Free Internet Press Newsletter - Tuesday August 28 2007 - (813)

Tuesday August 28 2007 edition
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Iraq Weapons Are Focus Of Federal Criminal Investigations 2007-08-28 01:52:25 Several federal agencies are investigating a widening network of criminal cases involving the purchase and delivery of billions of dollars of weapons, supplies and other materiel to Iraqi and American forces, according to American officials. The officials said it amounted to the largest ring of fraud and kickbacks uncovered in the conflict in Iraq. The inquiry has already led to several indictments of Americans, with more expected, said the officials. One of the investigations involves a senior American officer who worked closely with Gen. David H. Petreaus in setting up the logistics operation to supply the Iraqi forces when General Petraeus was in charge of training and equipping those forces in 2004 and 2005, American officials said Monday. There is no indication that investigators have uncovered any wrongdoing by General Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, who, through a spokesman, declined comment on any legal proceedings. This article is based on interviews with more than a dozen federal investigators, Congressional, law enforcement and military officials, and specialists in contracting and logistics, in Iraq and Washington, who have direct knowledge of the inquiries. Many spoke on condition of anonymity because there are continuing criminal investigations. Read The Full Story U.S. House To Hold Hearings On Two New Reports On Iraq 2007-08-28 01:51:45 The U.S. House of Representatives will hold hearings next week on two key reports assessing political and military conditions in Iraq,jump-starting the debate over President Bush's strategy even before long-awaited testimony by Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, due the following week. A completed 70-page report by the Government Accountability Office, to be delivered to Congress next Tuesday, paints a bleak picture of prospects for Iraqi political reconciliation, according to administration officials who have seen it. The second report, by an independent commission of military experts, is being drafted, but a scorecard on the Iraqi security forces released Monday by an adviser to the group concluded that the Iraqis are years away from taking over significant responsibility from U.S. combat forces. The two reports - and hearings on them in the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees - will set a largely negative backdrop for Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Crocker, who are expected to testify together in a joint hearing before the two House committees and in a separate session in the Senate. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) has objected to a Pentagon proposal that they appear on Sept. 11, a Pelosi spokesman said, and the exact date remains under negotiation. Read The Full Story FAA Orders Checks Of Boeing's Airplanes After Fire 2007-08-28 01:50:55 Federal regulators ordered airlines to inspect the wings of more than 700 Boeing jets in response to a fire that destroyed a plane after it landed in Japan last week, officials said Monday. The inspections will affect more than 780 next-generation Boeing 737s operated by U.S. carriers, including AirTran  and American, Southwest and Continental airlines. The Federal Aviation Administration order focuses on the planes' slats, which are attached to the front edge of both wings and are deployed during takeoffs and landings to increase lift. The order was prompted by an accident involving a China Airlines 737, which erupted in a fireball after landing on the Japanese island of Okinawa on Aug. 20, FAA officials said. All 165 people on board escaped uninjured. Read The Full Story Gonzales Departure Won't End Congressional Investigations 2007-08-27 19:55:22 Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' resignation Monday after months of draining controversy drew expressions of relief from Republicans and a vow from Democrats to pursue their investigation into fired federal prosecutors. President Bush, Gonzales' most dogged defender, told reporters he had accepted the resignation reluctantly. "His good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons," said Bush. The president named Paul Clement, the solicitor general, as a temporary replacement. With less than 18 months remaining in office, there was no indication when Bush would name a successor - or how quickly or easily the Senate might confirm one. Read The Full Story Greek Fires May Be Treated As Acts Of Terrorism 2007-08-27 19:54:46 A Greek prosecutor Monday ordered an investigation into whether arson attacks, which have been blamed for the worst forest fires in decades, could be considered terrorist acts. The public order ministry said Dimitris Papangelopoulos, who is responsible for prosecuting terrorism and organised crime, ordered the investigation to determine "whether the crimes of arsonists and of arson attacks on forests carried out in the country during the summer of 2007" could come under Greece's anti-terrorism law. Article continues The investigation would also seek to identify those who were responsible, said the statement. At least 63 people have died in the fires. A blaze broke out Monday on the fringes of Athens, burning down a slope of Mount Ymittos and threatening a suburb of the capital. Read The Full Story Many Take U.S. Army's $20,000 'Quick Ship' Bonus 2007-08-27 14:58:08 More than 90 percent of the Army's new recruits since late July have accepted a $20,000 "quick ship" bonus to leave for basic combat training by the end of September, putting thousands of Americans into uniform almost immediately. Many recruits who take the bonus - scoring in many cases the equivalent of more than a year's pay - leave their homes within days, recruiters said. The initiative is part of an effort by Army officials to meet year-end recruiting goals after a two-month slump earlier this year. With the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, the Army hopes the extra cash motivates those interested in joining or entices those just considering enlisting. The program began on July 25, and in three weeks the Army had enlisted 3,814 recruits using the bonus, according to the U.S. Army Recruiting Command in Fort Knox, Kentucky. Those recruits accounted for 92 percent of the 4,149 recruits who signed contracts between July 25 and Aug. 13. The $20,000 bonus is a hefty sum for many of the individuals the Army targets most aggressively: young men and women who have not settled on a career. The Army estimates that soldiers coming out of initial training are paid $17,400 a year on average. Read The Full Story Home Sales Hit Slowest Pace In 5 Years 2007-08-27 14:57:41 Sales of existing homes dropped for a fifth straight month in July, falling to the slowest pace in nearly five years, while home prices fell for a record 12th consecutive month. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes dipped by 0.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.75 million units. The median price of a home sold last month slid to $230,200, down by 0.6 percent from the median price a year ago. It marked the 12th consecutive month that home prices have declined, a record stretch. The deep slump in housing, combined with recent severe turmoil in financial markets, has raised worries about a possible recession. Many economists believe the Federal Reserve will ward off a full-blown downturn by reducing a key short-term interest rate should financial market conditions fail to stabilize. Read The Full Story Russia Arrests 10 In Journalist Politkovskaya's Murder 2007-08-27 14:56:57 Russia on Monday announced that 10 people have been arrested in the killing of journalist and Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya,including law enforcement officers and a Chechen crime boss accused of organizing the slaying. Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika said the 10 will soon be charged with the Oct. 7 killing of Politkovskaya, who revealed human rights abuses in war-scarred Chechnya, and he suggested her murder was plotted outside Russia to discredit its leadership. Her slaying blackened the reputation of President Vladimir Putin's resurgent Russia and deepened Western concerns about the safety of journalists and government critics in the country. Read The Full Story Embattled U.S. Attorney General Gonzales Resigns 2007-08-27 13:39:13 Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales announced his resignation Monday, ending a controversial cabinet tenure that included clashes with Congress over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys and over the use of warrantless wiretaps in the war on terror. The first Hispanic to hold the job, Gonzales will step down on Sept. 17. In a brief statement, he called his 13 years in public service a "remarkable journey," but he gave no explanation about why he chose to resign now after resisting months of pressure to quit. In a brief statement from an airport tarmac in Waco, Texas, President Bush praised Gonzales as "a man of integrity, decency and principle." The president also asserted that his attorney general had been unfairly maligned. "It's sad that we live in a time when a talented and honorable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeded from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons," said Bush. Read The Full Story	Police Feel Wartime Pinch On Ammunition 2007-08-28 01:52:02 Target practice cut to conserve bullets. The U.S. military's soaring demand for small-arms ammunition, fueled by two wars abroad, has left domestic police agencies less able to quickly replenish their supplies, leading some to conserve rounds by cutting back on weapons training, said police officials. To varying degrees, said officials in Montgomery, Loudoun and Anne Arundel counties [in the Washington, D.C., area], they have begun rationing or making other adjustments to accommodate delivery schedules that have changed markedly since the military campaigns began in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Before the war, lag time from order to delivery was three to four months; now it's six months to a year," said James Gutshall, property supervisor for the Loudoun Sheriff's Office. "I purchased as much as I could this year because I was worried it would be a problem." Montgomery police began limiting the amount of ammunition available to officers on the practice range a little more than year ago, said Lucille Baur, a county police spokeswoman. The number of cases a group of officers can use in a training session has been cut from 10 to three. Read The Full Story French President Sarkozy Raise Possibility Of Force Against Iran 2007-08-28 01:51:11 In his first major foreign policy speech, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Monday that Iran could be attacked militarily if it did not live up to its international obligations to curb its nuclear program. Addressing France’s ambassadorial corps, Sarkozy stressed that such an outcome would be a disaster. He did not say France would ever participate in military action against Iran or even tacitly support such an approach. Yet the mere fact that he raised the specter of the use of force is likely to be perceived both by Iran as a warning of the consequences if it continues its course of action, and by the Bush administration as acceptance of its line that no option, including the use of force, can be excluded. Read The Full Story U.S. Pressure Forces Iraq Move To Reconciliation 2007-08-27 19:55:36 Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, and fellow leaders in the country have reached consensus on key areas of national reconciliation, under mounting U.S. pressure to demonstrate political progress on the eve of a key report to Congress on the Baghdad security "surge". The Shia prime minister appeared on television flanked by Jalal Talabani, the country's Kurdish president, and the Sunni vice-president, Tareq al-Hashemi, to announce a deal on easing restrictions on former members of the Ba'ath party joining the civil service and military. Easing de-Ba'athification laws passed after the 2003 U.S. invasion has long been seen as a vital step if disenchanted Sunnis, who formed the backbone of Saddam Hussein's regime and, since its fall, of the insurgency, are to be persuaded to take part in Iraqi political life. Agreement was also reported on holding provincial elections and releasing detainees held without charge across the country, two more of the "benchmarks" set by the Bush administration for political movement it hopes will stave off mounting congressional demands for a withdrawal from Iraq. Read The Full Story Commentary: Sinking Ship Leaves Rat 2007-08-27 19:55:06 Intellpuke: The following commentary was written by Michael Tomasky, the Guardian's editor in the U.S. and appears in the Guardian edition for Monday, August 27, 2007. In his commentary, Mr. Tomasky writes that Alberto Gonzales lived up to his nickname "Fredo" - the sychophantic Mafia sidekick, always trying to please the Don. Mr. Tomasky's commentary follows: Back when George Bush, in the picture presented by the U.S. media, was a visionary leader who was protecting us from evil, and a swell guy you'd like to have a beer with to boot, the press corps in Washington used to devote far too much attention to the president's penchant for bestowing on those around him little nicknames. In its flattering way, the press tried to invest this habit of Bush's with the sense that it was indicative of a particularly sharp wit. This didn't always work on the printed page for the simple reason that most of these names were so banal and unimaginative that any reasonably intelligent drinker could have invented them on the spot at his or her barstool: "Barney" for conservative journalist Fred Barnes, "Corndog" for senator John Cornyn and so on. One nickname, though, always stood out as freighted with a great deal of meaning, though not the sort a fawning press corps of the sort Bush enjoyed in the early years of his presidency would discuss. Alberto Gonzales, the long-time Bush associate who just announced his resignation as attorney general, was dubbed "Fredo." Fredo, of course, was the hapless Corleone brother of Mario Puzo's Mafia novel. Forever getting in trouble and, more importantly, getting Michael in trouble. Screwing things up. Trying too hard, like lining up hookers for a strictly-business trip Michael made to Vegas. In the end, betraying his family to Hyman Roth, and finally getting iced by his own brother, the Godfather. Read The Full Story U.S. Senator Pleads Guilty To Disorderly Conduct 2007-08-27 19:54:31 U.S. Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) pleaded guilty this month to misdemeanor disorderly conduct after being arrested at the Minneapolis airport. A Hennepin County court docket showed Craig pleading guilty to the disorderly conduct charge Aug. 8, with the court dismissing a charge of gross misdemeanor interference to privacy. The court docket said the Republican senator was fined $1,000, plus $575 in fees. He was put on unsupervised probation for a year. A sentence of 10 days in the county workhouse was stayed. Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, which first reported the case, said on its Web site Monday that Craig was arrested June 11 by a plainclothes officer investigating complaints of lewd conduct in a men's restroom at the airport. Read The Full Story Stocks Fall Following Drop In July Home Sales, Spike In Inventories 2007-08-27 14:57:54 Wall Street retreated Monday, losing momentum from last week's gains after news that sales of existing homes slipped in July for a fifth straight month stirred concerns about the strength of the economy. Sales of existing homes slowed to their to their most sluggish pace in nearly five years, while home prices fell for a record 12th straight month. The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales slipped by 0.2 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.75 million units. Inventories rose 5.1 percent to a record 4.59 million units. The pullback wasn't unexpected given last week's rally and that Wall Street is still trying to sort out concerns about failing mortgages and tighter access to credit for both individuals and corporations. A fresh round of buyout news perhaps limited the stock market's losses Monday. "I think there is still a little bit of nervousness about the credit market but that seems to be abating slowly," said Brian Gendreau, an investment strategist for ING Investment Management. "We had a very strong week last week, and I wouldn't attribute this downmarket to any return to panic," he said, referring to concerns about bad loans and a drying up of liquidity that upset markets in recent weeks. "I think it's just a normal down day." Read The Full Story Cutbacks Mount In D.C. Real Estate Industry 2007-08-27 14:57:22 The Washington, D.C., area real estate industry, already pinched by a slowdown in residential construction, is bracing for further retrenchment after last week's meltdown in the mortgage market. In recent months, companies have begun cutting back in big ways and small. A Prince George's County builder laid off four workers and turned off the spigot for new projects. A four-person title company in Arlington is cutting its staff by one after watching business fall. A Fredericksburg drywaller let his 10 employees go and is struggling to keep the business afloat. Individually the cuts are not large, but collectively they are beginning to add up across the region. Economists estimate that the real estate industry accounts for 12 to 15 percent of the jobs in the Washington area. The sector has played a large role in the region's economic growth over the past five years, and economists are watching recent events for signs of whether the slowdown will begin to drag down consumer spending and other parts of the local economy. Read The Full Story Dropping In Polls, Japan's Prime Minister Reshuffles Cabinet 2007-08-27 14:55:30 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sought to overturn sinking approval ratings and calls for his resignation Monday by forming a new cabinet made up of political veterans. Abe, 52, appointed heavyweights from his governing Liberal Democratic Party, including several former ministers and faction leaders, in an apparent bid to forge internal support for his severely weakened leadership. The new cabinet’s makeup was in sharp contrast to the previous one, which was derided even by Abe’s supporters as a “buddy-buddy cabinet” of inexperienced friends and supporters. Among top positions, Nobutaka Machimura, 62, was appointed foreign minister, a position he had held under former Prime Minister Junichiro Koisumi;he replaced Taro Aso, 66, who was appointed secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, the party’s No. 2 after the prime minister. Read The Full Story Analysis: Gonzales-Bush Loyalty A Two-Way Street 2007-08-27 13:38:56 After arriving in Washington with President Bush in 2001, Alberto Gonzales stood out for his unflappable nature and intense loyalty to the president. With what some called his willingness to interpret the law to fit his boss's priorities and his long political ties with Bush, Gonzales was among the president's closest confidants. It is for good reason that Bush sometimes referred to Gonzales as " mi abogado" and kept him close by. In 1996, he helped then-Texas Gov. Bush avoid jury duty where he might have been forced to reveal a 20-year-old charge of driving while intoxicated, which later surfaced anyway. Dozens of Gonzales memos to Bush supported the governor's desire to implement the death penalty in Texas. And as White House counsel and later as attorney general, Gonzales endorsed the creation of the controversial legal framework that guided the administration's war on terror, strongly backed by Vice President Cheney and legal conservatives but opposed by many scholars and partly overturned by the courts. If Gonzales, who resigned as attorney general Monday, served Bush well over the years, the reverse is also true. Through Bush's sponsorship, Gonzales ascended to the top of the Texas legal establishment before becoming what some scholars call one of the most influential Hispanic officials in the history of United States government. Through more than six years in Washington, Gonzales was unable to expand his base of support beyond the president and his inner circle, and finally appeared to succumb to blunt attacks from Republican as well as Democratic lawmakers over his mishandling of the firings of nine U.S. attorneys. Read The Full Story
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