Cheney's Pre-9/11 Task Force On Terrorism Never Met
Statement of Democratic Leader Daschle on the War on Terrorism, 24 March 2004
EXCERPT: During the nearly nine months it took the Administration to develop and sign off on its terrorism strategy, it does not appear the Bush Administration took any decisive or effective action to cripple Al Qaeda. Perhaps the most potentially significant action the Administration took prior to September 11 was in May 2001. At that time, reportedly in response to an increase in "chatter" about a potential Al Qaeda attack, President Bush appointed Vice President Cheney to head a task force "to combat terrorist attacks on the United States." But, according to The Washington Post and Newsweek, the Cheney Terrorism Task Force never met. The American people need to know whether this is true.

The War on Clarke
A former colleague of Richard Clarke speaks out on his experience with the controversial man, and why he's being attacked.
By Larry C. Johnson
TomPaine.com, 29 March 2004
EXCERPT: Richard Clarke must be wondering if explaining what the United States did not do in the war on terrorism is more dangerous than actually fighting the terrorists. Clarke, the former terrorism czar for both Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, is now being vilified by a host of Bush officials, including Dick Cheney and Condeleeza Rice, as a liar. The attack on Clarke, which consists of leaks, threats and intimidation tactics, has become the genuine hallmark of the Bush presidency. ... I was neither a personal friend nor fan of Richard Clarke when I was in government. Richard Clarke, in my experience, was arrogant and intense. He probably still is. (People who know me would suggest that I am the pot calling the kettle black.) However, Richard Clarke also is a competent professional who has served faithfully with Democratic and Republican administrations since the 1970s.
SEE ALSO: Clarke's View of Terrorism Unclouded (Common Dreams)
SEE ALSO: Clarke and the Media Failures of 9/11 (Common Dreams)
SEE ALSO: The Real Record: Two Administrations, Two Views (TP)
SEE ALSO: The 9/11 Bog: Partisan Bickering Drowns Out Revelations (Nation)

Ashcroft Quit Flying Commercial Jets in July, 2001
By Matt Bivens
The Nation, 29 March 2004
EXCERPT: Here's a head-scratcher of a CBS News report from July 2001: "Fishing rod in hand," the report begins, "Attorney General John Ashcroft left on a weekend trip to Missouri Thursday afternoon aboard a chartered government jet ... In response to inquiries from CBS News over why Ashcroft was traveling exclusively by leased jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines, the Justice Department cited what it called a 'threat assessment' by the FBI, and said Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet for the remainder of his term. ... Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department, however, would identify what the threat was, when it was detected or who made it." So apparently, six weeks before 9/11, the FBI was aware of a terror threat involving commercial airliners -- and in response, made sure that its boss wouldn't be on one.
SEE ALSO: The Original CBS News Report (CBS)

Celebrate National "I'm Embarrassed by My President" Day
DemocracyMeansYou, 1 April 2004
EXCERPT: Are you embarrassed by the arrogance, greed, shortsightedness, selfishness, and outright lies told by George W. Bush and his administration? Join tens of thousands of others across the country and world and wear a brown armband or ribbon to symbolize all the BS coming out of the White House. It's not just that I disagree with the current administration. I'm outraged. And I'm downright embarrassed to talk to anyone from another country. I'm embarrassed to have a President so arrogant, so dishonest, so hawkish, that in three years, he has nearly destroyed any good relations we had before he took office, and worsened those that were already bad. I find myself apologizing to my foreign friends both in this country and abroad while trying vainly to explain the sheer idiocy and illogic of the current administration's policies. So this April 1st, April Fools day, join tens of thousands of others who are wearing brown armbands or ribbons to signify the bullshit flowing down from Washington.
SEE ALSO: Bush's Odd Warfare State (Progressive)

Experts See No Law Barring Rice Testimony
By HOPE YEN
AP  in Yahoo! News, 29 March 2004
EXCERPT: There is no ironclad legal doctrine buttressing National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites)'s refusal to testify publicly before the panel investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, law experts said Monday. Rice already has spoken to the commission in private. But she says public testimony is protected by executive privilege. That principle says presidential advisers cannot be legally forced to disclose their confidential communications if that would adversely affect the operations of the executive branch. It is rare for White House advisers to testify publicly before Congress or congressionally appointed panels like the Sept. 11 commission. But exceptions exist, and legal scholars say they poke holes in Rice's argument.

Bush's Press Slaves
It's time for the Washington press corps to probe candidate Bush just as enthusiastically as they have John Kerry.
By Philip J. Trounstine
Salon, March 29, 2004
EXCERPT: The disclosures by former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, weapons inspector David Kay, counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke and other Bush administration insiders have altered the dynamics of the 2004 presidential contest. Whether George W. Bush has competently and honestly managed the nation's foreign and military affairs has become the central issue in the campaign. The question now is whether political writers covering the race will choose to continue to frame the election as the Bush-Cheney campaign has -- as a battle between the "war president" and an "unsteady" senator -- or whether they will shift their focus to what has finally emerged as the actual crux of the election. This is not to say that the economy, taxes, medical care, education and the environment are unimportant issues. Of course they're important. But in the light of 9/11, with U.S. troops deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq, and with a president who has defined his status as commander in chief as his overriding quality, it's time for political writers to place accountability of him on that measure at the center of their reporting.

Terror Aides Strangely Keep Turning On Bush
by Josh Marshall
The Hill, 25 March 2004
EXCERPT: It’s hard to remember another president who has suffered more abuse and betrayal from the government’s career civil service than George W. Bush. Again and again, it seems, the president hires some seemingly seasoned career counterterrorism hand, only to find out later that he’s actually a Democratic plant, a partisan stooge or just a plain fool.

"We Should Have Had Orange or Red-Type of Alert in June or July of 2001"
A former FBI translator told the 9/11 commission that the bureau had detailed information well before Sept. 11, 2001, that terrorists were likely to attack the U.S. with airplanes.
By Eric Boehlert
Salon, 26 March 2004
EXCERPT: A former FBI wiretap translator with top-secret security clearance, who has been called "very credible" by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has told Salon she recently testified to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States that the FBI had detailed information prior to Sept. 11, 2001, that a terrorist attack involving airplanes was being plotted. Referring to the Homeland Security Department's color-coded warnings instituted in the wake of 9/11, the former translator, Sibel Edmonds, told Salon, "We should have had orange or red-type of alert in June or July of 2001. There was that much information available." Edmonds is offended by the Bush White House claim that it lacked foreknowledge of the kind of attacks made by al-Qaida on 9/11. "Especially after reading National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice [Washington Post Op-Ed on March 22] where she said, we had no specific information whatsoever of domestic threat or that they might use airplanes. That's an outrageous lie. And documents can prove it's a lie." [bwusa italics]

Backlash Builds Against Bush Plan to Delay Mercury Clean-Up
BushGreenWatch, 26 March 2004
EXCERPT: Opposition to the Bush Administration's efforts to substantially delay a scheduled cleanup of mercury contamination gained momentum today when MoveOn.org joined forces with the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the Learning Disabilities Association and former EPA Administrator Carol Browner at a Washington, D.C. press conference denouncing the Bush plan.... "Most people think about mercury as an air pollution problem, but it's winding up on the end of our forks, spoiling one of the best food choices on the planet," EWG President Ken Cook told BushGreenwatch. High levels of mercury can be found in a wide range of America's ocean, stream and lake-bred fish, including large-mouth bass, swordfish, catfish, tuna, some shellfish and trout. President Bush has proposed classifying mercury as "less hazardous under the Clean Air Act, so he can delay a previously scheduled cleanup of this toxin, which contaminates fish from coal power plant emissions," according to a MoveOn.org media advisory.
SEE ALSO: UN Warns Sewage and Fertilizers are Killing Seas (Guardian)
SEE ALSO: Global Warming Spirals Upwards (Independent via ZNet)

29 March 2004

Clarke Challenges Rice to Reveal Secret E-Mails
Guardian (UK), 29 March 2004
EXCERPT: Richard Clarke, the former terrorism adviser whose revelations threaten to torpedo George Bush's re-election strategy, launched a counterattack yesterday at a White House that he said was determined to destroy him. In a riveting television performance, Mr Clarke called on his principal critic and former employer, the national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, to release the entire record of their emails in the months up to the September 11 terror attacks to prove his contention that the White House did not then take the threat of al-Qaida seriously. He also agreed to Republican demands to declassify testimony he gave to the Senate two years ago - to "prove" there were no inconsistencies. "Let's take all of my emails and all the memos I sent to the national security adviser and her deputy from January 20 to September 11 and let's declassify all of them," Mr Clarke told NBC television. Mr Clarke's bravura presentation surprised the Bush administration. The decision to stand his ground could also be destructive to Ms Rice. She has been under intense scrutiny for a week--largely for being the focus of Mr Clarke's charges that the Bush government did not see al-Qaida as a priority before September 11, but also because she refused to testify before the commission.
SEE ALSO:
White House Tension Rising
Clarke wants release of 9-11 notes to Rice; she's urged to testify publicly
Knight Ridder Newspapers, 28 March 2004
EXCERPT: Former White House counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke on Sunday challenged the White House to declassify documents related to the Sept. 11 attacks, as national security adviser Condoleezza Rice came under increasing pressure to testify publicly about the administration's efforts to thwart terrorism. ...Mr. Clarke also challenged the administration to release his communications with Dr. Rice when he was the top White House adviser on counterterrorism. "Let's take all of my e-mails and all of the memos that I sent to the national security adviser and her deputy from Jan. 20 to Sept. 11, and let's declassify all of it," Mr. Clarke said on NBC's Meet the Press. Top officials from the Sept. 11 commission pressed Dr. Rice to meet with the panel again in open session, but they stopped short of threatening to subpoena her. "To get into a court battle over a subpoena we don't think is really appropriate right now, nor will it help us," former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, a Republican and the panel's chairman, said on Fox News Sunday. "We are still going to press and still believe unanimously as a commission that we should hear from her in public." Commission member John Lehman, another Republican and a former Navy secretary, called Ms. Rice's refusal to testify in public "a political blunder of the first order" that has created the impression that White House officials have something to hide.

Shooting the Messenger
Conservatives should hail former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke, but instead they're smearing him.
By James Pinkerton
Salon, 29 March 2004
EXCERPT: Conservatives, ever suspicious of Big Government, should love a whistle-blower -- unless, of course, he’s former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke. The Washington Times calls Clarke "a political chameleon who is starved for attention after years of toiling anonymously in government bureaucracies." For neoconservative columnist Charles Krauthammer, Clarke is "a liar" and "not just a perjurer but a partisan perjurer." According to Ann Coulter, Clarke is a racist. Exiting the known world and entering into her own fantasyland, Coulter depicts Clarke musing about Condoleezza Rice: "the black chick is a dummy," whom Bush promoted from "cleaning the Old Executive Office Building at night." This ad hominem defamation is obviously intended to discredit the man in order to discredit his argument. But such low tactics aren’t usually attempted against a man whose allegations are corroborated by others, including the implicated parties -- and, most palpably, by events themselves.

Commission Calls for Rice Public Testimony
By T. Christian Miller
LA Times, 29 March 2004
EXCERPT: Top Republicans on the Sept. 11 commission joined Democrats Sunday in calling for national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to testify publicly under oath about a former subordinate's claims that the White House did not take seriously al-Qaida's threat to the United States. One commissioner called her failure to appear in an open session "a political blunder of the first order." But Rice again refused to do so, saying such an appearance would violate the "long-standing principle" of executive privilege.
SEE ALSO:
Rice Defends Refusal To Testify
Compromise Sought With 9/11 Commission
By Dana Milbank and Walter Pincus
Washington Post, 29 March 2004
EXCERPT: National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, at the center of a controversy over her refusal to testify before the Sept. 11 commission, yesterday renewed her determination not to give public testimony and said she could not list anything she wished she had done differently in the months before the 2001 terrorist attacks. Administration officials were searching for a compromise last night with the commission that would limit the political damage from her refusal to testify. But a defiant Rice gave no hint of that as she defended the Bush administration's counterterrorism performance on CBS's "60 Minutes" -- the same venue used a week earlier by former White House counterterrorism chief Richard A. Clarke to launch his criticism that the Bush administration did too little on terrorism before Sept. 11, 2001, and wound up strengthening al Qaeda by pursuing war in Iraq.

President Asked Aide to Explore Iraq Link to 9/11
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
New York Times, 29 March 2004
EXCERPT: Republican leaders have responded in force, suggesting that Mr. Clarke's testimony last week was at odds with the closed testimony he gave before the joint Congressional panel in 2002 and that he may have lied in one or both appearances. But intelligence officials familiar with his classified briefing said they were aware of no obvious contradictions. Mr. Ben-Veniste said he thought Mr. Clarke's earlier testimony should be declassified to resolve any dispute, but he added that "it is not my recollection that there were any notable or substantive differences in testimony. Mr. Clarke's Congressional testimony, given while he was still at the White House, put a more "positive spin" on the administration's counterterrorism efforts, just as he did in a 2002 press briefing that was released last week, said a senior Democratic Congressional aide who spoke on condition of anonymity. But factually, it did not appear to contradict what Mr. Clarke told the Sept. 11 commission last week, the aide said. Mr. Clarke's assessment last week is also generally consistent with journalistic and Congressional accounts of the early Bush administration's approach to terrorism. In Bob Woodward's "Bush at War," the president himself acknowledged that Osama bin Laden had not been a central focus in the eight months before the attacks. "I was not on point," Mr. Bush was quoted in the book as saying. "I have no hesitancy about going after him. But I didn't feel that sense of urgency, and my blood was not nearly as boiling." ...Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld appeared on "Fox News Sunday" and ABC's "This Week," disputing Mr. Clarke's charges that the administration had not devoted sufficient attention to terrorism and had been unduly focused on Iraq. And Terry Holt, the chief spokesman of the Bush campaign, called Mr. Clarke "a political opportunist" on CNN's "Inside Politics Sunday." Mr. Clarke said the administration is intent on attacking him personally through a "character assassination campaign" rather than debating the arguments he has raised about Mr. Bush's prosecution of the campaign against terrorism. "After 9/11, I say that by going into Iraq he has really hurt the war on terrorism," he said. "Now, because I say that, the administration doesn't want to talk on the merits of that. They don't want to talk about the effect on the war on terrorism of our invasion of Iraq." To rebut the administration's criticism of his credibility, he produced a handwritten letter from Mr. Bush at the time of his resignation, dated Jan. 31, 2003, that read: "Dear Dick: You will be missed. You served our nation with distinction and honor. You have left a positive mark on our government." Last week, the White House produced a resignation letter of its own — one from Mr. Clarke to Mr. Bush — in which the seasoned adviser praised the president for his "courage, determination, calm and leadership" on Sept. 11.

Signs of desperation?
Bush Campaign Blasts Kerry for Quoting Bible
By Nedra Pickler
Associated Press, 28 March 2004
EXCERPT: John Kerry (news - web sites) cited a Bible verse Sunday to criticize leaders who have "faith but has no deeds," prompting President Bush (news - web sites)'s spokesman to accuse Kerry of exploiting Scripture for a political attack. Kerry never mentioned Bush by name during his speech at New North Side Baptist Church, but aimed his criticism at "our present national leadership." Kerry cited Scripture in his appeal for the worshippers, including James 2:14, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?" "The Scriptures say, what does it profit, my brother, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?" Kerry said. "When we look at what is happening in America today, where are the works of compassion?" Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said Kerry's comment "was beyond the bounds of acceptable discourse and a sad exploitation of Scripture for a political attack."
SEE ALSO: Bush Cited Himself as Example of the Good Religion Can Do (CNN)
SEE ALSO: Al Franken on Bush's Bible Reading (Skeptics & Atheists)
SEE ALSO: Bush, Bible Not in Agreement (Daily Lobo, March 2003)

Drastic Medicare Reforms Hurt Seniors
By William D. Novelli
Dallas News, 28 March 2004
EXCERPT: In 2011, the first of 77 million baby boomers will turn 65. Coupled with the fiscal challenges documented in last week's Medicare trustees' report, there should be new urgency among political leaders, policymakers and the public to act now to ensure the long-term fiscal health of Medicare. But simply shifting the cost of health care from the government to individuals through such drastic measures as means testing, higher premiums and co-pays will not solve the problem. It may only diminish the quality of life for people as they age. And it could add even greater costs to the nation brought on by poorer health, decreased productivity and greater dependency

Medicare Drug Card to Offer a Plethora of Cures -- or One Big Headache
By Sarah Kellogg
mlive.com, 28 March 2004
EXCERPT: In the coming weeks, CMS, which oversees the program, will alert seniors about the new cards. Solicitations from card-sponsoring entities will follow in April and May. Participating seniors can begin using the cards June 1. While the discount program may lessen the pain of high drug costs for many seniors, some observers fear it will sow confusion and frustration, and that ultimately it could prove to be little more than a bait-and-switch operation. "There's so much latitude here (for the card sponsors) that it's distressing to me," said Peter Pratt, a health care analyst at Public Sector Consultants Inc., a Lansing policy group. The latitude comes in the design of the discounts, which is entirely left to the sponsoring companies and organizations. They decide which drugs are covered and the size of the discounts, and those details aren't guaranteed. Companies can change the discounts and covered drugs on a monthly or weekly basis, under the law. Dissatisfied seniors will be given one chance to switch card sponsors at the end of 2004. The cards expire Dec. 31, 2005. ...Nationwide, 103 pharmacy chains, drug companies and health plans applied to CMS to sponsor the cards. The cards are free to the poor, but they can cost up to $30 a year for most retirees. ...On Thursday, CMS announced that 49 different card programs will be available. Of the total, 30 will be available nationwide, including a card from Aetna Health Management. The 19 others will be available only in certain areas, including First Health Services Corp., which will offer cards in Michigan and 19 other states.

US Will Not Reduce Nuclear Arsenal to Moscow Treaty Levels
Agence-France Press, 25 March 2004
EXCERPT: The United States will not cut its nuclear arsenal to levels designated by an arms accord it concluded two years ago with Russia because it must hedge against an uncertain future, a top administration official announced. The Moscow Treaty signed with great fanfare by Presidents George W. Bush of the United States and Vladimir Putin of Russia in May 2002 calls on both sides to reduce their strategic nuclear warheads to between 1,700 and 2,200 by 2012. But it refers to "operationally deployed" weapons, essentially offering both governments a loophole that allows them to move an unlimited number of warheads into storage and keep them indefinitely under lock and key. While US officials have often praised this option, Wednesday's remarks by Undersecretary of Energy Linton Brooks before the Senate Subcommittee on Strategic Forces represented the first official indication the Bush administration had actually decided to exercise it.

WWGRD: What Will Gay Republicans Do?
By Bill Berkowitz
Working for Change, 26 March 2004
EXCERPT: In 2000, the gay vote made up 4% of the national total and Bush received about 25% of that vote -- more than one million votes -- compared with 70% for Democrat Al Gore and 4% for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. Given Bush's endorsement, who will gay Republicans vote for this November? Currently, gay Republicans appear dazed, confused and divided. Some gay GOP loyalists are undertaking a Herculean effort; swallowing hard and trying to explain away Bush's endorsement by citing the president's gay appointments and his gay-friendly demeanor. Their argument goes something like "in his heart of hearts he doesn't really mean it" and "he's only playing to his amen corner, but he actually likes us." Also in this camp are gay Republicans that believe same-sex marriage is only one of a whole series of issues they should consider before determining for whom they will vote.

Unprincipled Liar Karen Hughes Back in Saddle for Bush
Texan to release book, return to Bush's side for re-election campaign
By WAYNE SLATER
Dallas Morning News, 28 March 2004
EXCERPT: As counselor to the president, Ms. Hughes was one of George W. Bush's most trusted advisers, and even after returning to Texas in the summer of 2002, she remained in close contact with the White House. Now she's packed and returning to Mr. Bush's side as a vocal political advocate – first with a six-week book tour promoting her new memoir, Ten Minutes from Normal, and then full-time on the campaign trail for his re-election.

Russia Says New Weapon Will Make US 'Star Wars' Missile Defense Useless
Canadian Press, 29 March 2004
EXCERPT: Russia has designed a "revolutionary" weapon that would make the prospective American missile defence useless, Russian news agencies reported Monday, quoting a senior Defence Ministry official. The official, who was not identified by name, said tests conducted during last month's military manoeuvres would dramatically change the philosophy behind development of Russia's nuclear forces, the Interfax and ITAR-Tass news agencies reported. If deployed, the new weapon would take the value of any U.S. missile shield to "zero," the news agencies quoted the official as saying. The official said the new weapon would be inexpensive, providing an "asymmetric answer" to U.S. missile defences, which are proving extremely costly to develope. Russia, meanwhile, also has continued research in prospective missile defences and has an edge in some areas compared to other countries, the official said.

19 Killed in Uzbekistan Terror Attacks
AP in Guardian (UK), 29 March 2004
EXCERPT: A series of bombings and attacks linked to Islamic militants, including the first known suicide missions in Uzbekistan, killed 19 people and injured 26, officials said Monday in this key American ally in the war on terrorism. The oppressive regime of President Islam Karimov, the former Communist boss, had held Islamic extremists in the Central Asian in check through brutal policies that forbid political or religious freedom. The last known terrorist attack of this magnitude came in an assassination attempt against Karimov 1999 that led to the arrests of thousands. Prosecutor-General Rashid Kadyrov said the blasts Sunday and Monday were connected and aimed at destabilizing Uzbekistan. Female suicide bombers carried out the blasts at the Chorsu market, the biggest bazaar in Tashkent, near the "Children's World" store, and at a nearby bus stop, Kadyrov said.
SEE ALSO: Uzbekistan Launches Terror Attacks Probe (AP)

Bush Adviser: Iraq War Launched to Protect Israel
By Emad Mekay
Inter Press Service via Information Clearing House, 29 March 2004
EXCERPT: IPS uncovered the remarks by Philip Zelikow, who is now the executive director of the body set up to investigate the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001 -- the 9/11 commission -- in which he suggests a prime motive for the invasion just over one year ago was to eliminate a threat to Israel, a staunch U.S. ally in the Middle East. Zelikow's casting of the attack on Iraq as one launched to protect Israel appears at odds with the public position of President George W. Bush and his administration, which has never overtly drawn the link between its war on the regime of former president Hussein and its concern for Israel's security. The administration has instead insisted it launched the war to liberate the Iraqi people, destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and to protect the United States. Zelikow made his statements about "the unstated threat" during his tenure on a highly knowledgeable and well-connected body known as the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB), which reports directly to the president. He served on the board between 2001 and 2003. "Why would Iraq attack America or use nuclear weapons against us? I'll tell you what I think the real threat (is) and actually has been since 1990 -- it's the threat against Israel," Zelikow told a crowd at the University of Virginia on Sep. 10, 2002, speaking on a panel of foreign policy experts assessing the impact of 9/11 and the future of the war on the al-Qaeda terrorist organization. "And this is the threat that dare not speak its name, because the Europeans don't care deeply about that threat, I will tell you frankly. And the American government doesn't want to lean too hard on it rhetorically, because it is not a popular sell," said Zelikow. 
SEE ALSO: Israel Enjoys Broad-Based, Bipartisan Support on Capitol Hill (ICH)
SEE ALSO: Pro-Israeli PAC Contributions to Congress, 1999-2000 (ICH)
SEE ALSO: In Return, Israel Gets $91 Billion in Aid (ICH)
SEE ALSO: Jews Against Zionism
SEE ALSO: Assassination Strengthens Hamas (Common Dreams)

Shia Protests Aim to Scupper Iraq Constitution
By Nicolas Pelham in Baghdad
Financial Times, 29 March 2004
EXCERPT: Protests erupted in many of Iraq's Shia Muslim areas on Monday as Shia leaders sought to increase pressure on the US-led coalition and scupper Iraq's temporary constitution. ...The unrest followed a poster campaign and petition drive by supporters of Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the Shia's reclusive but paramount religious authority, who is seeking to overturn Iraq's temporary constitution, agreed this month. The elderly cleric's face now adorns posters plastered across the country denouncing the document. Signed by Mr Bremer and his appointees in the Governing Council, the temporary constitution includes a bill of rights and was hailed as the most progressive in the region. But Mr Sistani fears the Governing Council has enacted a permanent constitution by the back-door. In addition to the poster campaign, last Friday imams at thousands of Shia mosques across central and southern Iraq began distributing a petition addressed to the United Nations and Mr Bremer, demanding the law be revoked. "It is illegal because the administrators who have drafted the law lack legitimacy among ordinary Iraqis," says the petition.

U.N. Leader: Security Vital for Iraq Vote
By BASSEM MROUE
AP in Yahoo! News, 29 March 2004
EXCERPT: The head of a U.N. team said Monday that better security in Iraq (news - web sites) is vital for elections to take place by a Jan. 31 deadline. A U.S. soldier was killed in a bomb west of Baghdad and British troops in the south fired rubber bullets to disperse anti-coalition activists.

Troops Shut Down Iraqi Paper
The Straits Times, 30 March 2004
EXCERPT: US soldiers have shut down a popular Baghdad newspaper after the occupation authorities accused it of printing lies that incited violence. Thousands of Iraqis protested against the closing as an act of American hypocrisy, laying bare the hostility many feel towards the US a year after Saddam Hussein was toppled.

Pakistan Scales Down al-Qaeda Hunt
SUCCESSFUL MISSION: The government said its main objectives had been met but did not rule out further efforts to rid the Afghan border region of the militants
AP, 30 March 2004
EXCERPT: Pakistan called its mission to chase down and kill Taliban and al-Qaeda militants a success and began withdrawing troops after tribesmen along the border with Afghanistan agreed to release captured soldiers and politicians. Officials said, however, troops would remain in the unruly western border region while tribal leaders negotiate the hand-over of other foreign militants.

Terrorists Don't Need States
The danger is less that a state will sponsor a terror group and more that a terror group will sponsor a state—as happened in Afghanistan
By Fareed Zakaria
Newsweek, April issue
EXCERPT: The Bush team, distrustful of anything Clinton's people said, did not see Al Qaeda as an urgent threat. They held few meetings on it and in other ways were inattentive to it. One example from the panel's report: the senior Pentagon official responsible for counterterrorism is the assistant secretary for special operations and low-intensity conflict. Even by September 11, 2001, no one had been appointed to that post. The Bush administration came to office with different concerns. During the 1990s conservative intellectuals and policy wonks sounded the alarm about China, North Korea, Cuba, Iran and Iraq, but not about terror. Real men dealt with states. Even after 9/11, many in the administration wanted to focus on states. Bush spoke out against countries that "harbor" terrorists. Two days after the attacks, Paul Wolfowitz proposed "ending states that sponsor terrorism." Beyond Iraq, conservative intellectuals like Richard Perle and Michael Ledeen insist that the real source of terror remains the "terror masters," meaning states like Iran and Syria.

'Dead zones' In World's Oceans Are Growing, Say Alarmed UN Scientists
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
Independent, 30 March 2004
EXCERPT: It is as sinister a development as any in the list of things going wrong with the planet. Marine "dead zones" - oxygen-starved areas of the oceans that are devoid of fish - are one of the greatest environmental problems facing the world, UN scientists warned yesterday. There are nearly 150 dead zones across the globe, they are increasing, and they pose as big a threat to fish stocks as over-fishing, the United Nations Environment Program (Unep) said in its Global Environment Outlook Year Book 2003, released at a meeting of environment ministers in Korea. These lifeless areas of the sea are caused by an excess of nutrients, mainly nitrogen, that originate from heavy use of agricultural fertilizers, from vehicle and factory emissions and from human wastes. They have doubled in number over the last decade, with some extending over 70,000 square kilometers (27,000 square miles), about the size of Ireland, Unep said.

Saudi Arabia to Call for Opec Output Cut
By Carola Hoyos in Vienna and Javier Blas in Madrid
Financial Times, 29 March 2004
EXCERPT: Saudi Arabia will on Tuesday push the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output despite some members' opposition and high oil prices.

29 March 2004

Iraqi Detentions Fuel Anti-US Sentiment
By Thanassis Cambanis
Boston Golobe, 28 March 2004
EXCERPT: The American military is holding some 8,000 Iraqi security detainees without trial or formal charges, most of them in a prison where at least six US guards have been criminally charged with abusing inmates. While legal under the Geneva Conventions, the detentions are proving disastrous to the public image of the US-led occupation authority, as hundreds of Iraqis freed this month spread stories of dismal prison conditions and say they were never told why they were arrested. US officials insist they treat the prisoners fairly, but the widely circulated stories about seemingly arbitrary arrests fuel the sense of injustice here; even as the coalition builds democratic institutions for Iraq, including a new court system, a parallel legal system for detainees persists with few apparent rights for the accused. In one such case, Mahmoud Khodair said American soldiers blasted into his basement apartment six months ago and dragged him off, accusing him of aiding insurgents. He was held under a procedure that allows occupation forces to imprison without trial those suspected of "anticoalition activity." Like hundreds more, he was released earlier this month, with no explanation of why he was arrested in the first place or why he was ultimately cleared to go home.

Ukraine to Investigate Disappearance of Hundreds of Missiles
People's Daily, 28 March 2004
EXCERPT: The Ukrainian military will launch an in-depth investigation into the disappearance of hundreds of missiles, Defense Minister Yevgeni Kirillovich Marchuk has promised. In a recent review of the military's arsenal, the armed forces found that hundreds of missiles had been lost, Interfax-Ukraine News Agency quoted the minister as saying late Friday. Marchuk said the missing missiles were all air defense ones inherited from the now-defunct Soviet Union. Ukraine declared independence in 1991.

The Middle East Needs Its Democracy Home-Grown
Washington's latest initiative has Arab leaders worried
By Jonathan Steele
Guardian (UK), 29 March 2004
EXCERPT: Little noticed in the west as yet, the Bush administration's latest Middle East adventure has been making furious waves in the Arab world. Dubbed the Greater Middle East initiative, the plan aims to press democracy on one of the world's least democratic regions. Its details were due to be unveiled when the leaders of the industrialised world hold their annual Group of Eight summit in June. US officials compare it to the 1975 Helsinki charter of human rights which gradually forced the Soviet Union and its allied regimes in eastern Europe to open up and ultimately collapse. The initiative is a neo-conservative brainchild, a follow-up to the toppling of Saddam Hussein by force, and an effort to use his removal as the first in a line of Middle Eastern dominoes. The notion of pressing reform on the Arab world has wide support in Washington. As long as it is predicated on generational change which is accepted by Arab rulers themselves, rather than being hastily imposed by sanctions or military might, its fans include the secretary of state, Colin Powell, as well as Democratic party liberals such as John Kerry.
SEE ALSO: US Sets Up 14 'Enduring Bases' in Iraq (Chicago Tribune)
SEE ALSO: Expansion Overseas Fuels Suspicions of US Motives (Sun Herald)
SEE ALSO: Pentagon Counts Psychological Cost of Iraq Invasion (Guardian)

Punchline: "Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere."
Death Toll Climbs in Iraq as US Forces Clash with Guerillas
By Patrick Graham
Observer (UK), 28 March 2004
EXCERPT: A spate of violent clashes has left 22 people dead across Iraq this weekend as fighting erupted between US forces and guerrillas armed with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. In Baghdad yesterday, five Iraqis were injured when a bomb exploded on a street. US troops sealed off the area. In Tikrit a three-year-old boy died yesterday after being shot by US troops when the car in which he was travelling failed to stop at a checkpoint. Rebels in Mosul fired a rocket at a government building yesterday, killing two civilians and wounding 14 others. But it was Falluja where the fiercest fighting raged as marines and guerrillas fought for hours through the alleys of the city, leaving one marine, at least six Iraqi civilians, including an 11-year-old boy, and a television cameraman dead. In the fighting, which began on Friday, 25 Iraqis and five marines were injured.
(Repeated from the weekend)
SEE ALSO: Virginia Senator on Iraq Invasion: "My Vote Was Wrong" (AP)
SEE ALSO: US Troops 'Shoot Three-Year-Old Boy' (The Age)
SEE ALSO: Sistani May Issue Edict Against Iraq Power Transfer (Reuters)

A likely story...
Israeli Secret Services Faulted for Iraq Forecasts
By Dan Williams
Reuters in Yahoo! News, 28 March 2004
EXCERPT: Israel overestimated Iraq's military capabilities but the miscalculation in no way influenced the U.S. decision to topple Saddam Hussein, a parliamentary inquiry found Sunday. ...Officially at war with Saddam, its avowed enemy, Israel shared intelligence with Washington, its closest ally, before last year's invasion. Then, as now, it played down its cooperation to avoid deepening Arab ire at the campaign. Yuval Steinitz, a lawmaker from the right-wing ruling Likud party who led the inquiry, said Israeli input played "a very minor role" in Washington's prewar planning. ...The report complained of a snowball effect in intelligence sharing, whereby some Israeli assessments, analyzed by U.S. counterparts, eventually found their way back to Israel in repackaged form. "It is not inconceivable that (such) analyzes had a bolstering and authenticating effect as though authoritative," said the report, parts of which were kept classified.

Summit's Collapse Leaves Arab Leaders in Disarray
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
New York Times, 29 March 2004
EXCERPT: Arab governments were in disarray on Sunday after the Arab League summit meeting, set to grapple with vital regional issues like democratic reform, Arab-Israeli bloodshed and the American occupation of Iraq, was abruptly called off just before it was to open Monday. The exact reason is a matter of some dispute, but all sides viewed the meeting's collapse — even as some heads of state were on their way — as an embarrassment. It was a stark public admission that the commitment to change voiced by Arab leaders risks becoming just more words. The Arab League is infamous for its fractious gatherings, but even its most experienced bureaucrats described the cancellation as extraordinary. Some commentators thought the collapse inevitable from the start. The very idea of reform remains too divisive, and many nations' governments have yet to decide how to deal themselves with issues like elections. ...Given the the American invasion of Iraq, and spiral of violence in the region, including terrorist bomb attacks from Casablanca to Riyadh, there had been some expectation that Arab leaders might commit themselves to change. Certainly the Bush administration had hoped for some kind of broad endorsement of reform that might demonstrate that its decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein was having a positive echo. Senior officials and analysts here said events in Tunis, while not without precedent, represented in stark colors the Arab world's inability to cope with American efforts to redraw the region's political map. ..."To fail to even hold a meeting is a disaster, taking into consideration all the challenges of the region," said Hoshar Zubairy, the Iraqi foreign minister. "This encourages extremism, when people see that even the formal Arab system is not functioning, not operating. The sense of frustration will only deepen."

Haiti's Troika of Terror: Thugs, a Buffoon, and The Pirates
By Glen Ford and Peter Gamble
Black Commentator, 27 March 2004
EXCERPT: The United States has delivered George Bush's ghoulish brand of democracy to Haiti. The nightmarish components of Haiti's ruling troika gathered last Saturday, in Gonaives, the country's fourth-largest city--a macabre assemblage that seemed designed to assault the sensibilities of civilized humans.

IMF Director Selection Process is an Insult to the Rest of the World
By Larry Elliott
Guardian (UK), 29 March 2004
EXCERPT: Imagine Bill Gates announcing, out of the blue, that he is leaving Microsoft to spend more time with his family. Within minutes, Microsoft's finance chief says he reserves the right to choose the successor to Gates from his team. "That's the way we've always done things here," he says. No, of course, you can't imagine it. If Microsoft or any other company were to choose its top executives in such a bizarre fashion, the share price would plummet and with good reason. There would be real doubt about whether the new CEO was up to the job. Yet this is the scandalous way in which the international community is going about choosing the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund, a position of pivotal global importance. The previous MD, Horst Kφhler, has resigned to stand for the job as president of Germany, and this Friday Europe's finance ministers are gathering to discuss who should be his successor. Why just the Europeans you might ask? Simple. Ever since the IMF and the World Bank were created at the Bretton Woods conference in 1944, there has been an arrangement - stitch-up describes it better - under which the Europeans decide who should head the Fund and the Americans pick the president of the World Bank.

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