pro-Taleban insurgency.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Kosovo Gains Independence
Kosovo's parliament has unanimously endorsed a declaration of independence from Serbia, in an historic session.
The declaration, read by Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, said Kosovo would be a democratic country that respected the rights of all ethnic communities.
The US and a number of EU countries are expected to recognise Kosovo on Monday.
Serbia's PM denounced the US for helping create a "false state". Serbia's ally, Russia, called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting.
Correspondents say the potential for trouble between Kosovo's Serbs and ethnic Albanians is enormous.
Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica blamed the US which he said was "ready to violate the international order for its own military interests".
"Today, this policy of force thinks that it has triumphed by establishing a false state," Mr Kostunica said.
"Kosovo is Serbia," Mr Kostunica said, repeating a well-known nationalist Serb saying.
Search for equality
The declaration was approved with a show of hands. No-one opposed it.
"We have waited for this day for a very long time," Mr Thaci told parliament before reading the text, paying tribute to those who had died on the road to independence.
"The independence of Kosovo marks the end of the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia," the prime minister said - Kosovo was a unique case that should not set a precedent.
He said it would be built in accordance with the UN plan drawn by former Finnish President, Martti Ahtisaari - at the end of negotiations which did not produce a deal.
The international military and civilian presence - also envisaged by the Ahtisaari plan - was welcome, he added.
There should be no fear of discrimination in new Kosovo, he said, vowing to eradicate any such practices - and conveying a similar message in Serbian. President Fatmir Sejdiu had a similar pledge - also addressed in Serbian.
The declaration was then signed by all the MPs present.
Kosovo's top leaders are due to go to a sports hall later where the Kosovo Philharmonic Orchestra is expected to play Beethoven's Ode to Joy.
They are also due to sign their names on giant iron letters spelling out the word "newborn" which was to be displayed in Pristina.
Fireworks and street celebrations will follow. Thousands of people have poured onto the streets.
Some ethnic Albanians, who make up the majority of Kosovo's population, earlier laid flowers on the graves of family members killed by Serbian security forces during years of conflict and division.
The BBC's Nick Thorpe in the flashpoint town of Mitrovica says local and UN police, as well as the Nato troops, are maintaining a high profile to reassure all the citizens of Kosovo that they have nothing to fear.
Limitations
The declaration approved by Kosovo's parliament contains limitations on Kosovan independence as outlined in Mr Ahtisaari's plan.
Kosovo, or part of it, cannot join any other country. It will be supervised by an international presence. Its armed forces will be limited and it will make strong provisions for Serb minority protection.
Recognition by a number of EU states, including the UK and other major countries, will come on Monday after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, says the BBC's Paul Reynolds.
The US is also expected to announce its recognition on Monday.
Three EU states - Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia - have told other EU governments that they will not recognise Kosovo, says our correspondent.
Russia's foreign ministry has indicated that Western recognition of an independent Kosovo could have implications for the Georgian breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The UN has administered Kosovo since a Nato bombing campaign in 1999 drove out Serb forces.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Obama knocks Clinton
Sen. Barack Obama Friday knocked Sen. Hillary Clinton for taking lobbyists' money and said she was too much a part of "business-as-usual in Washington" to bring about reform.
The Illinois Democrat's comments come after Clinton Thursday questioned his record of standing up to special interests.
"The problem we have is not a lack of good ideas," Obama said in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Friday. "It's that Washington today is a place where good ideas go to die."
"In this campaign, [Clinton has] taken nearly double the amount of money from lobbyists than any Democrat or Republican running for president," he said. "That's not being a part of the solutions business. That's being a part of business-as-usual in Washington."
Clinton has sharpened her attacks on Obama in recent days, possibly in response to the do-or-die situation she is facing over the next couple of weeks.
"I am in the solutions business. My opponent is in the promises business," Clinton has said many times on the campaign trail this week.
Clinton has also questioned her rival's ability to deliver on his rhetoric.
"There's a big difference between us -- speeches versus solutions, talk versus action. ... Speeches don't put food on the table. Speeches don't fill up your tank or fill your prescription or do anything about that stack of bills that keeps you up at night," she said during a campaign stop Thursday in Youngstown, Ohio.
The New York senator Thursday also questioned Obama's willingness to stand up to the nuclear and oil industries. In particular, she pointed to a 2006 bill that originally would have required the nuclear power plants to report any release of radiation into groundwater. Clinton suggested subsequent drafts were watered down after the nuclear industry objected to the new requirements.
On Friday Obama defended the nuclear bill, noting that Clinton supported the bill at the time, and said he could not move a stronger bill because the Republicans controlled the Senate at the time.
"It turns out that Sen. Clinton, who voted for this bill that I introduced and touted it on her Web site, thought it was pretty good then," he said. "Only in Washington can you vote for a bill, take credit for it, and then criticize the sponsor of the bill."
Obama also defended his vote for energy legislation -- a bill that Clinton dubbed "the Dick Cheney energy bill" and said gave "billions of dollars of breaks for the oil industry" -- in 2005, saying, "it was the best that we could do right now, given the makeup of Congress."
On Friday, Clinton didn't make any direct comments about Obama during a campaign stop at a Lockheed Martin plant in Akron, Ohio.
She said she was "deeply saddened" by the shootings at Northern Illinois University Thursday and "we just have to figure out how we're going to get smart about protecting our kids."
"I am bullish on America. I think our best days are ahead. It takes more than hoping for it to get it done," she added.
Obama received significant boost to his campaign Friday when he received the backing of the 1.9 million-member Service Employees International Union.
"We have an enormous amount of respect for Sen. Clinton, but it's now become clear members and leaders want to become part of an effort to elect Barack Obama the next president," union president Andy Stern said during a conference call announcing the union's endorsement.
Three sources told CNN that union leaders had deliberated on the endorsement via a conference call Thursday. Obama was the overwhelming choice of the union's state and national leadership, they said.
Obama also received the endorsement of the 1.3-million member United Food and Commercial Workers Union Thursday afternoon.
A union's endorsement can give a candidate much needed support because union members often act as "ground troops" that can canvas neighborhoods and staff phone banks for a campaign.
The two union endorsements could also help Obama in his increasingly heated struggle with Clinton for blue-collar voters in the delegate-rich states of Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania.
Clinton's own supporters suggest the New York senator must do well in Texas and Ohio primaries on March 4 if she is to stop the momentum Obama has built by winning eight states in a row. The Clinton campaign has also said it is looking for a strong showing in the Pennsylvania primary April 22.
Obama now leads Clinton in the overall delegate count -- 1,253 to 1,211, according to CNN calculations.
News of the union endorsements comes as a superdelegate -- one of the Democratic Party officials or elected officials who could decide the nomination at the party's convention in Denver, Colorado, this summer -- said he would vote for Obama instead of Clinton, as he had previously pledged to do.
Rep. David Scott, an African-American from Georgia, told The Associated Press he would vote for Obama because he did not want to go against the will of the voters. Obama won the Georgia primary on Super Tuesday, February 5, and 80 percent of Scott's district voted for him, the AP reported.
"You've got to represent the wishes of your constituency," Scott told the AP on Wednesday. "My proper position would be to vote the wishes of my constituents."
The New York Times reported Friday that another black lawmaker from Georgia, Rep. John Lewis, was also going to shift his support to Obama from Clinton. Lewis is one of the most senior African-American members of Congress and a respected voice on civil rights.
Lewis' office, however, told CNN that The Times misrepresented his intentions and said Lewis had not decided to switch his support to Obama. But the AP reported many sources close to the Georgia lawmaker said he was torn over his earlier endorsement of
Who was Illinois school shooter?
Northern Illinois University on Friday identified the man who fatally shot five people in a classroom as Steven P. Kazmierczak, whom police described as an award-winning student "revered" by colleagues and faculty.
Kazmierczak, 27, who police said shot 21 people before shooting and killing himself, was an award-winning sociology student and a leader of a campus criminal justice group, according to school Web sites.
Concealing a shotgun in a guitar case, and tucking three other guns under his coat, Kazmierczak walked into a geology class in an NIU lecture hall Thursday afternoon and began firing, police said. The graduate student stopped to reload his shotgun before he took his own life, police said.
Kazmierczak was a student about 175 miles away at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, police said, and there "were no red flags" warning of any violent behavior.
One of Kazmierczak's advisers said that she enjoyed having him as a student and that he was "a nice person; he was a nice kid."
"I found Steven to be a very committed student, extremely respectful of me as an instructor and adviser," said Jan Carter-Black, an assistant professor in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's School of Social Work
Carter-Black was assigned to be Kazmierczak's faculty adviser when he enrolled in the school in the summer of 2007, and he was a student in her human behavior and social environment class last fall, she said
Carter-Black and Chris Larrison -- another School of Social Work associate professor who knew Kazmierczak -- described the gunman as pleasant, considerate and flexible.
"I was so surprised to see this today," Larrison said. Kazmierczak worked on a research project concerning mental health clinics under him, he said.
"It doesn't fit with the Steven" he knew, Larrison said.
The 27-year-old participated fully in the class -- which met for three hours once a week -- until he formally withdrew from it sometime before late September and became a part-time student, Carter-Black said.
He was lightening his course load so he could take on a position in the prison system, she said.
She didn't know if the position was in the federal or state system, but said he had discussed the decision with several faculty members. He later left the position at the prison, she said, but she didn't know under what circumstances.
"He was very committed to pursuing a career with prisoners," Larrison said. He said it was likely that the career interest corresponded with Kazmierczak's concentration in mental health.
Carter-Black and Larrison said Kazmierczak resumed full-time status this semester.
In 2006, Kazmierczak was a student at Northern Illinois, police said, where he worked on a graduate paper that described his interest in "corrections, political violence, and peace and social justice."
The paper said Kazmierczak was "co-authoring a manuscript on the role of religion in the formation of early prisons in the United States."
University police Chief Donald Grady said Kazmierczak "was an awarded student. He was someone that was revered by the faculty and staff and students alike."
Fellow students and faculty described Kazmierczak as "a fairly normal, unstressed person," Grady said.
People close to Kazmierczak said he was taking medication but had recently stopped, "and he had become somewhat erratic in the last couple of weeks," Grady said.
Police have found no notes that would explain the attack, and authorities have no known motive in the case, Grady said.
Kazmierczak's former landlord, Jim Gordon, said Kazmierczak moved out of DeKalb in June 2007 and left a forwarding address in Champaign.
Gordon said he didn't recognize the picture of his yearlong former tenant "at all," but his records indicated that Kazmierczak "always paid on time, never a noise problem, left the place spotless."
The university sociology department's Web site said he was the recipient of a dean's award for his graduate work in sociology in 2006. He had been accepted for the graduate program that fall, the Web site said.
Kazmierczak also was vice president of the university's Academic Criminal Justice Association, according to the group's Web site, and worked on a paper on self-injury in prisons with the group's current president.
Kazmierczak's paper, titled "Self Injury in Correctional Settings: 'Pathology' of Prisons or Prisoners?" was published in 2006, according to the university's sociology Web site.
The Academic Criminal Justice Association provides "NIU students and members of the DeKalb community with an opportunity to learn about and promote knowledge and understanding of all areas of the criminal justice system, especially corrections and juvenile justice," the Web site says.
DeKalb police asked the Polk County, Florida, Sheriff's Department to make "next of kin" death notification to Kazmierczak's father, Robert Kazmierczak, sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Rodgers said Friday.
"Please leave me alone. I have no statement to make," Robert Kazmierczak told CNN affiliate WESH from the porch of his Lakeland, Florida, home.
"It's a very hard time. I'm a diabetic," he said before breaking down in tears.
School President John Peters said Friday, without giving a name, that the shooter had graduated in 2006 with an undergraduate degree in sociology and then went on to do some graduate work through 2007.
He "had a very good academic record" and "was a very good student," Peters said, adding that there was "no indication" of any trouble involving him.
Kazmierczak had no arrest record and no known history of mental illness, and he had a valid state-required firearm ID card, so he had no problem buying the guns, one law enforcement source said.
Police said the only record of him in DeKalb County Circuit Court was a speeding ticket issued in December 2006. A police officer cited him amid snowy conditions for "failure to reduce speed -- resulting in an -- accident," in a white 2001 Honda. Kazmierczak was 6-foot-4 and 165 pounds, according to the record.
Kazmierczak pleaded guilty and paid a $75 fine. No one was injured in the accident, the record showed
Pakistan AG 'predicts vote-rigging'
Pakistan's attorney general said that Monday's parliamentary election will be "massively rigged," according to what Human Rights Watch says is an audio recording it obtained.
The humanitarian watchdog, which is one of many voices to raise questions about the fairness of the electoral process in Pakistan, released a report and an audiotape that it says contains the voice of Attorney General Malik Qayyum.
The attorney general's office swiftly issued a stiff denial, saying the conversation "had been clearly fabricated and cannot be denounced and renounced in stronger words."
Human Rights Watch said Qayyum was "advising an unidentified person on what political party the person should approach to become a candidate in the upcoming parliamentary election" when he made the remark in November more than a month before opposition candidate Benazir Bhutto was assassinated.
The recording -- translated into English from Punjabi -- makes reference to opposition politicians Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister, and Bhutto, the late former prime minister who was assassinated in Rawalpindi on December 27. The election was to be held in early January but was postponed to Monday after Bhutto was killed.
The recording says:
"Leave Nawaz Sharif (pause)....I think Nawaz Sharif will not take part in the election (pause).... If he does take part, he will be in trouble. If Benazir takes part she too will be in trouble (pause)... They will massively rig to get their own people to win. If you can get a ticket from these guys, take it (pause).... If Nawaz Sharif does not return himself, then Nawaz Sharif has some advantage. If he comes himself, even if after the elections rather than before, ..yes."
CNN's translation of the recording basically matches the one posted by Human Rights Watch, which said the recording was made on November 21 during a phone interview "with a member of the media."
"Qayyum, while still on the phone interview, took a call on another telephone and his side of that conversation was recorded," the group said.
In reaction to Human Rights Watch, the attorney general's office said Qayyum has "no nexus with the holding of elections nor would he be privy to any special election-related information." It says the attorney general's office doesn't partake in politics and doesn't ask people to switch affiliations. It also wonders why the "so-called journalist who had these manufactured tapes in November" didn't release them right away.
"The news item and the so-called fabricated conversation is just simply part of a malicious campaign to malign the government," Qayyum's office said.
Human Rights Watch said Qayyum is a close associate of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and headed a two-judge panel that convicted Bhutto and her husband in a corruption case, and the Supreme Court eventually said that the convictions were "politically motivated."
HRW told CNN the recording wasn't released earlier because it was being authenticated.
Bush, First Lady Begin Tour Of Africa
U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in Benin on Saturday, kicking off a six-day trip to a continent where he enjoys high approval ratings.
Bush and first lady Laura Bush will visit five nations during their Africa tour. In addition to Benin, the Bushes also will visit Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia.
According to a recent Pew poll of 47 nations, America's popularity remains exceptionally high across Africa.
Their trip -- Bush's second to the continent and his wife's fifth -- will largely focus on the United States' aid programs, which include initiatives to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and poverty.
Ahead of the visit, Bush on Thursday called Africa a "continent of potential," and said the United States is committed to helping it develop.
"It's a place where democracy is advancing, where economies are growing, and leaders are meeting challenges with purpose and determination," Bush said at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, where he and his wife, Laura, addressed the audience.
"Across Africa, people have begun to speak of the Lazarus effect -- where communities once given up for dead are coming back to life," he said, noting that the continent has "also witnessed some of mankind's most shameful chapters -- from the evils of the slave trade to the condescension of colonialism."
He added, "Even the joy of independence, which arrived with such promise, was undermined by corruption, conflict, and disease."
The United States also announced last February its plans to establish an African military command, called Africom, which it says would help prevent war. However, on Wednesday, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said there are not expected to be any announcements concerning that program during Bush's trip.
The president also announced his intention to send U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Kenya to support efforts to reach political conciliation there.
The country erupted in ethnic violence after its December 27 presidential vote, in which incumbent President Mwai Kibaki keep his post. His opponent, Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga, blasted the results, saying the election was rigged, and he and his supporters declined to recognize the election as valid.
Violence has dropped as former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan mediates talks between the two groups.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Powerful Union Expected To Endorse Obama
Sen. Barack Obama is expected to be endorsed Friday by the Service Employees International Union, one of the nation's most powerful, union officials have told The Associated Press.
The sought-after endorsement would be Obama's largest from organized labor, and give him a powerful boost against rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the March 4 presidential primaries in Ohio and Texas.
The 1.8 million-member union is likely to endorse Obama on Friday, the union officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
SEIU backing is one of the most important labor endorsements available. The organization has donated more than $25 million, mostly to Democratic candidates, since 1989. In addition, the union has a powerful get-out-the-vote structure and has been courted by all the Democratic candidates since the beginning of the race.
SEIU has delayed an endorsement since September, when it had Obama, Clinton and other Democratic candidates speak to its members in Washington. It eventually narrowed the field to Obama, Clinton and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, but could not make a decision.
The union allowed its state affiliates to make endorsements, and many backed Edwards.
Edwards dropped out of the race just before the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses on Feb. 5, leaving the field to Obama and Clinton.
Union leaders decided after a conference call Thursday night to go with Obama.
The officials who spoke anonymously cautioned that the union was still voting, but Obama was "99 percent" likely to get the endorsement, one of the insiders said.
The union had announced earlier Thursday that "President Andy Stern and Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger will discuss a major political announcement with reporters" on Friday.
Separately Thursday, Obama also won the backing of the United Food and Commercial Workers, a politically active union with significant membership in the upcoming Democratic battlegrounds.
The 1.3-million member UFCW has 69,000 members in Ohio and another 26,000 in Texas.The food workers also have 19,000 members in Wisconsin, which holds a primary Tuesday.
The union is made up of supermarket workers and meatpackers, with 40 percent of the membership under 30 years old. Obama has been doing especially well among young voters.
With an SEIU endorsement and the United Food and Commercial Workers' backing, Obama would only need to pick up one more union endorsement to be eligible to collect the Change to Win labor federation's support. There are seven unions in the federation, and it would take endorsements from at least four of them to make the federation consider a joint endorsement.
Obama was endorsed in January by UNITE HERE, which along with SEIU and the United Food and Commercial Workers, would give him three of the seven member unions. The Teamsters, the Laborers' International Union of North America, and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America have yet to endorse a candidate.
The seventh union, the United Farm Workers, endorsed Clinton in January.
Obama also was endorsed earlier this month by the Transport Workers Union and the National Weather Service Employees Organization.
The sought-after endorsement would be Obama's largest from organized labor, and give him a powerful boost against rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the March 4 presidential primaries in Ohio and Texas.
The 1.8 million-member union is likely to endorse Obama on Friday, the union officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
SEIU backing is one of the most important labor endorsements available. The organization has donated more than $25 million, mostly to Democratic candidates, since 1989. In addition, the union has a powerful get-out-the-vote structure and has been courted by all the Democratic candidates since the beginning of the race.
SEIU has delayed an endorsement since September, when it had Obama, Clinton and other Democratic candidates speak to its members in Washington. It eventually narrowed the field to Obama, Clinton and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, but could not make a decision.
The union allowed its state affiliates to make endorsements, and many backed Edwards.
Edwards dropped out of the race just before the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses on Feb. 5, leaving the field to Obama and Clinton.
Union leaders decided after a conference call Thursday night to go with Obama.
The officials who spoke anonymously cautioned that the union was still voting, but Obama was "99 percent" likely to get the endorsement, one of the insiders said.
The union had announced earlier Thursday that "President Andy Stern and Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger will discuss a major political announcement with reporters" on Friday.
Separately Thursday, Obama also won the backing of the United Food and Commercial Workers, a politically active union with significant membership in the upcoming Democratic battlegrounds.
The 1.3-million member UFCW has 69,000 members in Ohio and another 26,000 in Texas.The food workers also have 19,000 members in Wisconsin, which holds a primary Tuesday.
The union is made up of supermarket workers and meatpackers, with 40 percent of the membership under 30 years old. Obama has been doing especially well among young voters.
With an SEIU endorsement and the United Food and Commercial Workers' backing, Obama would only need to pick up one more union endorsement to be eligible to collect the Change to Win labor federation's support. There are seven unions in the federation, and it would take endorsements from at least four of them to make the federation consider a joint endorsement.
Obama was endorsed in January by UNITE HERE, which along with SEIU and the United Food and Commercial Workers, would give him three of the seven member unions. The Teamsters, the Laborers' International Union of North America, and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America have yet to endorse a candidate.
The seventh union, the United Farm Workers, endorsed Clinton in January.
Obama also was endorsed earlier this month by the Transport Workers Union and the National Weather Service Employees Organization.
Former Student KIlls 5 At Northern Illinois University
A gunman dressed in black stepped from behind a curtain at the front of a large lecture hall at Northern Illinois University on Thursday and shot 21 people, five of them fatally, then shot and killed himself, said university president John Peters.
"A lot of people were screaming. Everybody started running for the door," said student Zach Seward. "It was just complete chaos."
Four died at the scene, including the shooter, and two later died at a hospital, he said.
At least 22 people, including the gunman and a graduate student who was teaching an ocean sciences class, were shot, Peters said.
Late Thursday, dozens of students gathered on campus for a candlelight prayer vigil. Video footage showed students comforting one another and a young man playing guitar.
Official school events and classes were canceled until further notice, Peters said.
Seven counseling areas were set up throughout the campus, and hotlines were established.
NIU senior Daley Hamilton, 21, said most students were heading home to their parents. "My parking lot at my apartment is pretty sparse," she told CNN.
She said she and her roommate were planning to leave Friday. "We are really on edge and just kind of want to get out," she said.
Tributes were also surfacing online. A Facebook community called "Pray for Northern Illinois University Students and Families" had more than 14,000 members by late Thursday.
NIU student Amanda Hart Garner posted the school's fight song, including the lyrics: "Free, steadfast, devoted, true/We will always stand by you."
Seven of those wounded in the shooting were listed in critical condition.
Four of the fatalities were female, said Peters.
Most of the injuries are head and chest gunshot wounds, a hospital spokeswoman told CNN.
The gunman started shooting from a stage in the room shortly after 3 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) in Cole Hall, officials said.
Police Chief Donald Grady said authorities do not yet know of a motive.
They know the identity of the gunman but have not released his name, Grady added.
The shooter was a graduate student at NIU in the spring of 2007. Currently he was not enrolled there but, Grady said, "He may have been a student elsewhere."
A preliminary investigation has not uncovered a police record on the gunman, and records showed he had no contact with NIU police while a student there, Peters said.
Gunman 'just started shooting'
Kevin McEnery said he was in the classroom when the gunman, dressed in a black shirt, dark pants and black hat, burst in carrying a shotgun.
"He just kicked the door open, just started shooting," said McEnery, who was in the class at the time. "All I really heard was just people screaming, yelling 'get out.' ... Close to 30 shots were fired."
There are about 162 registered students in the class that met in the large lecture hall.
A student described the classroom as having four exits -- two at the front and two at the rear.
"Witnesses say someone dressed in black came out from behind a screen in the front of the classroom and opened fire with a shotgun," Peters said.
At 3:03 p.m., NIU police responded, and four minutes later, the campus was ordered into "a lockdown situation," Grady said.
At 3:20, an all-campus alert went out via the campus Web site, e-mail, voice mail, the campus crisis hotline, the news media and various alarm systems, he said.
"The message basically was: There's a gunman on campus, stay where you are; make yourself as safe as possible," he said.
Rosie Moroni, a student at the school, told CNN she was outside Cole Hall near the King Commons when she heard shots coming from the classroom she was heading to.
The shot was followed by "a lot of people screaming," then people ran out the doors yelling, "He's got a gun, call 911," she said.
"It was complete chaos. It's very scary here right now."
By 4 p.m., DeKalb police had swept the area "and determined there was only one gunman" and that he was dead.
Grady said the man used three guns: a shotgun, a Glock handgun and a small-caliber handgun, and was still on the stage when he turned one of the guns on himself. The small-caliber handgun had not yet been recovered, he said.
The gunman started shooting with a shotgun, then switched to a handgun, said Grady.
Security around campus was increased in December when police found threats scrawled on a campus bathroom wall that included racial slurs and references to last April's Virginia Tech shootings.
One of the threats said "things will change most hastily" in the final days of the semester.
Peters said there is no evidence that points to a link between the December incident and Thursday's shooting.
Grady said it was unlikely authorities could have prevented Thursday's tragedy.
"As much as we do, it's unlikely that anyone would ever have the ability to stop an incident like this from beginning," he said.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich declared a state of emergency, which will open the governor's disaster fund to reimburse local government entities for "extraordinary expenses related to the response in NIU DeKalb" and will allow the state Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance, the governor's office said in a statement.
Eighteen victims were taken to Kishwaukee Community Hospital, its Web site said.
Of those, seven were in critical condition and were flown to other hospitals. One fatality, a male, was confirmed -- but was not the gunman, the hospital said. Two were admitted, and eight others were discharged.
The 113-year-old school is 65 miles west of downtown Chicago and has an enrollment of more than 25,000. The campus covers 755 acres.
"A lot of people were screaming. Everybody started running for the door," said student Zach Seward. "It was just complete chaos."
Four died at the scene, including the shooter, and two later died at a hospital, he said.
At least 22 people, including the gunman and a graduate student who was teaching an ocean sciences class, were shot, Peters said.
Late Thursday, dozens of students gathered on campus for a candlelight prayer vigil. Video footage showed students comforting one another and a young man playing guitar.
Official school events and classes were canceled until further notice, Peters said.
Seven counseling areas were set up throughout the campus, and hotlines were established.
NIU senior Daley Hamilton, 21, said most students were heading home to their parents. "My parking lot at my apartment is pretty sparse," she told CNN.
She said she and her roommate were planning to leave Friday. "We are really on edge and just kind of want to get out," she said.
Tributes were also surfacing online. A Facebook community called "Pray for Northern Illinois University Students and Families" had more than 14,000 members by late Thursday.
NIU student Amanda Hart Garner posted the school's fight song, including the lyrics: "Free, steadfast, devoted, true/We will always stand by you."
Seven of those wounded in the shooting were listed in critical condition.
Four of the fatalities were female, said Peters.
Most of the injuries are head and chest gunshot wounds, a hospital spokeswoman told CNN.
The gunman started shooting from a stage in the room shortly after 3 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) in Cole Hall, officials said.
Police Chief Donald Grady said authorities do not yet know of a motive.
They know the identity of the gunman but have not released his name, Grady added.
The shooter was a graduate student at NIU in the spring of 2007. Currently he was not enrolled there but, Grady said, "He may have been a student elsewhere."
A preliminary investigation has not uncovered a police record on the gunman, and records showed he had no contact with NIU police while a student there, Peters said.
Gunman 'just started shooting'
Kevin McEnery said he was in the classroom when the gunman, dressed in a black shirt, dark pants and black hat, burst in carrying a shotgun.
"He just kicked the door open, just started shooting," said McEnery, who was in the class at the time. "All I really heard was just people screaming, yelling 'get out.' ... Close to 30 shots were fired."
There are about 162 registered students in the class that met in the large lecture hall.
A student described the classroom as having four exits -- two at the front and two at the rear.
"Witnesses say someone dressed in black came out from behind a screen in the front of the classroom and opened fire with a shotgun," Peters said.
At 3:03 p.m., NIU police responded, and four minutes later, the campus was ordered into "a lockdown situation," Grady said.
At 3:20, an all-campus alert went out via the campus Web site, e-mail, voice mail, the campus crisis hotline, the news media and various alarm systems, he said.
"The message basically was: There's a gunman on campus, stay where you are; make yourself as safe as possible," he said.
Rosie Moroni, a student at the school, told CNN she was outside Cole Hall near the King Commons when she heard shots coming from the classroom she was heading to.
The shot was followed by "a lot of people screaming," then people ran out the doors yelling, "He's got a gun, call 911," she said.
"It was complete chaos. It's very scary here right now."
By 4 p.m., DeKalb police had swept the area "and determined there was only one gunman" and that he was dead.
Grady said the man used three guns: a shotgun, a Glock handgun and a small-caliber handgun, and was still on the stage when he turned one of the guns on himself. The small-caliber handgun had not yet been recovered, he said.
The gunman started shooting with a shotgun, then switched to a handgun, said Grady.
Security around campus was increased in December when police found threats scrawled on a campus bathroom wall that included racial slurs and references to last April's Virginia Tech shootings.
One of the threats said "things will change most hastily" in the final days of the semester.
Peters said there is no evidence that points to a link between the December incident and Thursday's shooting.
Grady said it was unlikely authorities could have prevented Thursday's tragedy.
"As much as we do, it's unlikely that anyone would ever have the ability to stop an incident like this from beginning," he said.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich declared a state of emergency, which will open the governor's disaster fund to reimburse local government entities for "extraordinary expenses related to the response in NIU DeKalb" and will allow the state Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance, the governor's office said in a statement.
Eighteen victims were taken to Kishwaukee Community Hospital, its Web site said.
Of those, seven were in critical condition and were flown to other hospitals. One fatality, a male, was confirmed -- but was not the gunman, the hospital said. Two were admitted, and eight others were discharged.
The 113-year-old school is 65 miles west of downtown Chicago and has an enrollment of more than 25,000. The campus covers 755 acres.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Australia To Support East Timor
Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says his government will do all it can to safeguard democracy in East Timor after attacks on its president and PM.
On his second visit to East Timor in only two months, Mr Rudd said his support was "absolutely rock solid".
President Jose Ramos-Horta was seriously hurt in Monday's shooting, and is being treated in Australia.
Canberra deployed an additional 350 peacekeepers to Dili in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.
In a three-hour visit, Mr Rudd held talks with Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, who narrowly escaped injury when gunmen ambushed his car on Monday.
"The purpose of my visit today is to state in clear and loud terms that Australia will stand shoulder to shoulder into the future in the defence of East Timor's democratic system of government," Mr Rudd told a press conference.
"Australia is here for the good times, the bad times and the difficult times."
Australian troops - who now number about 1,000 - would remain in East Timor for as long as they were needed, he said.
The two leaders also discussed East Timor's long-term economic challenges - such as its weak infrastructure and soaring unemployment.
"Ensuring young people across Timor-Leste (East Timor) have a job is for business, but also this country's long-term stability," Mr Rudd said.
Mr Gusmao thanked Australia for its rapid response to Monday's events and its faith in the country's development.
"Our nation is a proud nation," he said. "A bullet can wound the president but can never penetrate the values of democracy."
Rebel leader
The situation in Dili has remained calm since Monday, despite fears of protests. A state of emergency declared by Mr Gusmao remains in place.
Several arrest warrants have been issued in connection with the attacks, which have been attributed to a group of rebels soldiers with grievances that date from a wave of violence in mid-2006.
Australian-led international forces are now combing the hills behind the capital for the remaining rebels.
Their leader, Alfredo Reinado, was killed in the attack on Mr Ramos-Horta's residence.
But in a BBC interview on Thursday, one of the rebels involved in the attacks, Gastao Salsinha, denied attempting to assassinate the two top leaders.
He said security personnel for President Ramos-Horta started the fire fight that killed Reinado.
Speaking from hiding, Mr Salsinha said he had now taken over as rebel leader.
East Timor won independence in 2002 after decades under Indonesian rule.
John McCain Needs More Funds
Raising money and thinking about a running mate are two of the big challenges facing likely Republican presidential nominee John McCain.
Both are on the agenda as the McCain team plans a transition to a campaign focused more on the Democrats and the general election. But one -- fundraising -- is being treated with considerably more urgency.
Sources involved in the effort say the McCain fundraising operation is reaching out to some 300 major Republican fundraisers, many of whom were supporting other GOP presidential candidates.
McCain is CNN's Larry King's guest for the entire hour tonight at 9 p.m. ET.
Also on the list are top fundraisers for President Bush's political organization. Top Bush fundraiser Mercer Reynolds, for example, endorsed McCain this past week, and campaign aides say he's actively helping to expand McCain's financial network.
The goal is to raise millions -- tens of millions -- by tapping these fundraising networks and finding donors who may have given the maximum amount to their first choice in the GOP field but have yet to give to McCain.
It's an effort proceeding on two tracks: raising millions for the "primary" campaign that continues up to the nominating convention this summer, while also beginning to amass millions more for the general election campaign.
Meanwhile, sources inside and close to the McCain camp acknowledge some casual conversations about a vice presidential search process. These sources stress emphatically that there have been no official meetings or discussions with McCain or even among his senior staff, though they expect the subject to come up in a series of transition meetings over the next several days and weeks.
"It is a top concern of the media and a relatively low concern of ours," one senior McCain adviser said. One reason for the lack of urgency: While McCain is the all-but-certain GOP nominee, the Democratic race is anything but clear -- and McCain is unlikely to make his pick until after the Democratic nominee chooses a running mate.
The Republican convention is a week after the Democrats', and while GOP sources don't rule out a McCain choice earlier, they say that under no circumstances would McCain pick a running mate without first knowing who would lead the Democratic ticket.
Still, there are informal conversations about how to begin a search process.
Again, the sources said no decisions have been made. But several McCain aides and advisers who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity suggest a logical choice to shepherd the process, at least at the beginning, is McCain adviser and veteran GOP strategist Charlie Black. In a brief conversation with CNN, Black said the subject has not come up in any of his conversations with McCain or campaign manager Rick Davis.
Others have suggested Davis would lead the process, though most in the campaign suggest he is too busy with day-to-day challenges, including expanding the staff to prepare for a national campaign, thinking ahead to the GOP convention and preparing for conversations with the Republican National Committee about installing a number of McCain operatives in the party's staff structure.
Those who discussed the running mate issue said that for now, the goal would be, as one put it, "to come up with a list of 20 or 25 people as your starting point and begin the basic research and early vetting."
So what does McCain need to do with his choice?
"Try back in June or July," one campaign official said with a laugh.
But GOP circles, of course, are full of such conversations. Some suggest former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's continued strong showing among social conservatives suggests McCain needs to shore up his right flank. Others say his choice will matter more than most vice presidential picks because McCain is 71 years old, so there will even more than the traditional scrutiny of whether the pick is up to being president.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
USA Election Update : Oba Gets Three
DAY IN A NUTSHELL
Barack Obama sweeps to victory in the three Democratic primaries in Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC.
For the Republicans, presumptive nominee John McCain also wins all three contests, although his rival Mike Huckabee mounts a strong challenge in Virginia, taking more than 40% of the vote. Hillary Clinton unveils a stellar endorsement from former astronaut and Ohio Senator John Glenn.
KEY QUOTES
"My friends, I promise you, I am fired up and ready to go."
John McCain ends his victory speech with one of Barack Obama's signature lines
"With all of the challenges facing Ohio and America, we need a leader who can deliver real solutions on her first day in office."
Former senator and astronaut John Glenn endorses Hillary Clinton
"The nomination is not secured until one candidate has 1,191 delegates."
Mike Huckabee
"John McCain is an American hero. We honour his service to our nation... But his priorities don't address the real problems of the American people, because they are bound to the failed policies of the past."
Barack Obama turns his sights on the Republicans in his victory address
"In the dark days when Iraq's al-Anbar province was the bloodiest place on the planet - John McCain was one of the few in Congress brave enough to venture into that cauldron. I know, because I saw him there."
Col Oliver North
NUMBER NEWS
Because many pollsters assumed that the presidential races would be settled after Super Tuesday, little polling has been done in the states holding contests later on in the primary calendar.
So polls published today from Wisconsin and Ohio shed some much-needed light on the state of the races in those states.
A Public Policy Polling survey of Wisconsin voters suggests that Barack Obama and John McCain have the advantage there. The poll has Mr Obama leading Hillary Clinton by 50% to 39% and Mr McCain leading Mr Huckabee 53% to 32%.
Mr McCain also leads Mr Huckabee in the SurveyUSA poll of Ohio voters (50% to 36%), but for the Democrats in Ohio, Mrs Clinton has the lead - with 56% to Mr Obama's 39%
Barack Obama sweeps to victory in the three Democratic primaries in Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC.
For the Republicans, presumptive nominee John McCain also wins all three contests, although his rival Mike Huckabee mounts a strong challenge in Virginia, taking more than 40% of the vote. Hillary Clinton unveils a stellar endorsement from former astronaut and Ohio Senator John Glenn.
KEY QUOTES
"My friends, I promise you, I am fired up and ready to go."
John McCain ends his victory speech with one of Barack Obama's signature lines
"With all of the challenges facing Ohio and America, we need a leader who can deliver real solutions on her first day in office."
Former senator and astronaut John Glenn endorses Hillary Clinton
"The nomination is not secured until one candidate has 1,191 delegates."
Mike Huckabee
"John McCain is an American hero. We honour his service to our nation... But his priorities don't address the real problems of the American people, because they are bound to the failed policies of the past."
Barack Obama turns his sights on the Republicans in his victory address
"In the dark days when Iraq's al-Anbar province was the bloodiest place on the planet - John McCain was one of the few in Congress brave enough to venture into that cauldron. I know, because I saw him there."
Col Oliver North
NUMBER NEWS
Because many pollsters assumed that the presidential races would be settled after Super Tuesday, little polling has been done in the states holding contests later on in the primary calendar.
So polls published today from Wisconsin and Ohio shed some much-needed light on the state of the races in those states.
A Public Policy Polling survey of Wisconsin voters suggests that Barack Obama and John McCain have the advantage there. The poll has Mr Obama leading Hillary Clinton by 50% to 39% and Mr McCain leading Mr Huckabee 53% to 32%.
Mr McCain also leads Mr Huckabee in the SurveyUSA poll of Ohio voters (50% to 36%), but for the Democrats in Ohio, Mrs Clinton has the lead - with 56% to Mr Obama's 39%
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Obama's Chance ?????????
Democratic rivals Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton squared off Tuesday in primaries in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, home to the White House, their long-sought prize
With 175 delegates at stake, Obama hoped to erode if not erase the lead Clinton has held since the campaign began.
The Illinois senator won a string of contests in all regions of the country over the weekend, routing Clinton in a Louisiana primary as well as caucuses in Nebraska, Washington state and Maine.
Early turnout in Virginia was reported high and city officials in the District of Columbia were hoping that a swath of new registered voters would show up at the polls. Maryland election officials were also projecting a strong turnout, particularly in the Democratic race.
The final Maine returns had not been tallied when Clinton's campaign manager announced she was stepping down. Coming several days after the former first lady loaned her own campaign $5 million, it was a fresh indication of the trouble the one-time front-runner is having fighting off Obama's strong challenge for the nomination.
Aides to the former first lady concede she is in the midst of a difficult period in which she could lose 10 straight contests. She is hoping to rebound on March 4, in primaries in Ohio and Texas, states where both candidates have already begun television advertising.
Clinton began the night with 1,147 delegates, to 1,124 for Obama. Both are far from the 2,025 needed to win the nomination at the Democratic National Convention this summer.
Among Republicans, Sen. John McCain, the faraway front-runner, hoped to rebound in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia from a poor weekend showing. There were 116 GOP delegates at stake.
McCain lost caucuses in Kansas and a primary in Louisiana on Saturday to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, his last remaining major rival. He won caucuses in Washington state.
The AP count showed McCain with 729 delegates. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who dropped out of the race last week, had 288. Huckabee had 241 and Texas Rep. Ron Paul had 14.
It takes 1,191 delegates to clinch the nomination, and McCain appears to be on track to reach the target by late April.
Obama has campaigned before huge crowds in recent days, and far outspent his rival on television advertising in the states participating in the regional primary in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
He began airing commercials in the region more than a week ago, and spent an estimated $1.4 million. Clinton began hers last Friday, at a cost estimated at $210,000.
With Clinton facing a series of possible defeats, and Obama riding a wave of momentum, the two camps debated which contender is more likely to defeat McCain in the general election.
An Associated Press-Ipsos poll found Obama with a narrow lead over the Arizona senator in a potential match-up, and Clinton running about even.
"We bring in voters who haven't given Democrats a chance" in the past, said Obama pollster Cornell Belcher, citing support from independents.
Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, countered that she holds appeal for women voters and Hispanics. "Hillary Clinton has a coalition of voters well-suited to winning the general election," he said.
With 175 delegates at stake, Obama hoped to erode if not erase the lead Clinton has held since the campaign began.
The Illinois senator won a string of contests in all regions of the country over the weekend, routing Clinton in a Louisiana primary as well as caucuses in Nebraska, Washington state and Maine.
Early turnout in Virginia was reported high and city officials in the District of Columbia were hoping that a swath of new registered voters would show up at the polls. Maryland election officials were also projecting a strong turnout, particularly in the Democratic race.
The final Maine returns had not been tallied when Clinton's campaign manager announced she was stepping down. Coming several days after the former first lady loaned her own campaign $5 million, it was a fresh indication of the trouble the one-time front-runner is having fighting off Obama's strong challenge for the nomination.
Aides to the former first lady concede she is in the midst of a difficult period in which she could lose 10 straight contests. She is hoping to rebound on March 4, in primaries in Ohio and Texas, states where both candidates have already begun television advertising.
Clinton began the night with 1,147 delegates, to 1,124 for Obama. Both are far from the 2,025 needed to win the nomination at the Democratic National Convention this summer.
Among Republicans, Sen. John McCain, the faraway front-runner, hoped to rebound in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia from a poor weekend showing. There were 116 GOP delegates at stake.
McCain lost caucuses in Kansas and a primary in Louisiana on Saturday to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, his last remaining major rival. He won caucuses in Washington state.
The AP count showed McCain with 729 delegates. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who dropped out of the race last week, had 288. Huckabee had 241 and Texas Rep. Ron Paul had 14.
It takes 1,191 delegates to clinch the nomination, and McCain appears to be on track to reach the target by late April.
Obama has campaigned before huge crowds in recent days, and far outspent his rival on television advertising in the states participating in the regional primary in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
He began airing commercials in the region more than a week ago, and spent an estimated $1.4 million. Clinton began hers last Friday, at a cost estimated at $210,000.
With Clinton facing a series of possible defeats, and Obama riding a wave of momentum, the two camps debated which contender is more likely to defeat McCain in the general election.
An Associated Press-Ipsos poll found Obama with a narrow lead over the Arizona senator in a potential match-up, and Clinton running about even.
"We bring in voters who haven't given Democrats a chance" in the past, said Obama pollster Cornell Belcher, citing support from independents.
Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, countered that she holds appeal for women voters and Hispanics. "Hillary Clinton has a coalition of voters well-suited to winning the general election," he said.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Death Sentence
The Pentagon has announced charges against six Guantanamo Bay prisoners over their alleged involvement in the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US.
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the six, who include alleged plot mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
The charges, the first for Guantanamo inmates directly related to 9/11, are expected to be heard by a controversial military tribunal system.
About 3,000 people died in the hijacked plane attacks.
The Guantanamo Bay detention centre, in south-east Cuba, began to receive US military prisoners in January 2002. Hundreds have been released without charge but about 275 remain and the US hopes to try about 80.
Tribunal process
Brig Gen Thomas Hartmann, a legal adviser to the head of the Pentagon's Office of Military Commissions, said the charges alleged a "long-term, highly sophisticated plan by al-Qaeda to attack the US".
He said there would be "no secret trials" and that they would be "as completely open as possible".
"Relatively little amounts of evidence will be classified," Gen Hartmann said.
The other five defendants are Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni, Walid bin Attash, also from Yemen, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, who was born in Balochistan, Pakistan, and raised in Kuwait, Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi, a Saudi, and Mohammed al-Qahtani.
Gen Hartmann said the charges included conspiracy, murder in violation of the laws of war, attacking civilians, destruction of property and terrorism.
All but Mr Qahtani and Mr Hawsawi are also charged with hijacking or hazarding an aircraft.
The charges listed "169 overt acts allegedly committed by the defendants in furtherance of the September 11 events".
Gen Thomas Hartmann said: "The accused will have his opportunity to have his day in court.
It's our obligation to move the process forward, to give these people their rights."
In listing more details of the charges against the defendants, Gen Hartmann alleged that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had proposed the attacks to al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in 1996, had obtained funding and overseen the operation and the training of hijackers in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a Kuwaiti of Pakistani extraction, was said to have been al-Qaeda's third in command when he was captured in Pakistan in March 2003.
He has reportedly admitted to decapitating kidnapped US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002 but these charges do not relate to that.
The BBC's Vincent Dowd in Washington says Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has said he planned every part of the 9/11 attacks but that his confession may prove problematic as the CIA admitted using controversial "waterboarding" techniques.
Human rights groups regard the procedure as torture.
Legal challenge
The charges will now be sent to Susan Crawford, the convening authority for the military commissions, to determine whether they will be referred to trial.
Any trials would be held by military tribunal under the terms of the Military Commissions Act, passed by the US Congress in 2006.
The Act set up tribunals to try terror suspects who were not US citizens.
The law is being challenged by two prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, who say they are being deprived of their rights to have their cases heard by a US civilian court.
Nineteen men hijacked four planes in the 9/11 attacks. Two planes hit the World Trade Center in New York, another the Pentagon in Washington and the fourth crashed in Pennsylvania.
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the six, who include alleged plot mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
The charges, the first for Guantanamo inmates directly related to 9/11, are expected to be heard by a controversial military tribunal system.
About 3,000 people died in the hijacked plane attacks.
The Guantanamo Bay detention centre, in south-east Cuba, began to receive US military prisoners in January 2002. Hundreds have been released without charge but about 275 remain and the US hopes to try about 80.
Tribunal process
Brig Gen Thomas Hartmann, a legal adviser to the head of the Pentagon's Office of Military Commissions, said the charges alleged a "long-term, highly sophisticated plan by al-Qaeda to attack the US".
He said there would be "no secret trials" and that they would be "as completely open as possible".
"Relatively little amounts of evidence will be classified," Gen Hartmann said.
The other five defendants are Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni, Walid bin Attash, also from Yemen, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, who was born in Balochistan, Pakistan, and raised in Kuwait, Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi, a Saudi, and Mohammed al-Qahtani.
Gen Hartmann said the charges included conspiracy, murder in violation of the laws of war, attacking civilians, destruction of property and terrorism.
All but Mr Qahtani and Mr Hawsawi are also charged with hijacking or hazarding an aircraft.
The charges listed "169 overt acts allegedly committed by the defendants in furtherance of the September 11 events".
Gen Thomas Hartmann said: "The accused will have his opportunity to have his day in court.
It's our obligation to move the process forward, to give these people their rights."
In listing more details of the charges against the defendants, Gen Hartmann alleged that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had proposed the attacks to al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in 1996, had obtained funding and overseen the operation and the training of hijackers in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a Kuwaiti of Pakistani extraction, was said to have been al-Qaeda's third in command when he was captured in Pakistan in March 2003.
He has reportedly admitted to decapitating kidnapped US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002 but these charges do not relate to that.
The BBC's Vincent Dowd in Washington says Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has said he planned every part of the 9/11 attacks but that his confession may prove problematic as the CIA admitted using controversial "waterboarding" techniques.
Human rights groups regard the procedure as torture.
Legal challenge
The charges will now be sent to Susan Crawford, the convening authority for the military commissions, to determine whether they will be referred to trial.
Any trials would be held by military tribunal under the terms of the Military Commissions Act, passed by the US Congress in 2006.
The Act set up tribunals to try terror suspects who were not US citizens.
The law is being challenged by two prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, who say they are being deprived of their rights to have their cases heard by a US civilian court.
Nineteen men hijacked four planes in the 9/11 attacks. Two planes hit the World Trade Center in New York, another the Pentagon in Washington and the fourth crashed in Pennsylvania.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Clinton, Obama Pitch to Va. Democrats
Relishing a clean sweep of elections held Saturday, Sen. Barack Obama appealed to Virginia Democrats to help him turn the page away from the "same old Washington games with the same old Washington players," an indictment meant for presidential rivals Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Sen. John McCain.
Obama addressed about 4,000 Democratic officials and activists at the state party's annual Jefferson-Jackson fundraising dinner, taking the stage fresh from victories in Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington state and the Virgin Islands.
Clinton addressed the crowd before he arrived. The gala served as a can't-miss stop in their short, intense campaign for contests Tuesday in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Obama exulted in his wins but mentioned them only briefly. He said his victories from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast and in the heartland were a rousing "yes we can" from voters fed up with divisive politics and failed policies. Like Clinton before him on the stage, he painted McCain, the likely Republican nominee, as more of the same from the party of President Bush.
"He has made the decision to embrace the failed policies of George Bush's Washington," Obama said of McCain. "He speaks of a hundred-year war in Iraq and sees another on the horizon with Iran."
The New York senator made no reference to her losses in the Washington and Nebraska caucuses or to the Louisiana primary, which was still unsettled when she spoke. She left the dinner immediately after her remarks, ensuring no overlap with Obama, who was on his way.
The crowd greeted Clinton enthusiastically but was largely supportive of her rival. Chants of "Obama" rang through the hall as she made her way offstage, and they grew much louder when the Illinois senator arrived.
The Clinton campaign said 100,000 donors had given $10 million since Super Tuesday, the money-sapping mega-contest that left Obama and Clinton close to a tie in delegates won. After Tuesday, Clinton acknowledged lending her campaign $5 million of her own money — a disclosure that seemed to help open the money taps from supporters to try to counter Obama's fundraising prowess.
Both candidates spent most of Saturday campaigning in Maine for the state's nominating caucuses Sunday.
Saturday's results were clearly disappointing for Clinton, although not entirely a surprise. Obama has generally done well in smaller states and those holding caucuses rather than primaries.
Clinton's prospects in Tuesday's Maryland, Virginia and D.C. primaries were uncertain, because of high numbers of black voters and highly educated voters — groups that have favored her rival. She planned to fly Tuesday night to Texas, where she hoped to perform well in the state's March 4 primary.
Before Clinton arrived at the spirited Richmond dinner, Obama supporters in the crowd waved placards and chanted the stump-speech line that has become a slogan — "Yes we can" — while Clinton supporters roared back "Hill-a-ry."
Clinton brought both camps to their feet when she blistered the Bush administration and, by inference, a likely Republican nominee she had no problem branding a conservative — even if he's struggling to sell that label to his party's right.
"We have tried it President Bush's way," she said, and now "the Republicans have chosen more of the same."
"President Bush has already put his stamp of approval on Senator McCain's conservative credentials," she said, adding wryly, "and I'm sure that will help." The line won cheers and laughs. Bush has nudged his party to unite but not explicitly endorsed McCain.
The Arizona senator lost the Kansas caucuses Saturday against long-shot rival Mike Huckabee, who draws support from conservatives.
Clinton described Bush 's way as "hoard power, disregard science, shred the Constitution, smear dissenters, impugn patriots, go it alone in the world wherever you can and cooperate only when you have to."
She told the audience: "You know, for me, politics isn't a game. It's not about who's up or who's down. It's about your lives, your families and your futures. And isn't it about time you had a president who brought your voice and your values to your White House?"
Former President Clinton campaigned vigorously for his wife in Virginia, but his rhetoric was restrained after the criticism he took earlier for remarks about Obama that raised racial sensitivities, including one suggesting Obama's opposition to the Iraq war was a fairy tale.
Former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, the nation's first elected black governor, an Obama backer and Richmond's mayor, took a swipe at Bill Clinton during a news conference Saturday. "Barack Obama is not a fairy tale," Wilder said. "He is real."
Of Bill Clinton, Wilder said: "A time comes and a time goes. The president has had his time."
Obama addressed about 4,000 Democratic officials and activists at the state party's annual Jefferson-Jackson fundraising dinner, taking the stage fresh from victories in Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington state and the Virgin Islands.
Clinton addressed the crowd before he arrived. The gala served as a can't-miss stop in their short, intense campaign for contests Tuesday in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Obama exulted in his wins but mentioned them only briefly. He said his victories from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast and in the heartland were a rousing "yes we can" from voters fed up with divisive politics and failed policies. Like Clinton before him on the stage, he painted McCain, the likely Republican nominee, as more of the same from the party of President Bush.
"He has made the decision to embrace the failed policies of George Bush's Washington," Obama said of McCain. "He speaks of a hundred-year war in Iraq and sees another on the horizon with Iran."
The New York senator made no reference to her losses in the Washington and Nebraska caucuses or to the Louisiana primary, which was still unsettled when she spoke. She left the dinner immediately after her remarks, ensuring no overlap with Obama, who was on his way.
The crowd greeted Clinton enthusiastically but was largely supportive of her rival. Chants of "Obama" rang through the hall as she made her way offstage, and they grew much louder when the Illinois senator arrived.
The Clinton campaign said 100,000 donors had given $10 million since Super Tuesday, the money-sapping mega-contest that left Obama and Clinton close to a tie in delegates won. After Tuesday, Clinton acknowledged lending her campaign $5 million of her own money — a disclosure that seemed to help open the money taps from supporters to try to counter Obama's fundraising prowess.
Both candidates spent most of Saturday campaigning in Maine for the state's nominating caucuses Sunday.
Saturday's results were clearly disappointing for Clinton, although not entirely a surprise. Obama has generally done well in smaller states and those holding caucuses rather than primaries.
Clinton's prospects in Tuesday's Maryland, Virginia and D.C. primaries were uncertain, because of high numbers of black voters and highly educated voters — groups that have favored her rival. She planned to fly Tuesday night to Texas, where she hoped to perform well in the state's March 4 primary.
Before Clinton arrived at the spirited Richmond dinner, Obama supporters in the crowd waved placards and chanted the stump-speech line that has become a slogan — "Yes we can" — while Clinton supporters roared back "Hill-a-ry."
Clinton brought both camps to their feet when she blistered the Bush administration and, by inference, a likely Republican nominee she had no problem branding a conservative — even if he's struggling to sell that label to his party's right.
"We have tried it President Bush's way," she said, and now "the Republicans have chosen more of the same."
"President Bush has already put his stamp of approval on Senator McCain's conservative credentials," she said, adding wryly, "and I'm sure that will help." The line won cheers and laughs. Bush has nudged his party to unite but not explicitly endorsed McCain.
The Arizona senator lost the Kansas caucuses Saturday against long-shot rival Mike Huckabee, who draws support from conservatives.
Clinton described Bush 's way as "hoard power, disregard science, shred the Constitution, smear dissenters, impugn patriots, go it alone in the world wherever you can and cooperate only when you have to."
She told the audience: "You know, for me, politics isn't a game. It's not about who's up or who's down. It's about your lives, your families and your futures. And isn't it about time you had a president who brought your voice and your values to your White House?"
Former President Clinton campaigned vigorously for his wife in Virginia, but his rhetoric was restrained after the criticism he took earlier for remarks about Obama that raised racial sensitivities, including one suggesting Obama's opposition to the Iraq war was a fairy tale.
Former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, the nation's first elected black governor, an Obama backer and Richmond's mayor, took a swipe at Bill Clinton during a news conference Saturday. "Barack Obama is not a fairy tale," Wilder said. "He is real."
Of Bill Clinton, Wilder said: "A time comes and a time goes. The president has had his time."
In Baghdad, Gates sees signs of progress
Iraq's political leaders are showing promising new signs of progress toward reconciliation, yet still face difficult decisions on how to stabilize the country, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday.
"They seem to have become energized over the last few weeks," Gates told reporters who traveled with him from an international security conference in Munich, Germany. The Pentagon chief added that he wants to "see what the prospects are for further success in the next couple of months."
Gates arrived after dark at Baghdad International Airport aboard an Air Force C-17 cargo plane. He flew by helicopter to a private dinner with Iraq's political leaders, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, as well as U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
In an interview on the trip to Iraq, Gates cited the recent passage of an amnesty law as an example of political progress. He said he would ask Iraqi leaders to assess the prospects for other important steps such as passing a law that would spell out power-sharing between the provinces and the national government.
He likened the challenge of passing an Iraqi provincial powers law to the U.S. founding fathers' struggle to find a constitutional compromise on how to share power in the Congress between big and small states.
Gates said he would make clear to al-Maliki and other political leaders that "our continued eagerness for them to proceed and successfully conclude some of this legislation" considered key to reconciling Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.
It was Gates' first visit this year and possibly his last before Petraeus and Crocker return to Washington in April to recommend to President Bush whether to continue reducing U.S. troop levels after Petraeus' current drawdown plan is completed in July. By then, four brigades are to have gone home, leaving 15.
"I would be interested in how they are planning it — which units are coming out" between now and July, Gates said.
The trickier question is whether Petraeus will tell Bush that security conditions in Baghdad and elsewhere in the country have improved enough to permit even more troop cuts without risking a deterioration in security. Petraeus' strategy is based on an expectation that improved security over time will give Iraqi political leaders an impetus to make compromises on legislation and other moves toward reconciliation.
Asked whether he would question Petraeus about the possibility of recommending a pause in the troop drawdown this summer, Gates replied, "I think our conversation will cover the whole range of possibilities."
He said on the way to Baghdad that he planned to visit troops Monday at a U.S. base in the capital, as well as pin a medal on Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 U.S. commander. Odierno is departing after 15 months in charge of the headquarters that carries out Petraeus' strategy on a day-to-day basis.
Gates also was meeting with Odierno's successor, Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin. Odierno is returning to Washington and has been nominated by Bush for promotion to four-star rank and assignment as Army vice chief of staff.
In his talks with Iraqi political leaders Gates said he intended to make clear "our continued eagerness for them to proceed and successfully conclude some of this legislation," which has taken longer than many had hoped.
Before his latest visit to Iraq, Gates said in a speech in Munich that NATO's survival was at stake in the debate over how the United States and Europe should share the burden of fighting Islamic extremism in Afghanistan.
As Gates cited signs of political progress, the U.S. military said a car bomb exploded near an Iraqi checkpoint in an open-market area north of Baghdad, killing at least 23 civilians and wounding 25. Earlier, the military said a diary and another document seized during U.S. raids show some al-Qaida in Iraq leaders fear the terrorist group is crumbling, with many fighters defecting to American-backed neighborhood groups.
Bush, in an interview broadcast Sunday in the United States, discussed the long-term U.S. relationship with Iraq. "We will be there at the invitation of the Iraqi government. ... We won't have permanent bases. I do believe it is in our interests and the interests of the Iraqi people that we do enter into an agreement on how we are going to conduct ourselves over the next years."
Last year, Bush ordered five additional Army brigades to Iraq. One of those brigades left in December and the other four are due to come out by July, leaving 15 brigades, or about 130,000 to 135,000 troops — the same number as before Bush sent the reinforcements.
Petraeus recently said it would be prudent to "let things settle a bit" before embarking on a new round of cuts. Gates has not said whether he agreed with Petraeus, though the secretary noted other commanders and service chiefs would weigh in with their opinions.
Bush, who met with Petraeus during his recent trip to the Middle East, said in the broadcast interview, "My message to the general was success is paramount and therefore, whatever you recommend, make it based upon the need to succeed."
"So we said, `What is succeed? What does succeed mean? It means there's enough security and stability for this reconciliation to continue to take place and for democracy to take hold," Bush said.
The president said he did not know what Petraeus or the Pentagon would recommend later this year on troop levels. "I will listen — give them careful consideration and make up my mind. But it's going to be based upon whether or not we can succeed or not."
At the German conference, Gates acknowledged that the U.S. has had innumerable disputes with its NATO allies in the 59 years since the security alliance was founded as a bulwark against the former Soviet Union. But Gates portrayed today's debate over the importance of the mission in Afghanistan and how to accomplish as among the most difficult ever.
A central theme was that al-Qaida extremists, either in Afghanistan or elsewhere, pose a greater threat to Europe than many Europeans realize.
Gates said the Bush administration had learned from mistakes made in Iraq, including the need to more closely integrate the civilian-led stabilization efforts with the military efforts. He said the U.S. and NATO must apply that lesson in Afghanistan to assure success.
"They seem to have become energized over the last few weeks," Gates told reporters who traveled with him from an international security conference in Munich, Germany. The Pentagon chief added that he wants to "see what the prospects are for further success in the next couple of months."
Gates arrived after dark at Baghdad International Airport aboard an Air Force C-17 cargo plane. He flew by helicopter to a private dinner with Iraq's political leaders, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, as well as U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
In an interview on the trip to Iraq, Gates cited the recent passage of an amnesty law as an example of political progress. He said he would ask Iraqi leaders to assess the prospects for other important steps such as passing a law that would spell out power-sharing between the provinces and the national government.
He likened the challenge of passing an Iraqi provincial powers law to the U.S. founding fathers' struggle to find a constitutional compromise on how to share power in the Congress between big and small states.
Gates said he would make clear to al-Maliki and other political leaders that "our continued eagerness for them to proceed and successfully conclude some of this legislation" considered key to reconciling Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.
It was Gates' first visit this year and possibly his last before Petraeus and Crocker return to Washington in April to recommend to President Bush whether to continue reducing U.S. troop levels after Petraeus' current drawdown plan is completed in July. By then, four brigades are to have gone home, leaving 15.
"I would be interested in how they are planning it — which units are coming out" between now and July, Gates said.
The trickier question is whether Petraeus will tell Bush that security conditions in Baghdad and elsewhere in the country have improved enough to permit even more troop cuts without risking a deterioration in security. Petraeus' strategy is based on an expectation that improved security over time will give Iraqi political leaders an impetus to make compromises on legislation and other moves toward reconciliation.
Asked whether he would question Petraeus about the possibility of recommending a pause in the troop drawdown this summer, Gates replied, "I think our conversation will cover the whole range of possibilities."
He said on the way to Baghdad that he planned to visit troops Monday at a U.S. base in the capital, as well as pin a medal on Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 U.S. commander. Odierno is departing after 15 months in charge of the headquarters that carries out Petraeus' strategy on a day-to-day basis.
Gates also was meeting with Odierno's successor, Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin. Odierno is returning to Washington and has been nominated by Bush for promotion to four-star rank and assignment as Army vice chief of staff.
In his talks with Iraqi political leaders Gates said he intended to make clear "our continued eagerness for them to proceed and successfully conclude some of this legislation," which has taken longer than many had hoped.
Before his latest visit to Iraq, Gates said in a speech in Munich that NATO's survival was at stake in the debate over how the United States and Europe should share the burden of fighting Islamic extremism in Afghanistan.
As Gates cited signs of political progress, the U.S. military said a car bomb exploded near an Iraqi checkpoint in an open-market area north of Baghdad, killing at least 23 civilians and wounding 25. Earlier, the military said a diary and another document seized during U.S. raids show some al-Qaida in Iraq leaders fear the terrorist group is crumbling, with many fighters defecting to American-backed neighborhood groups.
Bush, in an interview broadcast Sunday in the United States, discussed the long-term U.S. relationship with Iraq. "We will be there at the invitation of the Iraqi government. ... We won't have permanent bases. I do believe it is in our interests and the interests of the Iraqi people that we do enter into an agreement on how we are going to conduct ourselves over the next years."
Last year, Bush ordered five additional Army brigades to Iraq. One of those brigades left in December and the other four are due to come out by July, leaving 15 brigades, or about 130,000 to 135,000 troops — the same number as before Bush sent the reinforcements.
Petraeus recently said it would be prudent to "let things settle a bit" before embarking on a new round of cuts. Gates has not said whether he agreed with Petraeus, though the secretary noted other commanders and service chiefs would weigh in with their opinions.
Bush, who met with Petraeus during his recent trip to the Middle East, said in the broadcast interview, "My message to the general was success is paramount and therefore, whatever you recommend, make it based upon the need to succeed."
"So we said, `What is succeed? What does succeed mean? It means there's enough security and stability for this reconciliation to continue to take place and for democracy to take hold," Bush said.
The president said he did not know what Petraeus or the Pentagon would recommend later this year on troop levels. "I will listen — give them careful consideration and make up my mind. But it's going to be based upon whether or not we can succeed or not."
At the German conference, Gates acknowledged that the U.S. has had innumerable disputes with its NATO allies in the 59 years since the security alliance was founded as a bulwark against the former Soviet Union. But Gates portrayed today's debate over the importance of the mission in Afghanistan and how to accomplish as among the most difficult ever.
A central theme was that al-Qaida extremists, either in Afghanistan or elsewhere, pose a greater threat to Europe than many Europeans realize.
Gates said the Bush administration had learned from mistakes made in Iraq, including the need to more closely integrate the civilian-led stabilization efforts with the military efforts. He said the U.S. and NATO must apply that lesson in Afghanistan to assure success.
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