Daily News Online - News and Commentary

Bush Blocks Full Funds for Fight Against Terrorists

4/2/2004

President Bush has repeatedly said he is committed to doing whatever it takes to "cut off terrorist finances" in order to win the War on Terror 1. But according to a new report, the president is trying to kill a desperate request by his own officials to increase the number of investigators needed to disrupt the finances of Al Qaeda.

The New York Times reports the president is trying to eliminate a $12 million request by the IRS, which says it needs the small injection of new money "to increase by 50% the number of criminal financial investigators" necessary to do its part in the fight against terrorism 2.

The president could easily fund the program by reducing the tax cuts he wants to give to the 200,000 millionaires in America: instead of giving these millionaires an average tax cut of $88,326 he could simply reduce that tax cut by $60, giving them instead $88,266, while using the savings to fully fund the IRS request 3. Instead, President Bush is pushing more than $1 trillion in new tax cuts, while ignoring the request 4.

The Washington Post reported last week that immediately after 9/11, the White House "cut by nearly two-thirds an emergency request for counterterrorism funds by the FBI" 5.

1, President Recaps Historic Week in Domestic and Foreign Affairs, WhiteHouse.org11/23/2002.

2, "I.R.S. Request for More Terrorism Investigators Is Denied", New York Times, 03/31/2004.

3, "HOYER ON THE HOMELAND SECURITY BILL: A One Billion Dollar Trade-Off", 06/24/2003.

4, "Bush wants tax cuts to stay", Washington Times, 01/20/2004.

5, "FBI Budget Squeezed After 9/11", Washington Post, 03/22/2004.

A Growing Unity Against Israel

4/2/2004

Former rivals, Hamas, al-Aqsa, Fatah and the Islamic Jihad have forged alliances. A shift that is complicating Israeli efforts to thwart major attacks and blurring the ideological lines between nationalist and religious factions, according to Palestinian militants, analysts and senior Israeli military officials. -- full story

Bush Aides Block Clinton's Papers From 9/11 Panel

4/2/2004

The Sept. 11 commission said on Thursday that it has pressed the White House to explain why the Bush administration had blocked thousands of pages of classified foreign policy and counterterrorism documents from Bill Clinton's White House files from being turned over to the panel's investigators.

The White House confirmed on Thursday that it had withheld a variety of these classified documents that had been gathered by the National Archives over the last two years in response to requests from the commission. - full story

'I saw papers that show US knew al-Qa'ida would attack cities with aeroplanes'

4/2/2004

A former translator for the FBI with top-secret security clearance says she has provided information to the panel investigating the 11 September attacks which proves senior officials knew of al-Qa'ida's plans to attack the US with aircraft months before the strikes happened.

She said the claim by the National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, that there was no such information was "an outrageous lie". - full story

US Promises Overwhelming Response to Iraq Killings

4/2/2004

U.S. troops Thursday promised an "overwhelming" response to brutal killings in the Iraqi town of Falluja and vowed to hunt down those who shot four American security contractors and mutilated their bodies.

"Coalition forces will respond," the U.S. Army's deputy director of operations, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, told a news conference. "They are coming back and they are going to hunt down the people responsible for this bestial act. - full story

US newspaper ban plays into cleric's hands

4/1/2004

Though the Americans might be attempting to silence a vocal and vitriolic critic of their efforts in Iraq, the move plays directly into Muqtada's hands. Hamid Bayati, the spokesmen for the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, confirmed that the move would only "provoke Muqtada Sadr's supporters", and confirm Iraqi suspicions that Americans are hypocritical and selective in their application of democracy. The occupying forces have already punished alJazeera and al-Arabiya, two Arabic satellite news networks, for broadcasting programs the Americans found distasteful. - full story

Iraq Trade Fair Postponed as Security Fears Grow

4/1/2004

A high-profile U.S.-sponsored trade fair for companies rebuilding Iraq was postponed Thursday, a day after the grisly killing and mutilation of four American security contractors deepened fears of worsening security.
Full story

Record-Setting Bush Fundraising Drive Nears Climax

4/1/2004

President Bush's lavish campaign fund-raising drive neared its record-shattering climax on Wednesday at a Washington hotel where over 1,000 Bush supporters forked over $1.5 million for a salmon dinner.

Analysts believe Bush has already reached or exceeded his $170 million fund-raising target for the 2004 race -- a level that would shatter the $100 million record he set during his 2000 contest against Democrat Al Gore. full story

White House To Build $100 Billion Shield Against Richard Clarke

4/2/2004

Satire By Tom Burka

Condoleezza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld gave a joint press conference this morning in which they announced that the greatest threat to the nation's security are "rogue employees" that "threaten to undermine the security and confidence of the nation." - full story

September 12th, And Beyond

4/2/2004

By Oliver Willis

What we do know is that (according to the 9/11 commission's report) Al Qaeda's chatter spiked significantly in the Summer of 2001, indicating that something aimed at the domestic USA was planned. Which is why it sounds like Bush and his team were either stupid or looking for a patsy as they wandered around the White House wondering if Iraq was behind the 9.11 attack. It would be one thing if you or I thought someone like Iraq was the aggressor, but most of us don't have national security briefings every morning or the FBI, CIA, NSA and the armed forces on speed dial either. In other words, I would expect the leader of the free world and his defense secretary to have a somewhat better grip on who exactly is trying to murder us. - full story

The Outsourcing Challenge

4/1/2004

By David Yaseen

American jobs moving overseas is a big story this election year. This is a problem that isn't going to fix itself. - full story

Blood Makes Noise

3/31/2004

By Delton Murphy

It's a bit hard to sell an Iraqi democracy package when so little regard is shown toward those civilians killed in an unjustified, unsubstantiated and unnecessary war.-full story

Two Brains Against Terrorism

3/30/2004

The Bait-and-Switch Attack on the Judiciary

3/30/2004

By Mike Hinds

Rep. Ron Lewis' "Congressional Accountability for Judicial Activism Act" is the Right's latest salvo against the English Language, the Judicial branch, and the Constitution. - full story

American as Apple Pie

3/30/2004

By Avedon Carol

In 2004 it seems like it must have been a dream, but America once tried to stamp out poverty. The amazing thing is, some people believe it could really be done. - full story

America's Rendezvous With Manifest Destiny Part 1 of Three

3/30/2004

By Raymond McInnis

In this series I write on the linkage in American history among three successive hegemonic predilections of American policies, domestic and foreign: (1) manifest destiny, (2) the Monroe Doctrine, and (3) the pre-emptive strike doctrine. The third doctrine, the concept of pre-emptive strike, is often labeled global hegemony or neoimperial grand strategy. I give particular focus to the racist roots of each of these doctrines. - full story

Round One to the Bush Administration

3/29/2004

By Drew Vogel

Satire: The Bush Administration's highly credible and effective counter-attack against Richard Clarke has shown the latter to be nothing more than a cheap stooge of the Democratic Party. - full story

The Bush Campaign

3/27/2004

By Timothy R. Gray

Campaigning on the war in Iraq is dangerous. On other major issues of the day: outsourcing, the long term viability of social security, prescription drugs, and unemployment, Mr. Bush has no major policies in action to address them. In short, Mr. Bush is only left with terrorism as a political asset and the polls show it. - full story

Bush: Bad on Terrorism Before 9/11; Even Worse Since

3/27/2004

By Bob Goodsell

Substantial damage has been done to Bush's undeserved reputation for being "strong on terror" because of the revelations about his inattentiveness to the subject before 9/11. But the far greater crimes have been committed since 9/11. Not only have tens of thousands of mostly innocent people died in the brutal wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but America and the world are in more danger from terrorism now than they were in 2001. - full story

War

3/26/2004

By Dave Johnson

Now that our country has done this, how will we be able to ask people to sacrifice when it really IS necessary? - full story

A Little Nervous?

While some would call Dr. Rice a female version of "The Incredible Hulk", this strange phenomenon (click on the link below) captured on picture, was simply attributed to her fear of having to testify under oath :

"The Incredible Condo"

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