Free Internet Press Newsletter - Sunday July 8 2007 - (813)

Sunday July 8 2007 edition
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U.S. Troops: Iraq Outposts Plan May Be Flawed 2007-07-08 02:12:32 The neighborhood outposts that the U.S. military launched with great fanfare in Baghdad early this year were supposed to put more American patrols on the streets and make residents feel safer. But some soldiers stationed at the posts and Iraqis who live nearby say they are doing the opposite. The outposts, along with joint U.S.-Iraqi security stations, form a cornerstone of the current Iraq strategy. Following a classic counterinsurgency tenet, military planners are trying to take U.S. forces out of their distant, sprawling military bases and into the day-to-day lives of Iraqis. Although senior U.S. commanders and mid-level officers say they believe the bases are starting to work, many soldiers stationed at the outposts are doubtful, arguing that the burden of protecting the bases means they spend less time on the streets. Read The Full Story Goals For Iraq Unmet, Bush Plans To Promote Smaller Steps 2007-07-08 02:11:59 The Iraqi government is unlikely to meet any of the political and security goals or timelines President Bush set for it in January when he announced a major shift in U.S. policy, according to senior administration officials closely involved in the matter. As they prepare an interim report due next week, officials are marshaling alternative evidence of progress to persuade Congress to continue supporting the war. In a preview of the assessment it must deliver to Congress in September, the administration will report that Sunni tribal leaders in Anbar province are turning against the group al-Qaeda in Iraq in growing numbers; that sectarian killings were down in June; and that Iraqi political leaders managed last month to agree on a unified response to the bombing of a major religious shrine, said officials. Those achievements are markedly different from the benchmarks Bush set when he announced his decision to send tens of thousands of additional troops to Iraq. More troops, Bush said, would enable the Iraqis to proceed with provincial elections this year and pass a raft of power-sharing legislation. In addition, he said, the government of President Nouri al-Maliki planned to "take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November." Read The Full Story U.S. Dollar Takes A Pounding From World Interest Rates 2007-07-08 02:11:10 British holidaymakers jetting to America this summer will be able to distract themselves from rising mortgage payments by snapping up bargains with cheap dollars, as the foreign exchange markets bet on another rise in interest rates. Sterling ended last week at $2.01 after hitting a 26-year high above $2.02 against the dollar as the Bank of England pushed up borrowing costs for the fifth time in less than a year; but analysts say the dollar sell-off is set to continue, as rates rise further. "The dollar is taking a good beating," said David Bloom, currency strategist at HSBC. "Interest rates are higher around the world, and the U.S. is no longer seen as the first port of call for cash any more." Fears of another rate rise by the end of the year were exacerbated by a sharp jump in oil prices on Friday, which could give inflation a renewed boost. Read The Full Story Cheney 'Fatigue' Settles Over Some Republicans 2007-07-07 15:01:59 Dick Cheney, who thrives on secrecy while pulling the levers of power, is getting caught in the glare of an unwelcome spotlight. Once viewed as a sage and mentor to President Bush, Cheney has approval ratings now that are as low as - or lower - than the president's. Recent national polls have put them both in the high 20s. Bush's decision to spare former Cheney aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby from a 2-year prison sentence has focused new attention on the vice president and his possible role in the commutation. Cheney's relentless advocacy of the Iraq war, his push to expand presidential authority and his hard-line rhetoric toward North Korea and Iran are raising concerns even among former loyalists now worried about the GOP's chances in 2008. It seems Cheney fatigue is settling in some Republican circles. Read The Full Story New High Temperature Records Seen Across U.S. West 2007-07-07 15:01:27 Hilary Hartner dipped her dyed-black mohawk into a downtown fountain as the thermometer surged toward triple digits here on Friday. She then lifted her head to explain a main reason she was moving back to Portland, Oregon. “It’s too extreme here,” said Hartner, 25, whose border collie, Domino, cooled off in the water as well. “Way too hot.” A few steps away, Marilyn Parker and a friend walked back to work after having lunch at a cafe, where they chose not to sit outside on the brick patio. “It’s like stepping into your oven,” said Parker. “Of course, that’s a dry heat, too. You get accustomed to it, but I wouldn’t like a steady diet of this.” Read The Full Story More Than 100 Die In Iraq Suicide Explosion 2007-07-07 15:00:41 A suicide bomber detonated a truck full of explosives in the crowded outdoor market of a Shiite farm town on Saturday, killing more than 100 people and levelling houses and stores, said police officials. The blast north of Baghdad, hours after a smaller suicide bombing in another Shiite village killed more than 20, suggested Sunni militants are regrouping to launch attacks in regions further away from the capital where security is thinner. Saturday's blast ripped through a market in Armili around 8:30 a.m., destroying old mud-brick houses and setting cars on fire. Farmers' pickup trucks drove victims 30 miles to the nearest health facility, in Tuz Khormato. Authorities and residents spent hours digging bodies out of the rubble of two dozen shops and houses, said police. Accounts of the final toll varied, hampered by the difficulty of the search and the farming town's remote location. Read The Full Story Britain Spends $6 Billion For Emergency Radios That Are 'Seriously Flawed' 2007-07-07 14:58:02 Equipment that allows Britain's emergency services to cope in the event of a terrorist attack is seriously flawed, according to new research. A week after the terrorist bomb attempts on London and Glasgow airport and on the second anniversary of the 7/7 bombings, a study is expected to question the efficiency of the £3 billion ($6 billion)  Airwave communication system commissioned by Britain's Home Office, which should allow all the different emergency services to communicate with each other. The system has been controversial because its implementation has been delayed. Communication was identified as a key failing during the reaction to the 7/7 attacks, when terrorists killed 52 people in London. The emergency services lost radio contact with each other underground and doctors were unsure which hospitals to send casualties to. But research by the London assembly's 7/7 review committee suggests the system is erratic in certain buildings because of metal in the infrastructure. Researchers have been told that the radios won't even work in some police stations and in some retail outlets. The fault is said to raise questions about their effectiveness underground, where deficiencies in communication between the emergency services called to the 7/7 atrocities were most extreme. Read The Full Story	Heat Wave Fuels Western Wildfires 2007-07-08 02:12:17 As a heat wave made parched terrain even drier, wildfires dotted the West on Saturday, forcing authorities to evacuate homes and close highways and wilderness areas. Hundreds of people in Winnemucca were ordered to leave their homes Saturday night because of an 8,000-acre wildfire, one of more than a dozen blazes that charred a combined 55 square miles in northern Nevada. A 100-mile stretch of Interstate 15 in central Utah was closed when a 160,000-acre wildfire jumped the highway, and other fires burned in California, Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The fire near Winnemucca, a town of 8,000 about 170 miles east of Reno, threatened up to eight blocks of homes and an electrical substation, said U.S. Bureau of Land Management spokesman Jamie Thompson. Read The Full Story U.S. Aborted Raid On Al-Qaeda Chiefs In Pakistan In 2005 2007-07-08 02:11:32 A secret military operation in early 2005 to capture senior members of al-Qaeda in Pakistan's in tribal areas was aborted at the last minute after top Bush administration officials decided it was too risky and could jeopardize relations with Pakistan, according to intelligence and military officials. The target was a meeting of Qaeda leaders that intelligence officials thought included Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden's top deputy and the man believed to run the terrorist group’s operations. But the mission was called off after Donald H. Rumsfeld, then the defense secretary, rejected an 11th-hour appeal by Poter J. Goss, then the director of the Centrl Intelligence Agency, said officials. Members of a Navy Seals unit in parachute gear had already boarded C-130 cargo planes in Afghanistan when the mission was canceled, said a former senior intelligence official involved in the planning. Read The Full Story Islamabad Mosque Siege Enters Fifth Day Without Resolution 2007-07-07 15:02:12 Positions hardened in the standoff at the Red Mosque on Saturday, as a peace effort collapsed amid a hail of gunfire and President Pervez Musharraf called on Islamic radicals hunkered down inside to surrender or face death. The siege entered its fifth day Saturday, and there was no resolution in sight. The militants seemed determined to continue fighting rather than lay down their weapons. The government, meanwhile, has refused to negotiate and has said it will accept nothing less than unconditional surrender. "If they don't surrender, I'm saying it here, they will be killed," Musharraf told reporters in his first public comments on the siege. Musharraf said he believed that the government had "shown great patience because we don't want people to be killed. We could have done everything. The government has the power, but there are women and children." Read The Full Story More Heat Ahead For Sweltering West 2007-07-07 15:01:42 An oppressive heat wave eased a bit in some parts of the West, but forecasters predicted little relief in the days ahead for a region where many cities have baked in triple-digit temperatures. The National Weather Service issued a red flag wildfire warning for Saturday in eastern Utah and western Colorado, where temperatures were again expected to approach or top 100. Extreme heat plagued much of Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Oregon and Washington state again on Friday. In Montana, where cattle outnumber residents by more than 2 to 1, livestock and people sought shade and drought-weary farmers watched for damage to grain. "We are trying to get our hay up before it disintegrates," said cattle rancher Sharon McDonald near Melville. "It just gets crispy and just falls apart." Read The Full Story Giuliani Jeered For Opposing Flat Tax 2007-07-07 15:01:03 Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani drew jeers Saturday for saying he does not think a flat federal income tax is right for the country. At a town hall meeting, several dozen people wearing white flat tax T-shirts and hats and carrying signs expressed their disappointment when Giuliani said he would not favor a flat tax. ''I don't think a flat tax is realistic change for America. Our economy is dependent upon the way our tax system operates,'' said the former New York City mayor. ''I have a real question whether it would be the right transition for our economy.'' People generally would lose breaks such as mortgage interest and charitable donation deductions but pay federal income taxes at a single - and lower - rate. Flat tax proposals typically promise simpler paperwork and the elimination of taxes on estates, capital gains and dividends. Read The Full Story Scientists Urge A Search For Life Not As We Know It 2007-07-07 14:58:50 A panel of scientists convened by the country’s leading scientific advisory group says the hunt for extraterrestrial life should be greatly expanded to include what they call “weird life”: organisms that lack DNA or other molecules found in life as we know it. “The committee’s investigation makes clear that life is possible in forms different from those on Earth,” the scientists conclude in their report, “The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems,” published yesterday by the National Research Council. Other experts hailed the report as an important rethinking of the search for life. “It’s going to help us a lot to make sure we go exploring with our eyes wide open,” said Michael A. Meyer, lead scientist for NASA'sMars exploration program. Read The Full Story
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