raqi wing of Al-Qaeda threatens with new attacks
11.06.2006, 21.24
AL KUWAIT, June 11 (Itar-Tass) -- The Iraqi wing of Al-Qaeda said on Sunday that it was preparing major attacks to shock the enemy.
An Internet statement by Qaeda al-Jihad said that the group is strong despite the recent death of its leader, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, and reaffirms its loyalty to Osama bin Laden.
The group said that its command had had a meeting to discuss the future strategy.
They did not say whether a successor to Al-Zarqawi had been elected. A certain Egyptian, Abu al-Masri, is the most probable candidate for the Iraqi terrorist leader, a Pentagon representative said earlier this week. Egyptian experts doubted this forecast. They said they did not know such a man amongst Islamic extremists.
Meanwhile, a number of terrorist acts were perpetrated in Baghdad on Sunday.
Five people died and 14 were injured in the explosion of a car bomb in the Karrada area.
Militants attacked a high-ranking representative of the Iraqi Interior Ministry, Maj. Gen. Ali Hussein, in the northern area of Baghdad. A landmine exploded on the way of the general’s vehicle. His driver died, and the general was heavily injured.
A police patrol was attacked in the Baghdad southern suburb of Ad Dawrah. Five civilians were injured.
Militants clashed with British servicemen in Al Amarah, 365 kilometers south of Baghdad. One British soldier was injured.
http://www.tass.ru/eng/level2.html?NewsID=9963077&PageNum=0
Jail suicides spark new pleas for trials
12jun06
THREE Guantanamo Bay detainees hanged themselves using nooses made of sheets and clothes, the commander of the detention centre said, in the first reported deaths among hundreds of men held at the base.
The suicides, which officials said were co-ordinated, triggered more condemnation of the centre that holds about 460 men, including Australian David Hicks, on suspicion of links to al-Qaida and the Taliban.
Only 10 have been charged and there has been growing international pressure on the US to close the prison.
Two men from Saudi Arabia and one from Yemen were found dead soon after midnight yesterday in separate cells, said the Miami-based US Southern Command, which has jurisdiction over the prison.
Military officials said the men, whose names were not released, had been held in Guantanamo Bay for about four years.
All three detainees had engaged in a hunger strike to protest against their indefinite incarceration and had been force-fed, base commander Navy Rear Admiral Harry Harris said.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,19437751%255E663,00.html
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - More than 1,000 Islamist fighters deployed to a strategic camp north of Mogadishu on Sunday, witnesses said, sparking fears of a new offensive against warlords.
Islamic forces captured the Somali capital Mogadishu a week ago from a self-styled anti-terrorism alliance of warlords, widely believed to be backed by the United States, after three months of fighting.
It was unclear whether the latest deployment was part of moves to drive out remaining warlords from the capital or to stage an attack on Jowhar, the last warlord stronghold, 60 km (38 miles) further north.
Armed with mortars and heavy anti-aircraft guns, the Islamic fighters arrived at the Hiilweyne military camp, 7 km from Balad, witnesses said. The fighters already control Balad, 30 km outside Mogadishu.
"Huge militia groups were gathered in Hiilweyne this morning. It's possible this could reignite war," Hussein Abdi, a resident in Balad, said by telephone.
More than 300 people, mainly civilians, have been killed in the battle for power in Mogadishu, with hundreds more wounded.
Sources close to Islamic militia leader Moallim Hashi Mohamed said the new forces were being led by Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki, a senior member of the al-Itihaad al-Islamiya group, which the United States calls a "terrorist" faction with links to al Qaeda.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2006/06/11/somali_islamist_gunmen_on_move_offensive_feared/
Buckle up for a bumpy - and ugly - ride
By Times-Herald Editorial staff
November's general election is peeking nervously over the horizon.
After Tuesday's primary election, it should be wary.
Fall campaigns officially kicked off up and down the state on Wednesday, when the dust had settled from a sparsely attended election.
It looks like we're in for round two of rather nasty election season.
The bitter tone set in the Democrat primary by winning candidate Phil Angelides against rival Steve Westly proved to be Angelides' winning formula. But will it rather lead to his downfall this fall?
Both men are to blame for a down and dirty campaign that disgusted and de-energized voters. Turned off voters arguably stayed away in droves to send a message that light, rather than heat, is what they hunger for this year.
Now the two mud-covered Democrats join forces, as Westly promptly stepped up after Angelides' victory to offer his support for Angelides' campaign that begins in earnest to try to unseat Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
(Amazing, is it not, that after spending months denigrating Angelides as a tax-hike fiend, environmental disaster, career politician, etc., that Westly would now urge us to vote for Angelides? Politics is thus.)
Look for more of the same mud-slinging style as Angelides and the governor swing into killer-take-all mode.
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_3918968
U.S. Military Rejects Reports Al-Zarqawi May Have Been Beaten
June 11 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. military dismissed as ``baloney'' reports that American soldiers may have beaten Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, before he died on June 7 after a U.S. air strike on a house north of Baghdad.
``He died while American soldiers were attempting to save his life,'' General George Casey, who leads coalition forces in Iraq, told the Fox News Sunday television program. ``So the idea that people were beating him is ridiculous.''
The London-based Sunday Times today quoted an eyewitness as saying he saw American soldiers take Zarqawi from an ambulance, tear his robe to check for explosives, then kick him repeatedly in the chest while demanding his name.
The soldiers were ``shouting and screaming and in a very tense and agitated mood,'' Ali Abbas, a 25-year-old laborer who was one of the first at the scene and had helped pull Zarqawi from the rubble of the house, told the Sunday Times.
``They kept kicking him with their boots, shouting `what's your name?', but the man only moaned and said nothing,'' Abbas told the newspaper. He estimated it took a quarter of an hour for Zarqawi to die from when he was removed from the ambulance.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=adzPxToshxiU&refer=top_world_news
U.S. Gen. Sees Possible Troop Reductions
Senior U.S. Commander Predicts Possible Troop Reductions in Iraq in Coming Months
A U.S. soldier stands guard as an Iraqi detainee waits to be released at Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad in Iraq, Sunday, June 11, 2006. Around 230 detainees were released from the four American run prisons of Cropper, Suse, Bucca and Abu Ghraib, after many were taken to Abu Ghraib prison for processing before release. (AP Photo/Wathiq Khuzaie, Pool)
By NEDRA PICKLER
WASHINGTON Jun 11, 2006 (AP)— The top U.S. commander in Iraq predicted Sunday that coalition troops gradually will return home in the months ahead as long as Iraq's government and security forces keep progressing.
Gen. George Casey would not say whether he will recommend a troop reduction plan during videoconference meetings with President Bush this week. Bush says he will make decisions about troop levels based on recommendations from commanders in Iraq, and Casey said he constantly evaluates the appropriate number necessary.
"I was waiting until we got a government seated before I gave the president another recommendation so we have some sense of what we've got," Casey said.
Iraq's new government is in place, with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki taking office last month and appointing key ministers last week.
"I think as long as the Iraqi security forces continue to progress and as long as this national unity government continues to operate that way and move the country forward, I think we're going to be able to see continued gradual reductions of coalition forces over the coming months and into next year," Casey said on "Face the Nation" on CBS.
With Baghdad's government in place, Bush plans to re-evaluate his Iraq policy this week with members of his national security team, along with Casey and other military commanders participating via videoconference.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2063447
Ku Klux Klan stages rally at Civil War battlefield
STEPHEN MANNING
Associated Press
SHARPSBURG, Md. - Members of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups rallied Saturday at the Antietam National Battlefield, the first time a group has been given permission to demonstrate at the site of the bloodiest day of the Civil War.
About 30 people, some attired in the Klan's white robes and others wearing the military-style clothing and swastika armbands of the National Socialist Movement of America, stood next to a farmhouse on the battlefield. Some delivered speeches attacking immigrants, blacks and other minority groups.
About 200 officers from the National Park Service, U.S. Park Police, Maryland State Police and the Washington County Sheriff's office were present to make sure the demonstration remained peaceful and to act as a buffer between the Klan and counter-demonstrators, who were kept about 200 feet away.
Gordon Young, Imperial Wizard of the World Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, said he tried to organize rallies at two other locations but was turned down before he settled on Antietam, which he said carries powerful symbolism.
"As the Klan, we are the ghosts of our Confederate brothers and sisters who died here," Young said.
The demonstration was believed to be the first at the park, which was established as a national park in 1890, said superintendent John Howard. About 90 permits are issued each year, but most are for more mundane events like weddings and road races, he said.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/14789262.htm
Hopes still strong missing women hikers alive
Kerry Williamson, CanWest News Service; Calgary Herald
Published: Sunday, June 11, 2006
CALGARY -- When Barry Blanchard saw Karen McNeill last month, she was excited about finally getting back into the mountains and beginning her quest for another summit.
The two Alberta-based climbers met in the small Alaskan town of Talkeetna, the starting point for McNeill's planned attempt on the challenging Infinite Spur route on the towering Mount Foraker. Blanchard could see his friend was champing at the bit to get out of town and into the wild.
She talked excitedly about the climb, a route nobody had attempted in two years, a route no all-female team had ascended and only a handful of climbers had ever successfully completed.
"She had just got off the bus from Anchorage and she was pretty excited to be getting back into the range," says Blanchard, who climbed the spur six years ago and knows the mountain and McNeill well.
"We talked about the route that she and Sue were attempting. She was psyched to be heading in."
And that was it. Blanchard headed home to Canmore, Alta., and McNeill and good friend and climbing partner Sue Nott, of Vail, Colo., headed into the mountains, and disappeared.
The pair, both extremely experienced alpinists, have been missing on the 4,850-metre Mount Foraker for 16 days. Infinite Spur is no easy climb it's rated a Grade 6 ridge, the most difficult grade in Alaska.
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=a05bc866-06de-4327-94a5-e1bfe7f07b68&k=84670
Inouye Blasts Bush for "Misleading Letter" on Akaka Bill
June 9, 2006 07:18 PM
by Darren Pai
WASHINGTON, DC (KHNL) - When the votes were counted, Sen. Dan Akaka's push for federal recognition of Native Hawaiians fell short. His bill received 56 votes, four short of the 60 needed to push it ahead for more debate in the Senate.
"We've really brought national attention to Native Hawaiians as indigenous peoples who deserve justice, equality and what we're trying to do is federal recognition," Akaka said.
Sen. Dan Inouye blasted the White House for sending a letter critical of the bill to Republican senators. In a statement, Inouye said: "I did not expect the administration of President Bush would issue the sort of misleading letter it did on Wednesday evening, less than 24 hours before the cloture vote."
Akaka said legislative wrangling by Republican opponents blocked the bill.
"Really my bill was the victim of politics, rhetoric and procedural manuevering from the other side of the aisle," Akaka said.
Gov. Linda Lingle met with Republican senators this week in an effort to push the bill through and said she's disappointed with the vote.
http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=5008670
Delay
jun 8, 2006 — By Joanne Kenen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fallen Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas left the U.S. House of Representatives he once led on Thursday with a ringing defense of conservatism and his no-holds barred brand of partisanship.
"Partisanship … properly understood is not a symptom of a democracy's weakness but of its health and strength, especially from the perspective of a political conservative," said the former Republican leader, who has been indicted on campaign finance charges in Texas.
"Conservatives, especially, less enamored of government's lust for growth, must remember that our principles must always drive our agenda, and not the other way around."
DeLay excoriated liberal ideology as always wanting more government, more taxes but also said he recognized that liberals too had a "great tradition in this country" and were motivated by patriotism.
In his farewell to the House, DeLay spent more time talking about Washington's monuments to Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson than about social issues like abortion or gun control that he has emphasized in his career.
Elected in 1984, DeLay began as a minority backbencher who was conservative even by the House Republican standards of the time. With the party's House takeover in 1994, he became part of the inner circle and rose to Majority Leader.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2055578
U.S. Marine says rules followed at Haditha - Report
Sun Jun 11, 2006 5:53 AM BST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A sergeant who led a squad of U.S. Marines accused of killing 24 Iraqi civilians at Haditha told his lawyer the unit did not intentionally target civilians, followed rules of engagement and did not try to cover up the incident, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.
The newspaper said Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, 26, told his lawyer several civilians were killed in the November incident, when the squad went after insurgents firing on them from a house. But Wuterich said there was no vengeful massacre and described a house-to-house hunt that went awry in a chaotic battlefield, his lawyer said.
"It will forever be his position that everything they did that day was following their rules of engagement and to protect the lives of Marines," said Neal Puckett, who represents Wuterich in the ongoing investigation of the incident.
"He's really upset that people believe that he and his Marines are even capable of intentionally killing innocent civilians," he said.
The Post said Wuterich's account was the first public version of what happened in Haditha from a Marine who was on the ground when the shooting occurred.
A criminal investigation is under way into whether some Marines deliberately killed civilians. Separate investigations are looking into whether there was a cover up and whether commanders were negligent in probing the deaths.
As leader of 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Wuterich was in a platoon of Humvees hit by a roadside bomb. He entered a house where Marines thought fire was originating and made the initial radio reports to company headquarters on the incident, Puckett said.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-06-11T045106Z_01_N11221944_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IRAQ-HADITHA-SERGEANT.xml
11.06.2006, 21.24
AL KUWAIT, June 11 (Itar-Tass) -- The Iraqi wing of Al-Qaeda said on Sunday that it was preparing major attacks to shock the enemy.
An Internet statement by Qaeda al-Jihad said that the group is strong despite the recent death of its leader, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, and reaffirms its loyalty to Osama bin Laden.
The group said that its command had had a meeting to discuss the future strategy.
They did not say whether a successor to Al-Zarqawi had been elected. A certain Egyptian, Abu al-Masri, is the most probable candidate for the Iraqi terrorist leader, a Pentagon representative said earlier this week. Egyptian experts doubted this forecast. They said they did not know such a man amongst Islamic extremists.
Meanwhile, a number of terrorist acts were perpetrated in Baghdad on Sunday.
Five people died and 14 were injured in the explosion of a car bomb in the Karrada area.
Militants attacked a high-ranking representative of the Iraqi Interior Ministry, Maj. Gen. Ali Hussein, in the northern area of Baghdad. A landmine exploded on the way of the general’s vehicle. His driver died, and the general was heavily injured.
A police patrol was attacked in the Baghdad southern suburb of Ad Dawrah. Five civilians were injured.
Militants clashed with British servicemen in Al Amarah, 365 kilometers south of Baghdad. One British soldier was injured.
http://www.tass.ru/eng/level2.html?NewsID=9963077&PageNum=0
Jail suicides spark new pleas for trials
12jun06
THREE Guantanamo Bay detainees hanged themselves using nooses made of sheets and clothes, the commander of the detention centre said, in the first reported deaths among hundreds of men held at the base.
The suicides, which officials said were co-ordinated, triggered more condemnation of the centre that holds about 460 men, including Australian David Hicks, on suspicion of links to al-Qaida and the Taliban.
Only 10 have been charged and there has been growing international pressure on the US to close the prison.
Two men from Saudi Arabia and one from Yemen were found dead soon after midnight yesterday in separate cells, said the Miami-based US Southern Command, which has jurisdiction over the prison.
Military officials said the men, whose names were not released, had been held in Guantanamo Bay for about four years.
All three detainees had engaged in a hunger strike to protest against their indefinite incarceration and had been force-fed, base commander Navy Rear Admiral Harry Harris said.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,19437751%255E663,00.html
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - More than 1,000 Islamist fighters deployed to a strategic camp north of Mogadishu on Sunday, witnesses said, sparking fears of a new offensive against warlords.
Islamic forces captured the Somali capital Mogadishu a week ago from a self-styled anti-terrorism alliance of warlords, widely believed to be backed by the United States, after three months of fighting.
It was unclear whether the latest deployment was part of moves to drive out remaining warlords from the capital or to stage an attack on Jowhar, the last warlord stronghold, 60 km (38 miles) further north.
Armed with mortars and heavy anti-aircraft guns, the Islamic fighters arrived at the Hiilweyne military camp, 7 km from Balad, witnesses said. The fighters already control Balad, 30 km outside Mogadishu.
"Huge militia groups were gathered in Hiilweyne this morning. It's possible this could reignite war," Hussein Abdi, a resident in Balad, said by telephone.
More than 300 people, mainly civilians, have been killed in the battle for power in Mogadishu, with hundreds more wounded.
Sources close to Islamic militia leader Moallim Hashi Mohamed said the new forces were being led by Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki, a senior member of the al-Itihaad al-Islamiya group, which the United States calls a "terrorist" faction with links to al Qaeda.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2006/06/11/somali_islamist_gunmen_on_move_offensive_feared/
Buckle up for a bumpy - and ugly - ride
By Times-Herald Editorial staff
November's general election is peeking nervously over the horizon.
After Tuesday's primary election, it should be wary.
Fall campaigns officially kicked off up and down the state on Wednesday, when the dust had settled from a sparsely attended election.
It looks like we're in for round two of rather nasty election season.
The bitter tone set in the Democrat primary by winning candidate Phil Angelides against rival Steve Westly proved to be Angelides' winning formula. But will it rather lead to his downfall this fall?
Both men are to blame for a down and dirty campaign that disgusted and de-energized voters. Turned off voters arguably stayed away in droves to send a message that light, rather than heat, is what they hunger for this year.
Now the two mud-covered Democrats join forces, as Westly promptly stepped up after Angelides' victory to offer his support for Angelides' campaign that begins in earnest to try to unseat Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
(Amazing, is it not, that after spending months denigrating Angelides as a tax-hike fiend, environmental disaster, career politician, etc., that Westly would now urge us to vote for Angelides? Politics is thus.)
Look for more of the same mud-slinging style as Angelides and the governor swing into killer-take-all mode.
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_3918968
U.S. Military Rejects Reports Al-Zarqawi May Have Been Beaten
June 11 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. military dismissed as ``baloney'' reports that American soldiers may have beaten Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, before he died on June 7 after a U.S. air strike on a house north of Baghdad.
``He died while American soldiers were attempting to save his life,'' General George Casey, who leads coalition forces in Iraq, told the Fox News Sunday television program. ``So the idea that people were beating him is ridiculous.''
The London-based Sunday Times today quoted an eyewitness as saying he saw American soldiers take Zarqawi from an ambulance, tear his robe to check for explosives, then kick him repeatedly in the chest while demanding his name.
The soldiers were ``shouting and screaming and in a very tense and agitated mood,'' Ali Abbas, a 25-year-old laborer who was one of the first at the scene and had helped pull Zarqawi from the rubble of the house, told the Sunday Times.
``They kept kicking him with their boots, shouting `what's your name?', but the man only moaned and said nothing,'' Abbas told the newspaper. He estimated it took a quarter of an hour for Zarqawi to die from when he was removed from the ambulance.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=adzPxToshxiU&refer=top_world_news
U.S. Gen. Sees Possible Troop Reductions
Senior U.S. Commander Predicts Possible Troop Reductions in Iraq in Coming Months
A U.S. soldier stands guard as an Iraqi detainee waits to be released at Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad in Iraq, Sunday, June 11, 2006. Around 230 detainees were released from the four American run prisons of Cropper, Suse, Bucca and Abu Ghraib, after many were taken to Abu Ghraib prison for processing before release. (AP Photo/Wathiq Khuzaie, Pool)
By NEDRA PICKLER
WASHINGTON Jun 11, 2006 (AP)— The top U.S. commander in Iraq predicted Sunday that coalition troops gradually will return home in the months ahead as long as Iraq's government and security forces keep progressing.
Gen. George Casey would not say whether he will recommend a troop reduction plan during videoconference meetings with President Bush this week. Bush says he will make decisions about troop levels based on recommendations from commanders in Iraq, and Casey said he constantly evaluates the appropriate number necessary.
"I was waiting until we got a government seated before I gave the president another recommendation so we have some sense of what we've got," Casey said.
Iraq's new government is in place, with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki taking office last month and appointing key ministers last week.
"I think as long as the Iraqi security forces continue to progress and as long as this national unity government continues to operate that way and move the country forward, I think we're going to be able to see continued gradual reductions of coalition forces over the coming months and into next year," Casey said on "Face the Nation" on CBS.
With Baghdad's government in place, Bush plans to re-evaluate his Iraq policy this week with members of his national security team, along with Casey and other military commanders participating via videoconference.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2063447
Ku Klux Klan stages rally at Civil War battlefield
STEPHEN MANNING
Associated Press
SHARPSBURG, Md. - Members of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups rallied Saturday at the Antietam National Battlefield, the first time a group has been given permission to demonstrate at the site of the bloodiest day of the Civil War.
About 30 people, some attired in the Klan's white robes and others wearing the military-style clothing and swastika armbands of the National Socialist Movement of America, stood next to a farmhouse on the battlefield. Some delivered speeches attacking immigrants, blacks and other minority groups.
About 200 officers from the National Park Service, U.S. Park Police, Maryland State Police and the Washington County Sheriff's office were present to make sure the demonstration remained peaceful and to act as a buffer between the Klan and counter-demonstrators, who were kept about 200 feet away.
Gordon Young, Imperial Wizard of the World Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, said he tried to organize rallies at two other locations but was turned down before he settled on Antietam, which he said carries powerful symbolism.
"As the Klan, we are the ghosts of our Confederate brothers and sisters who died here," Young said.
The demonstration was believed to be the first at the park, which was established as a national park in 1890, said superintendent John Howard. About 90 permits are issued each year, but most are for more mundane events like weddings and road races, he said.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/14789262.htm
Hopes still strong missing women hikers alive
Kerry Williamson, CanWest News Service; Calgary Herald
Published: Sunday, June 11, 2006
CALGARY -- When Barry Blanchard saw Karen McNeill last month, she was excited about finally getting back into the mountains and beginning her quest for another summit.
The two Alberta-based climbers met in the small Alaskan town of Talkeetna, the starting point for McNeill's planned attempt on the challenging Infinite Spur route on the towering Mount Foraker. Blanchard could see his friend was champing at the bit to get out of town and into the wild.
She talked excitedly about the climb, a route nobody had attempted in two years, a route no all-female team had ascended and only a handful of climbers had ever successfully completed.
"She had just got off the bus from Anchorage and she was pretty excited to be getting back into the range," says Blanchard, who climbed the spur six years ago and knows the mountain and McNeill well.
"We talked about the route that she and Sue were attempting. She was psyched to be heading in."
And that was it. Blanchard headed home to Canmore, Alta., and McNeill and good friend and climbing partner Sue Nott, of Vail, Colo., headed into the mountains, and disappeared.
The pair, both extremely experienced alpinists, have been missing on the 4,850-metre Mount Foraker for 16 days. Infinite Spur is no easy climb it's rated a Grade 6 ridge, the most difficult grade in Alaska.
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=a05bc866-06de-4327-94a5-e1bfe7f07b68&k=84670
Inouye Blasts Bush for "Misleading Letter" on Akaka Bill
June 9, 2006 07:18 PM
by Darren Pai
WASHINGTON, DC (KHNL) - When the votes were counted, Sen. Dan Akaka's push for federal recognition of Native Hawaiians fell short. His bill received 56 votes, four short of the 60 needed to push it ahead for more debate in the Senate.
"We've really brought national attention to Native Hawaiians as indigenous peoples who deserve justice, equality and what we're trying to do is federal recognition," Akaka said.
Sen. Dan Inouye blasted the White House for sending a letter critical of the bill to Republican senators. In a statement, Inouye said: "I did not expect the administration of President Bush would issue the sort of misleading letter it did on Wednesday evening, less than 24 hours before the cloture vote."
Akaka said legislative wrangling by Republican opponents blocked the bill.
"Really my bill was the victim of politics, rhetoric and procedural manuevering from the other side of the aisle," Akaka said.
Gov. Linda Lingle met with Republican senators this week in an effort to push the bill through and said she's disappointed with the vote.
http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=5008670
Delay
jun 8, 2006 — By Joanne Kenen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fallen Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas left the U.S. House of Representatives he once led on Thursday with a ringing defense of conservatism and his no-holds barred brand of partisanship.
"Partisanship … properly understood is not a symptom of a democracy's weakness but of its health and strength, especially from the perspective of a political conservative," said the former Republican leader, who has been indicted on campaign finance charges in Texas.
"Conservatives, especially, less enamored of government's lust for growth, must remember that our principles must always drive our agenda, and not the other way around."
DeLay excoriated liberal ideology as always wanting more government, more taxes but also said he recognized that liberals too had a "great tradition in this country" and were motivated by patriotism.
In his farewell to the House, DeLay spent more time talking about Washington's monuments to Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson than about social issues like abortion or gun control that he has emphasized in his career.
Elected in 1984, DeLay began as a minority backbencher who was conservative even by the House Republican standards of the time. With the party's House takeover in 1994, he became part of the inner circle and rose to Majority Leader.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2055578
U.S. Marine says rules followed at Haditha - Report
Sun Jun 11, 2006 5:53 AM BST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A sergeant who led a squad of U.S. Marines accused of killing 24 Iraqi civilians at Haditha told his lawyer the unit did not intentionally target civilians, followed rules of engagement and did not try to cover up the incident, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.
The newspaper said Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, 26, told his lawyer several civilians were killed in the November incident, when the squad went after insurgents firing on them from a house. But Wuterich said there was no vengeful massacre and described a house-to-house hunt that went awry in a chaotic battlefield, his lawyer said.
"It will forever be his position that everything they did that day was following their rules of engagement and to protect the lives of Marines," said Neal Puckett, who represents Wuterich in the ongoing investigation of the incident.
"He's really upset that people believe that he and his Marines are even capable of intentionally killing innocent civilians," he said.
The Post said Wuterich's account was the first public version of what happened in Haditha from a Marine who was on the ground when the shooting occurred.
A criminal investigation is under way into whether some Marines deliberately killed civilians. Separate investigations are looking into whether there was a cover up and whether commanders were negligent in probing the deaths.
As leader of 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Wuterich was in a platoon of Humvees hit by a roadside bomb. He entered a house where Marines thought fire was originating and made the initial radio reports to company headquarters on the incident, Puckett said.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-06-11T045106Z_01_N11221944_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IRAQ-HADITHA-SERGEANT.xml
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