The official White House line is that President Obama is delaying his Christmas trip to Hawaii on the off-chance that House Republicans will act on the payroll tax to his liking.
But even as his press secretary was saying that during the afternoon briefing with reporters on Wednesday, Obama was unwittingly revealing another possible explanation: he hasn't finished buying his Christmas gifts yet.
Yes, after placing a ten-minute call to House Speaker John Boehner over the lunch hour, Obama and his dog Bo hopped into the SUV and went shopping across the river in Alexandria, Va.
The big purchases of the day were iTunes gift cards and video games for his daughters at Best Buy -- including the new Just Dance 3 for the White House Wii.
So much for surprising Malia and Sasha.
"The girls beat me every time on these dance games," he told reporters as he shopped. "But you'll never get a picture of me [playing] because I get graded F every time."
After Del Ray pizza for Obama and a chew toy for Bo, the two headed back to the White House. The Obamas must like the Alexandria shopping plaza where the president went. Michelle Obama was photographed shopping at a Target there earlier this year.
Meanwhile, at the Capitol, Boehner was hoping for another gift -- a change of heart. He told Obama during their call that he wants Democratic and Republican negotiators to reopen the payroll tax cut and come up with a deal that lasts a full year.
The Obama team is adamant. The best "avenue" out of the "cul de sac" the House Republicans have driven into on the issue is to pass the Senate version, Carney said.
A new deal is not on the president's shopping list.
Copyright © 2011, LATimes.com
Tampilkan postingan dengan label news. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label news. Tampilkan semua postingan
Rabu, 21 Desember 2011
Turkey angered by French bill to criminalize 'Armenian genocide denial'
Nearly 100 years have elapsed since the killing of thousands of Armenians, but the wounds seem far from healed.
The French parliament is to vote on a bill on Thursday making it illegal to deny that the 1915 killing of Armenians during World War I was genocide. The bill, which is expected to pass, provides for a one-year prison term and a fine of $58,000 (45,000 euros) to anyone who publicly denies it was genocide.
The vote in the French National Assembly has stirred a diplomatic frenzy and French and Turkish politicians are jumping into the fray.
“This proposed law targets and is hostile to the Republic of Turkey, the Turkish nation and the Turkish community living in France,” Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister wrote in a letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Reuters reports.
During a Saturday news conference, Mr. Erdogan suggested that France ought to investigate her own role and actions in colonial Africa, including Rwanda.
Turkey maintains that the proposed bill is a political ploy by Sarkozy's political party to win the votes of 500,000 Armenians in France ahead of next year’s parliamentary and presidential elections. Sarkozy has also been an outspoken opponent of Turkey desire to join the European Union.
Jean Leonetti, the European Affairs Minister of France, dismisses such allegations and says that opposition Socialists will endorse the bill as well. “It has been nearly 100 years since the Armenian genocide took place, those responsible are dead, it is simply a matter of recognizing a fact of history,” he told Radio Classique, The Telegraph in London reports.
Ersin Onulduran, chairman of the department of international relations at Ankara University, told Today's Zaman, a Turkish daily, that “only historians and archival experts should pass judgment on the merits of historical events.”
Although there is little consensus, Armenians say that about 1.5 million people were killed during the mass deportations of 1915-16.
The Turkish government acknowledges the death of many Armenians, yet, it denies that Ottoman forces deliberately exterminated them. Turkey considers the numbers as inflated and says that Turks were also killed due to the upheaval that followed the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire.
Many Turks, disappointed and disillusioned by European delays over entry into the EU, are now embracing a more assertive rhetoric.
“I want to state clearly that such steps will have grave consequences for future relations between Turkey and France in political, economic, cultural and all areas,” Erdogan said according to Reuters. While Turkey is threatening to boycott French products if the bill passes, it has not ruled out also imposing trade sanctions.
So far this year, bilateral trade between Turkey and France is estimated at more than $13.5 billion. About 1,000 French companies operate in Turkey.
"We have to remember international rules and with regard to Turkey it's a member of the WTO (World Trade Organization) and is linked to the European Union by a customs union and these two commitments mean a non-discriminatory policy towards all companies within the European Union," said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero, Reuters reports.
In 2006, a similar bill was introduced and approved by the French National Assembly but was later dropped by the Senate. In France, any legislative initiative requires the endorsement of both parliament and the Senate to be enacted.
(csmonitor.com)
The French parliament is to vote on a bill on Thursday making it illegal to deny that the 1915 killing of Armenians during World War I was genocide. The bill, which is expected to pass, provides for a one-year prison term and a fine of $58,000 (45,000 euros) to anyone who publicly denies it was genocide.
The vote in the French National Assembly has stirred a diplomatic frenzy and French and Turkish politicians are jumping into the fray.
“This proposed law targets and is hostile to the Republic of Turkey, the Turkish nation and the Turkish community living in France,” Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister wrote in a letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Reuters reports.
During a Saturday news conference, Mr. Erdogan suggested that France ought to investigate her own role and actions in colonial Africa, including Rwanda.
Turkey maintains that the proposed bill is a political ploy by Sarkozy's political party to win the votes of 500,000 Armenians in France ahead of next year’s parliamentary and presidential elections. Sarkozy has also been an outspoken opponent of Turkey desire to join the European Union.
Jean Leonetti, the European Affairs Minister of France, dismisses such allegations and says that opposition Socialists will endorse the bill as well. “It has been nearly 100 years since the Armenian genocide took place, those responsible are dead, it is simply a matter of recognizing a fact of history,” he told Radio Classique, The Telegraph in London reports.
Ersin Onulduran, chairman of the department of international relations at Ankara University, told Today's Zaman, a Turkish daily, that “only historians and archival experts should pass judgment on the merits of historical events.”
Although there is little consensus, Armenians say that about 1.5 million people were killed during the mass deportations of 1915-16.
The Turkish government acknowledges the death of many Armenians, yet, it denies that Ottoman forces deliberately exterminated them. Turkey considers the numbers as inflated and says that Turks were also killed due to the upheaval that followed the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire.
Many Turks, disappointed and disillusioned by European delays over entry into the EU, are now embracing a more assertive rhetoric.
“I want to state clearly that such steps will have grave consequences for future relations between Turkey and France in political, economic, cultural and all areas,” Erdogan said according to Reuters. While Turkey is threatening to boycott French products if the bill passes, it has not ruled out also imposing trade sanctions.
So far this year, bilateral trade between Turkey and France is estimated at more than $13.5 billion. About 1,000 French companies operate in Turkey.
"We have to remember international rules and with regard to Turkey it's a member of the WTO (World Trade Organization) and is linked to the European Union by a customs union and these two commitments mean a non-discriminatory policy towards all companies within the European Union," said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero, Reuters reports.
In 2006, a similar bill was introduced and approved by the French National Assembly but was later dropped by the Senate. In France, any legislative initiative requires the endorsement of both parliament and the Senate to be enacted.
(csmonitor.com)
Iraq's Maliki rebuffs Biden, signals move to Shiite rule
BAGHDAD — Rebuffing a plea by the Obama administration, Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki signaled Wednesday that he's ready to gradually drop his key partner party, the largely Sunni Iraqiya bloc, and move toward a government run by the country's Shiite majority at the expense of minority Sunnis and Kurds.
At a news conference where he repeatedly emphasized his own powers under the Iraqi constitution and berated his coalition partners, Maliki seemed unconcerned if some Iraqiya members quit the broad coalition, and he spoke at length about the options available to him if they did.
Maliki all but ignored Vice President Joe Biden's expression of U.S. support for an "inclusive partnership government," referring to the broad coalition between Maliki's State of Law bloc and Iraqiya, headed by veteran politician Ayad Allawi.
Biden telephoned Maliki on Tuesday in the midst of a political crisis that erupted over allegations that bodyguards in the employ of Maliki's Sunni vice president, Tareq al Hashemi, had been running assassination squads against public figures.
Maliki also seemed to brush aside Biden's emphasis in the phone call on "the importance of acting in a manner consistent with the rule of law and Iraq's constitution."
Maliki told reporters that justice should take its course against Hashemi, and he said he would not allow the case to be politicized. Nevertheless, he described this as "a very simple case, a criminal case with confessions available," and demanded that Hashemi go before a court and declare his innocence.
He even compared the trial of Hashemi to that of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein. "We provided a fair and clean trial to Saddam, the dictator of Iraq, and we will ensure and be determined to provide a fair trial to Mr. Tareq al Hashemi," he said.
It was the latest turn in the transformation of what might have been simply a judicial process into a trial-by-television. After a panel of judges issued an arrest warrant for Hashemi on Monday, the government aired videotaped "confessions" of arrested members of his security detail implicating Hashemi.
One day later, and in seeming defiance of the arrest warrant, Hashemi held a news conference in Erbil in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. His whereabouts were unknown Wednesday, but Maliki, in response to a reporter's question, appealed to the regional government to "hand over" this "wanted man."
Maliki warned that not doing so or allowing him to escape "would cause problems."
Several leading political figures said Maliki could have forged a consensus for dealing with the Hashemi case by calling together all the country's political leaders, presenting them with the evidence, in secret, and seeking their advice.
Instead he decided to go it alone, a decision that immediately took on a sectarian tinge in a country still recovering from a devastating conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Maliki seemed to take the possible breakup of the current power-sharing arrangement in stride, and he spoke instead of a "new stage" in Iraq.
The Iraqiya bloc boycotted the final session of parliament and announced it was withdrawing ministers from the government as well. But Maliki said that if Iraqiya members did not attend cabinet meetings, he would replace them.
"The former stage required agreements, where we're the pretty face of a (sectarian) quota system," he said, but "in the current stage we are living ... this is a policy which is gone."
One leading expert on Iraqi politics said Maliki was emphasizing his own freedom of action in the wake of the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Reidar Visser, a Norwegian scholar who runs the website www.historiae.org, said Maliki seemed willing to move now toward a "sectarian alliance of mostly Shiites."
In his prepared remarks, Maliki repeatedly referred to the Iraqi constitution as being the only guide to the organization of government, and at one point he called it the country's "supreme holy document." In so doing, he effectively was repudiating the extra-constitutional deal, supported by the United States at the time, which made him prime minister, even though Allawi won more seats in parliament, Visser said.
"Maliki ... is saying that much of the so-called Erbil agreement about power-sharing is not really in the constitution," Visser said. "He is glad the others gave him the premiership in return for certain promises about power-sharing, and having been granted the premiership, he now intends to ignore what was stipulated about power-sharing at Erbil. Instead he will follow the constitution only."
Visser said he doubted that Maliki would resign as prime minister, which would put the initiative in the hands of President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, but instead would let the current power-sharing arrangement evolve into a majority government.
"I think how this may work in practice is that he will marginalize Iraqiya and appoint acting ministers if they fail to show up at cabinet meetings," Visser said. "Parliament may become irrelevant or, if Iraqiya withdraws, dominated entirely by the Shiite alliance. Maliki also will rely on a judiciary that is increasingly susceptible to his demands."
Maliki also disclosed that he had reached an agreement with the United Nations under which he'd allow Iranian dissidents who've been living in Iraq since the 1980s to stay beyond his own deadline of Dec. 31. He said the condition was that they move to the former Camp Liberty, which had been a U.S. base at Baghdad's international airport, and that the U.N. move about 800 out of Iraq before the end of the year. U.N. officials said the Mujahidin E Khalq, or MEK, had not yet agreed, and it wasn't clear what will happen if no deal is reached.
(Lesley Clark in Washington and special correspondent Sahar Issa in Baghdad contributed.)
(miamiherald.com)
At a news conference where he repeatedly emphasized his own powers under the Iraqi constitution and berated his coalition partners, Maliki seemed unconcerned if some Iraqiya members quit the broad coalition, and he spoke at length about the options available to him if they did.
Maliki all but ignored Vice President Joe Biden's expression of U.S. support for an "inclusive partnership government," referring to the broad coalition between Maliki's State of Law bloc and Iraqiya, headed by veteran politician Ayad Allawi.
Biden telephoned Maliki on Tuesday in the midst of a political crisis that erupted over allegations that bodyguards in the employ of Maliki's Sunni vice president, Tareq al Hashemi, had been running assassination squads against public figures.
Maliki also seemed to brush aside Biden's emphasis in the phone call on "the importance of acting in a manner consistent with the rule of law and Iraq's constitution."
Maliki told reporters that justice should take its course against Hashemi, and he said he would not allow the case to be politicized. Nevertheless, he described this as "a very simple case, a criminal case with confessions available," and demanded that Hashemi go before a court and declare his innocence.
He even compared the trial of Hashemi to that of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein. "We provided a fair and clean trial to Saddam, the dictator of Iraq, and we will ensure and be determined to provide a fair trial to Mr. Tareq al Hashemi," he said.
It was the latest turn in the transformation of what might have been simply a judicial process into a trial-by-television. After a panel of judges issued an arrest warrant for Hashemi on Monday, the government aired videotaped "confessions" of arrested members of his security detail implicating Hashemi.
One day later, and in seeming defiance of the arrest warrant, Hashemi held a news conference in Erbil in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. His whereabouts were unknown Wednesday, but Maliki, in response to a reporter's question, appealed to the regional government to "hand over" this "wanted man."
Maliki warned that not doing so or allowing him to escape "would cause problems."
Several leading political figures said Maliki could have forged a consensus for dealing with the Hashemi case by calling together all the country's political leaders, presenting them with the evidence, in secret, and seeking their advice.
Instead he decided to go it alone, a decision that immediately took on a sectarian tinge in a country still recovering from a devastating conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Maliki seemed to take the possible breakup of the current power-sharing arrangement in stride, and he spoke instead of a "new stage" in Iraq.
The Iraqiya bloc boycotted the final session of parliament and announced it was withdrawing ministers from the government as well. But Maliki said that if Iraqiya members did not attend cabinet meetings, he would replace them.
"The former stage required agreements, where we're the pretty face of a (sectarian) quota system," he said, but "in the current stage we are living ... this is a policy which is gone."
One leading expert on Iraqi politics said Maliki was emphasizing his own freedom of action in the wake of the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Reidar Visser, a Norwegian scholar who runs the website www.historiae.org, said Maliki seemed willing to move now toward a "sectarian alliance of mostly Shiites."
In his prepared remarks, Maliki repeatedly referred to the Iraqi constitution as being the only guide to the organization of government, and at one point he called it the country's "supreme holy document." In so doing, he effectively was repudiating the extra-constitutional deal, supported by the United States at the time, which made him prime minister, even though Allawi won more seats in parliament, Visser said.
"Maliki ... is saying that much of the so-called Erbil agreement about power-sharing is not really in the constitution," Visser said. "He is glad the others gave him the premiership in return for certain promises about power-sharing, and having been granted the premiership, he now intends to ignore what was stipulated about power-sharing at Erbil. Instead he will follow the constitution only."
Visser said he doubted that Maliki would resign as prime minister, which would put the initiative in the hands of President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, but instead would let the current power-sharing arrangement evolve into a majority government.
"I think how this may work in practice is that he will marginalize Iraqiya and appoint acting ministers if they fail to show up at cabinet meetings," Visser said. "Parliament may become irrelevant or, if Iraqiya withdraws, dominated entirely by the Shiite alliance. Maliki also will rely on a judiciary that is increasingly susceptible to his demands."
Maliki also disclosed that he had reached an agreement with the United Nations under which he'd allow Iranian dissidents who've been living in Iraq since the 1980s to stay beyond his own deadline of Dec. 31. He said the condition was that they move to the former Camp Liberty, which had been a U.S. base at Baghdad's international airport, and that the U.N. move about 800 out of Iraq before the end of the year. U.N. officials said the Mujahidin E Khalq, or MEK, had not yet agreed, and it wasn't clear what will happen if no deal is reached.
(Lesley Clark in Washington and special correspondent Sahar Issa in Baghdad contributed.)
(miamiherald.com)
8 U.S. soldiers charged in death of comrade in Afghanistan
KABUL — The Army, which has struggled in recent years to combat a mounting suicide toll, took an unusual step when it announced Wednesday that it had charged eight U.S. soldiers serving in Afghanistan in connection with the apparent suicide of one of their lower-ranking comrades.
The charges in the death of Pvt. Danny Chen, a 19-year-old infantryman from Manhattan, came after a vigorous, weeks-long campaign by advocacy groups and family members hoping to pressure the Pentagon to investigate allegations that Chen had been the subject of hazing within the ranks and repeatedly taunted with racial slurs.
On Oct. 3, Chen was found dead in a guard tower at a small combat outpost in Kandahar province. He was killed by an “apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” according to a statement by the NATO command in southern Afghanistan.
While the exact circumstances of his death are still unclear, advocates speaking for the family said on Wednesday that regardless of who fired the bullet that killed him, the soldiers who allegedly mistreated him are responsible.
“Whether suicide or not, the actions of these people led to his death and they must be prosecuted for killing him,” Liz OuYang, a Chinese-American activist who pushed for an investigation into Chen’s death. “There can be no plea bargaining — they must be tried in the death of Danny Chen.”
After more than two months of agonizing over the family’s loss, “it’s of some comfort and relief to learn that the Army is taking this seriously,” said Chen’s mother, Su Zhen Chen, in a Manhattan news conference organized by OuYang. Speaking through an interpreter, she said she hopes that “the truth will come out and that what happened will not be repeated.”
The young soldier’s father, Yen Tao Chen, also said that the military’s action “gives us some hope.”
Military officials declined Wednesday to release documents detailing the charges against the soldiers and did not provide a detailed account of the events that led to Chen’s death. But a spokesman for the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division said that the investigation into how Chen died includes “the circumstances leading up to his death.”
The Army said that 1st Lt. Daniel J. Schwartz, Staff Sgt. Blaine G. Dugas, Staff Sgt. Andrew J. Van Bockel, Sgt. Adam M. Holcomb, Sgt. Jeffrey T. Hurst, Spec. Thomas P. Curtis, Spec. Ryan J. Offutt and Sgt. Travis F. Carden had all been charged with counts ranging from dereliction of duty to making a false statement to assault, negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.
Reached Wednesday, some family members of the accused said they were shocked to hear of the charges.
Sheila Dugas, the mother of Blaine Dugas, said it was “completely out of character” for him. “He was always just taking care of his boys, his troops.”
Bretta Von Bockel, hearing the news about the accusations against her brother for the first time, said she could not believe it. “We worry about him every day,” she said.
Rarely have other service members been charged in connection with a suicide. If Chen did take his own life, he would be the second Asian American known to have done so this year after apparently being mistreated by comrades. Marine Lance Cpl. Harry Lew, 21, shot himself on April 3 after being hazed the night before by fellow Marines, the Marine Corps Times reported.
Through the end of November, the Army reported 154 potential suicides of active-duty service members for this year, slightly ahead of last year’s pace in which 159 active-duty soldiers took their own lives. Suicides in the Army reserves and National Guard have fallen significantly this year.
OuYang, the president of the New York chapter of OCA, an Asian-American advocacy group, said that the case “could have easily been swept under the rug” had it not pushed the Pentagon to act. Three weeks after Chen was found dead, she sent a letter to the Secretary of the Army asking for a meeting to discuss the case and concerns that Asian-American soldiers face discrimination from comrades.
“The community, elected officials and the media demanded the truth,” she said. “That all played an important role in obtaining justice in this case.”
Chen and the accused soldiers were assigned to C Company of the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, based in Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Sgt. 1st Class Alan G. Davis, a military spokesman, said the accused soldiers have been transferred from their post in Kandahar province to a different military base and relieved of their official duties. He said the soldiers are under “increased supervision” at the new base but are not being detained. Davis said the soldiers will probably be prosecuted in Afghanistan.
Van Bockel, Halcomb, Hurst, Curtis and Offutt were charged with involuntary manslaughter, assault consummated by battery, negligent homicide and reckless endangerment, the military statement said.
Schwartz, the only officer among the defendants, was charged with dereliction of duty. Dugas was charged with dereliction of duty and making a false statement. Carden was charged with assault and maltreatment.
Chen’s death, and the reports that he had been mistreated, incensed Asian American activists in New York, who called on the military to carry out a swift investigation. Hundreds attended a vigil in Manhattan last week to demand answers.
OuYang said Chen, who was born in the United States, had been subjected to ethnic slurs and physical abuse by superiors shortly before he died. Referring to an account military officials provided to the family, she said the physical abuse left marks on his back. Fellow soldiers once forced Chen out of bed and dragged him across the floor to punish him for failing to turn off a water heater, OuYang said. The mistreatment was reported by the New York Times on Oct. 30.
Chen, the son of immigrants who live in New York City’s Chinatown
and speak no English, indicated to his parents that he was being bullied, but also told them that such treatment was “to be expected,” the Times story said.
OuYang said Chen’s diaries and e-mails show a pattern of harassment that began at Fort Benning, Ga., during basic training earlier this year. “He was taunted several days,” she said. “Some of it was ignorance, some of it was outright taunting.”
Reached late Wednesday afternoon by phone, Su Zhen Chen, Chen’s mother said: “We are always missing our son. That’s what’s on our minds.”
(washingtonpost.com)
The charges in the death of Pvt. Danny Chen, a 19-year-old infantryman from Manhattan, came after a vigorous, weeks-long campaign by advocacy groups and family members hoping to pressure the Pentagon to investigate allegations that Chen had been the subject of hazing within the ranks and repeatedly taunted with racial slurs.
On Oct. 3, Chen was found dead in a guard tower at a small combat outpost in Kandahar province. He was killed by an “apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” according to a statement by the NATO command in southern Afghanistan.
While the exact circumstances of his death are still unclear, advocates speaking for the family said on Wednesday that regardless of who fired the bullet that killed him, the soldiers who allegedly mistreated him are responsible.
“Whether suicide or not, the actions of these people led to his death and they must be prosecuted for killing him,” Liz OuYang, a Chinese-American activist who pushed for an investigation into Chen’s death. “There can be no plea bargaining — they must be tried in the death of Danny Chen.”
After more than two months of agonizing over the family’s loss, “it’s of some comfort and relief to learn that the Army is taking this seriously,” said Chen’s mother, Su Zhen Chen, in a Manhattan news conference organized by OuYang. Speaking through an interpreter, she said she hopes that “the truth will come out and that what happened will not be repeated.”
The young soldier’s father, Yen Tao Chen, also said that the military’s action “gives us some hope.”
Military officials declined Wednesday to release documents detailing the charges against the soldiers and did not provide a detailed account of the events that led to Chen’s death. But a spokesman for the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division said that the investigation into how Chen died includes “the circumstances leading up to his death.”
The Army said that 1st Lt. Daniel J. Schwartz, Staff Sgt. Blaine G. Dugas, Staff Sgt. Andrew J. Van Bockel, Sgt. Adam M. Holcomb, Sgt. Jeffrey T. Hurst, Spec. Thomas P. Curtis, Spec. Ryan J. Offutt and Sgt. Travis F. Carden had all been charged with counts ranging from dereliction of duty to making a false statement to assault, negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.
Reached Wednesday, some family members of the accused said they were shocked to hear of the charges.
Sheila Dugas, the mother of Blaine Dugas, said it was “completely out of character” for him. “He was always just taking care of his boys, his troops.”
Bretta Von Bockel, hearing the news about the accusations against her brother for the first time, said she could not believe it. “We worry about him every day,” she said.
Rarely have other service members been charged in connection with a suicide. If Chen did take his own life, he would be the second Asian American known to have done so this year after apparently being mistreated by comrades. Marine Lance Cpl. Harry Lew, 21, shot himself on April 3 after being hazed the night before by fellow Marines, the Marine Corps Times reported.
Through the end of November, the Army reported 154 potential suicides of active-duty service members for this year, slightly ahead of last year’s pace in which 159 active-duty soldiers took their own lives. Suicides in the Army reserves and National Guard have fallen significantly this year.
OuYang, the president of the New York chapter of OCA, an Asian-American advocacy group, said that the case “could have easily been swept under the rug” had it not pushed the Pentagon to act. Three weeks after Chen was found dead, she sent a letter to the Secretary of the Army asking for a meeting to discuss the case and concerns that Asian-American soldiers face discrimination from comrades.
“The community, elected officials and the media demanded the truth,” she said. “That all played an important role in obtaining justice in this case.”
Chen and the accused soldiers were assigned to C Company of the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, based in Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Sgt. 1st Class Alan G. Davis, a military spokesman, said the accused soldiers have been transferred from their post in Kandahar province to a different military base and relieved of their official duties. He said the soldiers are under “increased supervision” at the new base but are not being detained. Davis said the soldiers will probably be prosecuted in Afghanistan.
Van Bockel, Halcomb, Hurst, Curtis and Offutt were charged with involuntary manslaughter, assault consummated by battery, negligent homicide and reckless endangerment, the military statement said.
Schwartz, the only officer among the defendants, was charged with dereliction of duty. Dugas was charged with dereliction of duty and making a false statement. Carden was charged with assault and maltreatment.
Chen’s death, and the reports that he had been mistreated, incensed Asian American activists in New York, who called on the military to carry out a swift investigation. Hundreds attended a vigil in Manhattan last week to demand answers.
OuYang said Chen, who was born in the United States, had been subjected to ethnic slurs and physical abuse by superiors shortly before he died. Referring to an account military officials provided to the family, she said the physical abuse left marks on his back. Fellow soldiers once forced Chen out of bed and dragged him across the floor to punish him for failing to turn off a water heater, OuYang said. The mistreatment was reported by the New York Times on Oct. 30.
Chen, the son of immigrants who live in New York City’s Chinatown
and speak no English, indicated to his parents that he was being bullied, but also told them that such treatment was “to be expected,” the Times story said.
OuYang said Chen’s diaries and e-mails show a pattern of harassment that began at Fort Benning, Ga., during basic training earlier this year. “He was taunted several days,” she said. “Some of it was ignorance, some of it was outright taunting.”
Reached late Wednesday afternoon by phone, Su Zhen Chen, Chen’s mother said: “We are always missing our son. That’s what’s on our minds.”
(washingtonpost.com)
S. Korea Lawmakers Slam Government for Failing Over Kim’s Death
(Bloomberg) -- South Korean lawmakers criticized the government for failing to know about North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il’s death until it was announced two days later, putting pressure on intelligence chief Won Sei Hoon to resign.
President Lee Myung Bak’s government first heard about Kim’s Dec. 17 death when it was broadcast on North Korean state television on Dec. 19. Lee attended a party given by his staff to celebrate his birthday, wedding anniversary and election four hours before the announcement.
Won, director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, must be held accountable for his ignorance of Kim’s death, lawmakers said today. Lee’s defense minister quit last year amid criticism of the response to a deadly North Korean artillery attack on a South Korean island
“There have been quite a few cases where this government made diplomacy and security appointments regardless of the candidates’ expertise,” Kwon Young Se, a member of the ruling Grand National Party and chairman of the National Assembly’s intelligence committee, told CBS Radio. “Unlike other areas, one mistake in diplomacy and security can threaten the country’s existence.”
Won must resign for his “unacceptable” ignorance and poor management of the agency’s “extraordinary” budget, Park Young Sun, a member of the opposing Liberty Forward Party, said in an interview.
Alert Levels
South Korea responded to Kim’s death and the naming of his son Kim Jong Un as successor by raising the military and civilian cyber alerts one notch above their standard default levels. While the government pledged to stabilize financial markets as needed, stocks and the won rose for a second day, with the benchmark Kospi index up as much as 3.2 percent.
Former South Korean Foreign Minister Han Sung Joo said today in an interview on Bloomberg Television that North Korea is stable and a collapse of the totalitarian state unlikely. Kim Jong Un, thought to be in his late 20’s, is a “figurehead,” while his uncle Jang Song Thaek and military leader Ri Yong Ho are in charge, Han said.
“The situation is pretty much in control,” he said.
The uncertainty on the Korean peninsula comes as public discontent over Lee and his party’s administration of an economy buffeted by inflation and income disparity. The GNP lost the Seoul mayoral race in October and senior lawmakers resigned from their party leadership posts earlier this month, adding to turmoil ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections next year.
--Editors: John Brinsley, Brett Miller
To contact the reporter on this story: Sangwon Yoon in Seoul at syoon32@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Brinsley at jbrinsley@bloomberg.net
President Lee Myung Bak’s government first heard about Kim’s Dec. 17 death when it was broadcast on North Korean state television on Dec. 19. Lee attended a party given by his staff to celebrate his birthday, wedding anniversary and election four hours before the announcement.
Won, director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, must be held accountable for his ignorance of Kim’s death, lawmakers said today. Lee’s defense minister quit last year amid criticism of the response to a deadly North Korean artillery attack on a South Korean island
“There have been quite a few cases where this government made diplomacy and security appointments regardless of the candidates’ expertise,” Kwon Young Se, a member of the ruling Grand National Party and chairman of the National Assembly’s intelligence committee, told CBS Radio. “Unlike other areas, one mistake in diplomacy and security can threaten the country’s existence.”
Won must resign for his “unacceptable” ignorance and poor management of the agency’s “extraordinary” budget, Park Young Sun, a member of the opposing Liberty Forward Party, said in an interview.
Alert Levels
South Korea responded to Kim’s death and the naming of his son Kim Jong Un as successor by raising the military and civilian cyber alerts one notch above their standard default levels. While the government pledged to stabilize financial markets as needed, stocks and the won rose for a second day, with the benchmark Kospi index up as much as 3.2 percent.
Former South Korean Foreign Minister Han Sung Joo said today in an interview on Bloomberg Television that North Korea is stable and a collapse of the totalitarian state unlikely. Kim Jong Un, thought to be in his late 20’s, is a “figurehead,” while his uncle Jang Song Thaek and military leader Ri Yong Ho are in charge, Han said.
“The situation is pretty much in control,” he said.
The uncertainty on the Korean peninsula comes as public discontent over Lee and his party’s administration of an economy buffeted by inflation and income disparity. The GNP lost the Seoul mayoral race in October and senior lawmakers resigned from their party leadership posts earlier this month, adding to turmoil ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections next year.
--Editors: John Brinsley, Brett Miller
To contact the reporter on this story: Sangwon Yoon in Seoul at syoon32@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Brinsley at jbrinsley@bloomberg.net
Syrian opposition urges U.N. action over 'horrific massacres'
(CNN) -- Syria's major opposition group condemned Bashar al-Assad's regime Wednesday for "horrific massacres" this week and called on the Arab League and the U.N. Security Council to take "necessary measures" to protect civilians.
The Syrian National Council said nearly 250 people have died over a 48-hour period and it urged the Arab League to condemn the killings and work with the United Nations "in taking the necessary measures to protect Syrian civilians."
"The SNC stresses the need to take all necessary actions to stop the bloody campaign that is targeting more cities and towns through the regime's militant expansion," the group said in a news release dated Tuesday but issued Wednesday to CNN via e-mail.
It called for an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting "to discuss the regime's massacres in Zawyiyeh mountain, Idlib, and Homs, in particular; issue international condemnation thereof; declare the cities and towns being brutally attacked 'safe zones' that enjoy international protection; and force the regime's forces to withdraw from said areas."
The group is calling for a declaration "that Zawiyeh mountain, Idlib, and Homs are disaster areas exposed to large-scale genocide and displacement operations by the Syrian regime's militias" and urged the International Red Crescent and other relief organizations "to intervene directly and provide urgent humanitarian assistance."
The violence spiked as Syria agreed to an Arab League peace plan Monday aimed at ending the violence between regime forces and protesters that started in mid-March. The United Nations earlier this month estimated that about 5,000 people have died in the violence.
Other groups also reported a surge in killings this week.
The Local Coordination Committees, an opposition umbrella group, said 84 people were killed across the country Tuesday.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a higher death toll of 111, which would make Tuesday among one of the deadliest days since the government crackdown started, activists say.
The Syrian Observatory's Rami Abdul Rahman had said Monday's toll of 100 to 110 was the highest, but Tuesday's total appears to surpass that.
The Syrian government maintains that it is cracking down on armed terrorists who attack security forces and civilians. The activists say the government's brutal crackdown against peaceful protests has led to the deaths.
CNN could not independently verify the allegations because Syria restricts the activity of journalists in the country.
Saad Abedine and Kindah Shair contributed to this report
(cnn.com)
The Syrian National Council said nearly 250 people have died over a 48-hour period and it urged the Arab League to condemn the killings and work with the United Nations "in taking the necessary measures to protect Syrian civilians."
"The SNC stresses the need to take all necessary actions to stop the bloody campaign that is targeting more cities and towns through the regime's militant expansion," the group said in a news release dated Tuesday but issued Wednesday to CNN via e-mail.
It called for an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting "to discuss the regime's massacres in Zawyiyeh mountain, Idlib, and Homs, in particular; issue international condemnation thereof; declare the cities and towns being brutally attacked 'safe zones' that enjoy international protection; and force the regime's forces to withdraw from said areas."
The group is calling for a declaration "that Zawiyeh mountain, Idlib, and Homs are disaster areas exposed to large-scale genocide and displacement operations by the Syrian regime's militias" and urged the International Red Crescent and other relief organizations "to intervene directly and provide urgent humanitarian assistance."
The violence spiked as Syria agreed to an Arab League peace plan Monday aimed at ending the violence between regime forces and protesters that started in mid-March. The United Nations earlier this month estimated that about 5,000 people have died in the violence.
Other groups also reported a surge in killings this week.
The Local Coordination Committees, an opposition umbrella group, said 84 people were killed across the country Tuesday.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a higher death toll of 111, which would make Tuesday among one of the deadliest days since the government crackdown started, activists say.
The Syrian Observatory's Rami Abdul Rahman had said Monday's toll of 100 to 110 was the highest, but Tuesday's total appears to surpass that.
The Syrian government maintains that it is cracking down on armed terrorists who attack security forces and civilians. The activists say the government's brutal crackdown against peaceful protests has led to the deaths.
CNN could not independently verify the allegations because Syria restricts the activity of journalists in the country.
Saad Abedine and Kindah Shair contributed to this report
(cnn.com)
Egyptians vote in parliamentary election runoffs amid growing uncertainty over nation’s future
CAIRO — Voting in election runoffs for Egypt’s first parliament since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster resumed on Wednesday without the long lines outside polling centers seen in previous rounds of the staggered vote.
The balloting comes amid growing calls for the ruling military to step down and allow the next parliament to form a national unity government that would take over the reins of power until a new president is elected before the end of June. Another scenario being floated is for presidential elections to be brought forward to January and a handover of power to take place the following moth.
The proposals, which the military has yet to comment on, are being floated as the generals who took over after a popular uprising forced Mubarak to step down 10 months ago are coming under growing criticism for mismanaging the transition period, gross human rights abuses and failure to revive the economy or restore security.
“I know nothing about politics, but I want stability for my country,” said Fatmah Morsi as she was about to cast her ballot in Dokki, a middle-class neighborhood in Cairo. “Enough with the protests. we should give this government a chance.”
The balloting, which is taking place Wednesday and Thursday, is in the second round of the election, with voting in mostly rural areas. A third and final round is to be held in early January. The new parliament is not scheduled to be seated until March, after three rounds of voting for the legislature’s largely toothless upper chamber is also completed.
Islamists led by the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest and best organized political group, have dominated the vote thus far and are likely to maintain their comfortable lead.
The brutality shown by the troops to protesters calling for the country’s military rulers to immediately step down has caused an uproar in Egypt. On Tuesday, some 10,000 women marched in central Cairo, demanding the military step down and expressing their anger over the abuse of women protesters by troops during the crackdown.
The military issued a statement expressing its regret but did not apologize for the brutality, which included pulling women by their hair, beating them with truncheons and stomping on them as they lay on the ground. The image of one woman — stripped half naked by the troops, kicked and stomped on — has particularly enraged women and drawn a sharp rebuke from the United States and the United Nations.
A women-only protest is a rarity in Egypt, though tens of thousands of women took part in the wave of protests that engulfed Egypt during the 18-day, January-February uprising that toppled Mubarak. The high number of protesters Tuesday underlined the depth of anger at the abuse of women by the soldiers. Women’s modesty in public is a cornerstone of social customs in conservative Egypt.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
(washingtonpost.com)
The balloting comes amid growing calls for the ruling military to step down and allow the next parliament to form a national unity government that would take over the reins of power until a new president is elected before the end of June. Another scenario being floated is for presidential elections to be brought forward to January and a handover of power to take place the following moth.
The proposals, which the military has yet to comment on, are being floated as the generals who took over after a popular uprising forced Mubarak to step down 10 months ago are coming under growing criticism for mismanaging the transition period, gross human rights abuses and failure to revive the economy or restore security.
“I know nothing about politics, but I want stability for my country,” said Fatmah Morsi as she was about to cast her ballot in Dokki, a middle-class neighborhood in Cairo. “Enough with the protests. we should give this government a chance.”
The balloting, which is taking place Wednesday and Thursday, is in the second round of the election, with voting in mostly rural areas. A third and final round is to be held in early January. The new parliament is not scheduled to be seated until March, after three rounds of voting for the legislature’s largely toothless upper chamber is also completed.
Islamists led by the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest and best organized political group, have dominated the vote thus far and are likely to maintain their comfortable lead.
The brutality shown by the troops to protesters calling for the country’s military rulers to immediately step down has caused an uproar in Egypt. On Tuesday, some 10,000 women marched in central Cairo, demanding the military step down and expressing their anger over the abuse of women protesters by troops during the crackdown.
The military issued a statement expressing its regret but did not apologize for the brutality, which included pulling women by their hair, beating them with truncheons and stomping on them as they lay on the ground. The image of one woman — stripped half naked by the troops, kicked and stomped on — has particularly enraged women and drawn a sharp rebuke from the United States and the United Nations.
A women-only protest is a rarity in Egypt, though tens of thousands of women took part in the wave of protests that engulfed Egypt during the 18-day, January-February uprising that toppled Mubarak. The high number of protesters Tuesday underlined the depth of anger at the abuse of women by the soldiers. Women’s modesty in public is a cornerstone of social customs in conservative Egypt.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
(washingtonpost.com)
Holiday showdown over payroll tax tests Obama, GOP
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stuck in a stalemate, President Barack Obama and his Republican rivals are slugging it out in Washington rather than reaching for a holiday season accord to prevent payroll taxes from going up on 160 million workers.
The tax increases, as well as cuts to Medicare doctors' fees and a lapse in jobless benefits, are due Jan. 1. They are looming even though the combatants agree that they shouldn't happen. Instead, the warring factions have painted themselves into a corner.
House Republicans are demanding that the Senate join negotiations to produce an agreement within days; Senate Democrats insist no talks will take place before the House approves a stopgap measure to buy more time.
A House vote Tuesday scuttled a bipartisan Senate deal for a two-month extension of all three policies: the payroll tax cuts, jobless benefits and Medicare fees.
After the House killed the Senate measure on a 229-193 vote, Obama signaled he'll use his presidential megaphone to try to force Republicans controlling the House into submission.
"Now let's be clear," Obama said at the White House. "The bipartisan compromise that was reached on Saturday is the only viable way to prevent a tax hike on Jan. 1. The only one."
The Obama campaign promptly took to Twitter and Facebook to fight it out. With their candidate's poll numbers rising, Democratic operatives seemed almost giddy at the prospect of a prolonged battle.
"The response was overwhelming," said a White House official requiring anonymity to discuss Obama's political efforts.
Republican lawmakers relished the battle as well, though some of them are too inexperienced to know that presidents — regardless of party — usually win such high-profile fights, like President Bill Clinton did over a 1995-96 government shutdown or President George W. Bush did in skirmishes on anti-terror policies.
House Republicans instead rallied around a plan passed last week that would have extended the payroll tax cut for one year. But that version also contained spending cuts opposed by Democrats and tighter rules for jobless benefits.
If legislation isn't passed by New Year's Day, payroll taxes will go up by almost $20 a week for a worker making a $50,000 salary. Almost 2 million people could lose unemployment benefits as well, and doctors would bear big cuts in Medicare payments.
Whatever the stakes, there was little indication that Republicans would get their wish for negotiations with the Senate any time soon. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., issued a statement saying he would be happy to resume talks on a yearlong measure — "but not before" the House ratifies the two-month bill and sends it to Obama for his signature.
Given Obama's remarks and Reid's refusal to negotiate, it was unclear what leverage Republicans had in the year-end standoff. It appeared likely the partisan disagreement could easily persist past Christmas and into the final week of the year.
A little-noticed element of the brawl was that the House-Senate parliamentary situation, which can be a critical factor, is all messed up. The Senate adjourned Saturday until Jan. 23 except for so-called pro forma sessions in which legislative business — like responding to the House moves — is basically impossible unless all 100 senators agree. That's never a sure thing.
The standoff was sowing confusion among business executives, who were running out of time to adapt to any new payroll tax regimen. Even the Senate's proposed two-month extension was creating headaches because it contained a two-tiered system geared to ensuring that higher-income earners paid a higher rate on some of their wages, according to a trade group.
"There's not time enough to do that in an orderly fashion," said Pete A. Isberg, president of the National Payroll Reporting Consortium trade group. "We're two weeks away from 2012." He wrote a letter to congressional leaders this week warning that the Senate bill "could create substantial problems, confusion and costs."
Meanwhile, Medicare announced Tuesday that, as it has in the past when doctors' reimbursements have been cut through congressional inaction, it would withhold physicians' payments for two weeks in January to avoid passing on a 27 percent cut in Medicare fees. The hope is that the problem gets fixed by then.
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
The tax increases, as well as cuts to Medicare doctors' fees and a lapse in jobless benefits, are due Jan. 1. They are looming even though the combatants agree that they shouldn't happen. Instead, the warring factions have painted themselves into a corner.
House Republicans are demanding that the Senate join negotiations to produce an agreement within days; Senate Democrats insist no talks will take place before the House approves a stopgap measure to buy more time.
A House vote Tuesday scuttled a bipartisan Senate deal for a two-month extension of all three policies: the payroll tax cuts, jobless benefits and Medicare fees.
After the House killed the Senate measure on a 229-193 vote, Obama signaled he'll use his presidential megaphone to try to force Republicans controlling the House into submission.
"Now let's be clear," Obama said at the White House. "The bipartisan compromise that was reached on Saturday is the only viable way to prevent a tax hike on Jan. 1. The only one."
The Obama campaign promptly took to Twitter and Facebook to fight it out. With their candidate's poll numbers rising, Democratic operatives seemed almost giddy at the prospect of a prolonged battle.
"The response was overwhelming," said a White House official requiring anonymity to discuss Obama's political efforts.
Republican lawmakers relished the battle as well, though some of them are too inexperienced to know that presidents — regardless of party — usually win such high-profile fights, like President Bill Clinton did over a 1995-96 government shutdown or President George W. Bush did in skirmishes on anti-terror policies.
House Republicans instead rallied around a plan passed last week that would have extended the payroll tax cut for one year. But that version also contained spending cuts opposed by Democrats and tighter rules for jobless benefits.
If legislation isn't passed by New Year's Day, payroll taxes will go up by almost $20 a week for a worker making a $50,000 salary. Almost 2 million people could lose unemployment benefits as well, and doctors would bear big cuts in Medicare payments.
Whatever the stakes, there was little indication that Republicans would get their wish for negotiations with the Senate any time soon. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., issued a statement saying he would be happy to resume talks on a yearlong measure — "but not before" the House ratifies the two-month bill and sends it to Obama for his signature.
Given Obama's remarks and Reid's refusal to negotiate, it was unclear what leverage Republicans had in the year-end standoff. It appeared likely the partisan disagreement could easily persist past Christmas and into the final week of the year.
A little-noticed element of the brawl was that the House-Senate parliamentary situation, which can be a critical factor, is all messed up. The Senate adjourned Saturday until Jan. 23 except for so-called pro forma sessions in which legislative business — like responding to the House moves — is basically impossible unless all 100 senators agree. That's never a sure thing.
The standoff was sowing confusion among business executives, who were running out of time to adapt to any new payroll tax regimen. Even the Senate's proposed two-month extension was creating headaches because it contained a two-tiered system geared to ensuring that higher-income earners paid a higher rate on some of their wages, according to a trade group.
"There's not time enough to do that in an orderly fashion," said Pete A. Isberg, president of the National Payroll Reporting Consortium trade group. "We're two weeks away from 2012." He wrote a letter to congressional leaders this week warning that the Senate bill "could create substantial problems, confusion and costs."
Meanwhile, Medicare announced Tuesday that, as it has in the past when doctors' reimbursements have been cut through congressional inaction, it would withhold physicians' payments for two weeks in January to avoid passing on a 27 percent cut in Medicare fees. The hope is that the problem gets fixed by then.
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Feud between Romney, Gingrich intensifies
OSKALOOSA, Iowa — The slugfest between Republican presidential frontrunners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich is escalating, with two sparred from a distance over attack ads that have come to dominate the volatile contest.
The rift underscores the contrasting campaign styles of the two men as they ready their final pitches to voters in Iowa and New Hampshire. And it left each decrying a new campaign finance system — fueled by deep-pocketed political action committees — that each benefits from.
In Iowa, Gingrich vowed his White House bid would remain positive, while in the next breath he labeled the Romney camp's tactics "disgusting." The former House speaker, known for a bare-knuckles campaign style when he engineered the GOP takeover of the House in the 1990s, suggested at a campaign stop on Tuesday that his opponents "hire consultants who get drunk, sit around and write stupid ads."
Romney protested that he couldn't control the independent PAC expenditures, but pointedly declined to disavow the ads. The former businessman and Massachusetts governor, who's been on the stump in New Hampshire, is seeking to project a tough, pragmatic image, allowing there's "no whining in politics."
"I'm a big boy," he said on MSNBC.
Meanwhile, Ron Paul has emerged as a wild card in the race. The blunt-spoken Texas congressman is set to hit the trail in Iowa again on Wednesday, along with other candidates in the field. With less than two weeks to go until the first-in-the nation Iowa caucuses, the race remains unpredictable, as voters weigh electability against conservative credentials.
Jenny Turner, a 31-year-old wedding videographer from Mount Pleasant, Iowa, summed it up this way: "My heart is with Newt. But Mitt Romney is the back of my mind."
The bickering over negative ads has highlighted the role of so-called super PACs, independent groups which may accept unlimited donations but are not supposed to directly coordinate with candidates. Such groups have sprung up to work on behalf of every serious Republican candidate in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that allowed people, unions and corporations to donate unlimited sums of money to outfits advocating the election or defeat of candidates.
Romney has labeled the system a "disaster"; Gingrich calls it "a nightmare."
Still, each has PACs leveraging dollars on their behalf.
Among the most visible is the pro-Romney PAC Restore our Future, run by former Romney aides. It has been blanketing the airwaves in Iowa with a series of caustic ads painting Gingrich as an ethically-challenged Washington power broker. The onslaught has chipped away at Gingrich's poll numbers in the state
Gingrich has challenged Romney to demand the ads come down.
However, two pro-Gingrich PACs have also been raking in cash. Gingrich's longtime aide Rick Tyler just signed on with one of them.
Gingrich trails Romney badly in fundraising and his campaign had been deeply in debt following staff upheaval earlier this year. The PAC spending could help him rapidly make up that gap. Gingrich said Wednesday he would disavow any PAC that runs negative ads, but that doesn't mean they could not do so anyway.
Gingrich and Romney were each expected back on the campaign trail Wednesday, one of the last full days before the campaigns go dark for the holidays. Romney had a full day of campaign stops in New Hampshire, a must-win state for him. He was set to pick up the endorsement of a key conservative activist.
Gingrich was collecting the support from state House speakers in Iowa and New Hampshire and was set to hold events in both states. He was then set to rush to Virginia, which the former Georgia congressman now calls home, to help ensure he has the needed signatures to get on the ballot in the state.
___
Copyright 2011, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
(ajc.com)
The rift underscores the contrasting campaign styles of the two men as they ready their final pitches to voters in Iowa and New Hampshire. And it left each decrying a new campaign finance system — fueled by deep-pocketed political action committees — that each benefits from.
In Iowa, Gingrich vowed his White House bid would remain positive, while in the next breath he labeled the Romney camp's tactics "disgusting." The former House speaker, known for a bare-knuckles campaign style when he engineered the GOP takeover of the House in the 1990s, suggested at a campaign stop on Tuesday that his opponents "hire consultants who get drunk, sit around and write stupid ads."
Romney protested that he couldn't control the independent PAC expenditures, but pointedly declined to disavow the ads. The former businessman and Massachusetts governor, who's been on the stump in New Hampshire, is seeking to project a tough, pragmatic image, allowing there's "no whining in politics."
"I'm a big boy," he said on MSNBC.
Meanwhile, Ron Paul has emerged as a wild card in the race. The blunt-spoken Texas congressman is set to hit the trail in Iowa again on Wednesday, along with other candidates in the field. With less than two weeks to go until the first-in-the nation Iowa caucuses, the race remains unpredictable, as voters weigh electability against conservative credentials.
Jenny Turner, a 31-year-old wedding videographer from Mount Pleasant, Iowa, summed it up this way: "My heart is with Newt. But Mitt Romney is the back of my mind."
The bickering over negative ads has highlighted the role of so-called super PACs, independent groups which may accept unlimited donations but are not supposed to directly coordinate with candidates. Such groups have sprung up to work on behalf of every serious Republican candidate in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that allowed people, unions and corporations to donate unlimited sums of money to outfits advocating the election or defeat of candidates.
Romney has labeled the system a "disaster"; Gingrich calls it "a nightmare."
Still, each has PACs leveraging dollars on their behalf.
Among the most visible is the pro-Romney PAC Restore our Future, run by former Romney aides. It has been blanketing the airwaves in Iowa with a series of caustic ads painting Gingrich as an ethically-challenged Washington power broker. The onslaught has chipped away at Gingrich's poll numbers in the state
Gingrich has challenged Romney to demand the ads come down.
However, two pro-Gingrich PACs have also been raking in cash. Gingrich's longtime aide Rick Tyler just signed on with one of them.
Gingrich trails Romney badly in fundraising and his campaign had been deeply in debt following staff upheaval earlier this year. The PAC spending could help him rapidly make up that gap. Gingrich said Wednesday he would disavow any PAC that runs negative ads, but that doesn't mean they could not do so anyway.
Gingrich and Romney were each expected back on the campaign trail Wednesday, one of the last full days before the campaigns go dark for the holidays. Romney had a full day of campaign stops in New Hampshire, a must-win state for him. He was set to pick up the endorsement of a key conservative activist.
Gingrich was collecting the support from state House speakers in Iowa and New Hampshire and was set to hold events in both states. He was then set to rush to Virginia, which the former Georgia congressman now calls home, to help ensure he has the needed signatures to get on the ballot in the state.
___
Copyright 2011, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
(ajc.com)
Death toll from Philippine flash floods tops 1,000
ILIGAN, Philippines (AP) – The official death toll from last week's massive flash flooding in two southern Philippine cities topped 1,000 on Wednesday, while authorities said they lost count of how many more were missing in one of the worst calamities to hit the coastal region.
Soldiers carry coffins of flash flood victims during a mass burial Tuesday at a cemetery in Iligan.
The latest tally showed a total of 1,002 people have been confirmed dead, including 650 in Cagayan de Oro and an additional 283 in nearby Iligan city, said Benito Ramos, head of the Civil Defense Office. The rest came from several other southern and central provinces.
A tropical storm swept through the area Friday night and unleashed flash floods in the middle of the night that caught most of the victims in their sleep.
"There were many lessons learned by the people who did not listen to national and local governments, but this is not the time to put the blame on them," Ramos told The Associated Press, adding that warnings by weather forecasters of an approaching storm went unheeded.
He said the government continues to be focused on retrieving the bodies, most of which are being pulled from the sea off Cagayan de Oro.
"We've lost count of the missing," he said.
President Benigno Aquino III declared a state of national calamity during a visit to the region Tuesday and promised the government "will do its best to prevent a repeat of this tragedy."
He said there would be an assessment of why so many people died and why those living along riverbanks and close to the coast — most of them illegal settlers — had not been moved to safety.
"I do not accept that everything had been done. I know that we can do more. We must determine what really happened," Aquino said. "Must this end in tragedy? We knew that (storm) was coming. There should have been efforts to avoid the destruction."
Illegal logging is another factor believed to have contributed to the staggering death toll as many victims were swept away by huge logs that rolled down denuded mountains facing the two cities. Experts say unmitigated logging and deforestation contribute to soil erosion and trigger mudslides.
Aquino declared a ban on logging in February but weak law enforcement and corruption makes it a recurring problem.
With a handful of funeral parlors overwhelmed in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro, authorities and grieving relatives have begun burying the dead.
People wept during funeral rites at the Iligan city cemetery, where soldiers carried the caskets of at least 38 victims Tuesday. Many wore masks to try to block the stench of decomposing bodies.
"We have to give the dead a decent burial," Mayor Lawrence Cruz said. He said authorities were using part of the cemetery's passageway to build tombs.
More burials were planned for Wednesday, including of unclaimed remains after they are processed by government forensic teams for future identification.
About 45,000 displaced were still crowded in evacuation centers as aid workers rushed in relief supplies. Lack of running water was a major concern.
Analiza Osado grabbed her three young children and headed for the door when floodwaters reached her bed and quickly rose chest-high. She is one of many survivors living in Iligan's biggest gymnasium.
"We have enough food and water here but we don't have clothes," she said. "Everything is gone."
With half of her house swept away, she said she was stopped by authorities from returning to her village near the sea and the mouth of the river that overflowed.
Among many aid agencies operating in the region, UNICEF launched an appeal for $4.2 million to assist the victims and dispatched water bladders, hygiene kits, temporary pit latrines and mobile water units.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
(usatoday.com)
Soldiers carry coffins of flash flood victims during a mass burial Tuesday at a cemetery in Iligan.
The latest tally showed a total of 1,002 people have been confirmed dead, including 650 in Cagayan de Oro and an additional 283 in nearby Iligan city, said Benito Ramos, head of the Civil Defense Office. The rest came from several other southern and central provinces.
A tropical storm swept through the area Friday night and unleashed flash floods in the middle of the night that caught most of the victims in their sleep.
"There were many lessons learned by the people who did not listen to national and local governments, but this is not the time to put the blame on them," Ramos told The Associated Press, adding that warnings by weather forecasters of an approaching storm went unheeded.
He said the government continues to be focused on retrieving the bodies, most of which are being pulled from the sea off Cagayan de Oro.
"We've lost count of the missing," he said.
President Benigno Aquino III declared a state of national calamity during a visit to the region Tuesday and promised the government "will do its best to prevent a repeat of this tragedy."
He said there would be an assessment of why so many people died and why those living along riverbanks and close to the coast — most of them illegal settlers — had not been moved to safety.
"I do not accept that everything had been done. I know that we can do more. We must determine what really happened," Aquino said. "Must this end in tragedy? We knew that (storm) was coming. There should have been efforts to avoid the destruction."
Illegal logging is another factor believed to have contributed to the staggering death toll as many victims were swept away by huge logs that rolled down denuded mountains facing the two cities. Experts say unmitigated logging and deforestation contribute to soil erosion and trigger mudslides.
Aquino declared a ban on logging in February but weak law enforcement and corruption makes it a recurring problem.
With a handful of funeral parlors overwhelmed in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro, authorities and grieving relatives have begun burying the dead.
People wept during funeral rites at the Iligan city cemetery, where soldiers carried the caskets of at least 38 victims Tuesday. Many wore masks to try to block the stench of decomposing bodies.
"We have to give the dead a decent burial," Mayor Lawrence Cruz said. He said authorities were using part of the cemetery's passageway to build tombs.
More burials were planned for Wednesday, including of unclaimed remains after they are processed by government forensic teams for future identification.
About 45,000 displaced were still crowded in evacuation centers as aid workers rushed in relief supplies. Lack of running water was a major concern.
Analiza Osado grabbed her three young children and headed for the door when floodwaters reached her bed and quickly rose chest-high. She is one of many survivors living in Iligan's biggest gymnasium.
"We have enough food and water here but we don't have clothes," she said. "Everything is gone."
With half of her house swept away, she said she was stopped by authorities from returning to her village near the sea and the mouth of the river that overflowed.
Among many aid agencies operating in the region, UNICEF launched an appeal for $4.2 million to assist the victims and dispatched water bladders, hygiene kits, temporary pit latrines and mobile water units.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
(usatoday.com)
Biden urges Iraq leaders to resolve sectarian disputes
US Vice-President Joe Biden has urged Iraqi leaders to work together to avert renewed sectarian strife.
The White House said Mr Biden had expressed his concerns in a phone call to Shia Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.
It comes after an arrest warrant was issued for Iraq's Sunni Vice-President, Tariq al-Hashemi, on terror charges.
That sparked fears that Iraq's fragile year-old unity government could fall apart, shortly after the last US soldiers left the country.
Fighting between Sunnis and Shia left thousands dead in the tit-for-tat attacks of 2006-2007.
The entire al-Iraqiyya Sunni political bloc is boycotting parliament and the cabinet in protest at the warrant, while the Sunni Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak has said Iraq is facing "chaos and disaster".
Mr Hashemi, who is now in Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdistan Region, has denied any wrongdoing.
Barely had the last American soldier stepped across the border into Kuwait than the fragile Iraqi political structure the US military left behind began to fall dangerously apart, as long-standing tensions between Shia and Sunni political leaders came to a head.
The most dramatic symptom of the exploding crisis is the fact that Iraq's most senior Sunni Arab politician, Tariq al-Hashemi, is effectively a fugitive. While he hides out under Kurdish protection in the north, the entire al-Iraqiyya political bloc to which he belongs has pulled out of both parliament and the cabinet.
That paralyses Sunni participation in the hard-won power-sharing deal that underpins a year-old national unity government which has rarely pulled together. Frantic efforts are now under way to try to hold that structure together.
The alternative, at its direst, could be the country's de facto partition, as part of a wider regional Balkanisation along sectarian lines.
Rift endangers unity government
'I blame Maliki'
In a statement, the White House said Mr Biden had spoken separately with Mr Maliki and parliamentary Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi to discuss the political situation and to stress Washington's "commitment to a long-term strategic partnership with Iraq".
He told them of the importance of an inclusive government and of "acting in a manner consistent with the rule of law and Iraq's constitution".
"The vice-president also stressed the urgent need for the prime minister and the leaders of the other major blocs to meet and work through their differences together," the statement said.
The last US troops left Iraq on Sunday, eight years after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
The next day, Iraq's interior ministry announced that an arrest warrant had been issued for Mr Hashemi. It said members of his security detail had confessed to carrying out terror attacks.
State-run television broadcast what were said to be the men's confessions.
Mr Hashemi has said the accusations are "fabricated". He has accused Mr Maliki of being behind a plot to discredit him and blow apart recent attempts at national reconciliation.
"All the efforts that have been exerted to reach national reconciliation and to unite Iraq are now gone. So yes, I blame Maliki," he said.
Mr Hashemi said he was ready to defend himself against accusations of terrorism
In response to the warrant, the main Sunni Arab political bloc al-Iraqiyya - which was already boycotting parliament in protest at Mr Maliki's alleged authoritarian manner - said its ministers would suspend participation in cabinet.
Mr Mutlak said said the Sunni minority was "being oppressed" by Mr Maliki's Shia-dominated government and his "unwise running of the country", and has called for a confidence vote in parliament.
He said Iraq risked descending into renewed sectarian conflict.
Iraq's power-sharing government was formed a year ago after nine-months of negotiations which followed inconclusive election results.
But the BBC's Middle East correspondent Jim Muir say the government has rarely pulled together, and a gulf of mistrust remains between the two sides.
Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani, who brokered the deal, has warned it is now in danger of collapsing.
(bbc.co.uk)
The White House said Mr Biden had expressed his concerns in a phone call to Shia Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.
It comes after an arrest warrant was issued for Iraq's Sunni Vice-President, Tariq al-Hashemi, on terror charges.
That sparked fears that Iraq's fragile year-old unity government could fall apart, shortly after the last US soldiers left the country.
Fighting between Sunnis and Shia left thousands dead in the tit-for-tat attacks of 2006-2007.
The entire al-Iraqiyya Sunni political bloc is boycotting parliament and the cabinet in protest at the warrant, while the Sunni Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak has said Iraq is facing "chaos and disaster".
Mr Hashemi, who is now in Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdistan Region, has denied any wrongdoing.
Barely had the last American soldier stepped across the border into Kuwait than the fragile Iraqi political structure the US military left behind began to fall dangerously apart, as long-standing tensions between Shia and Sunni political leaders came to a head.
The most dramatic symptom of the exploding crisis is the fact that Iraq's most senior Sunni Arab politician, Tariq al-Hashemi, is effectively a fugitive. While he hides out under Kurdish protection in the north, the entire al-Iraqiyya political bloc to which he belongs has pulled out of both parliament and the cabinet.
That paralyses Sunni participation in the hard-won power-sharing deal that underpins a year-old national unity government which has rarely pulled together. Frantic efforts are now under way to try to hold that structure together.
The alternative, at its direst, could be the country's de facto partition, as part of a wider regional Balkanisation along sectarian lines.
Rift endangers unity government
'I blame Maliki'
In a statement, the White House said Mr Biden had spoken separately with Mr Maliki and parliamentary Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi to discuss the political situation and to stress Washington's "commitment to a long-term strategic partnership with Iraq".
He told them of the importance of an inclusive government and of "acting in a manner consistent with the rule of law and Iraq's constitution".
"The vice-president also stressed the urgent need for the prime minister and the leaders of the other major blocs to meet and work through their differences together," the statement said.
The last US troops left Iraq on Sunday, eight years after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
The next day, Iraq's interior ministry announced that an arrest warrant had been issued for Mr Hashemi. It said members of his security detail had confessed to carrying out terror attacks.
State-run television broadcast what were said to be the men's confessions.
Mr Hashemi has said the accusations are "fabricated". He has accused Mr Maliki of being behind a plot to discredit him and blow apart recent attempts at national reconciliation.
"All the efforts that have been exerted to reach national reconciliation and to unite Iraq are now gone. So yes, I blame Maliki," he said.
Mr Hashemi said he was ready to defend himself against accusations of terrorism
In response to the warrant, the main Sunni Arab political bloc al-Iraqiyya - which was already boycotting parliament in protest at Mr Maliki's alleged authoritarian manner - said its ministers would suspend participation in cabinet.
Mr Mutlak said said the Sunni minority was "being oppressed" by Mr Maliki's Shia-dominated government and his "unwise running of the country", and has called for a confidence vote in parliament.
He said Iraq risked descending into renewed sectarian conflict.
Iraq's power-sharing government was formed a year ago after nine-months of negotiations which followed inconclusive election results.
But the BBC's Middle East correspondent Jim Muir say the government has rarely pulled together, and a gulf of mistrust remains between the two sides.
Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani, who brokered the deal, has warned it is now in danger of collapsing.
(bbc.co.uk)
Egypt: 10,000 march in protest at woman dragged half-naked through street
Tuesday's dramatic protest, which grew as the women marched from Tahrir Square through downtown, was fueled by the widely circulated images of abuses of women. Many of the marchers touted the photo of the young woman whose clothes were partially pulled off by troops, baring her down to her blue bra, as she struggled on the ground.
"Tantawi stripped your women naked, come join us," the crowd chanted to passers-by, referring to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of the military council that has ruled Egypt since the Feb. 11 fall of Hosni Mubarak. "The daughters of Egypt are a red line," they chanted.
Even before the protest was over, the military council issued an unusually strong statement of regret for what it called "violations" against women - a quick turnaround after days of dismissing the significance of the abuse.
The council expressed "deep regret to the great women of Egypt" and affirmed "its respect and total appreciation" for women and their right to protest and take part in political life. It promised it was taking measures to punish those responsible for violations.
The statement suggested the military's fear that attacks on women could wreck its prestige at home and abroad, which has already been heavily eroded by its fierce, five-day-old crackdown on pro-democracy protesters demanding it surrender power. The ruling generals have campaigned to keep the public on its side in the confrontation, depicting the activists as hooligans and themselves as the honorable protectors of the nation, above reproach.
In unusually harsh words, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday accused the Egyptian security forces and extremists of specifically targeting women.
"This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform, and is not worthy of a great people," she said.
In a possibly significant hint of new flexibility, the council also said in its statement Tuesday that it was prepared to discuss any initiatives to help the security of the country. In recent days, a number of political factions have pressed the military to hand over power by February, rather than June, when it promised to hold presidential elections.
In the past, police in Mubarak's regime were accused of intentionally humiliating women in protest crackdowns. But images of women being abused by soldiers were particularly shocking in a society that is deeply conservative and generally reveres the military. The independent press has splashed its front pages with pictures of soldiers chasing women protesters, including ones in conservative headscarves and full face-veils, beating them with sticks and clubs and dragging them by their hair. The crackdown has left 14 people dead - all but one by gunshots - and hundreds wounded.
The images of the half-stripped protester, whose identity is not known, clearly had a powerful resonance. A banner showing a photo of her on the asphalt - one soldier yanking up her black robes and shirt, another poised to stomp on her chest - was put up in Tahrir Square for passing drivers to see.
"The girl dragged around is just like my daughter," said Um Hossam, a 54-year old woman in traditional black dress and a headscarf at Tuesday's march. "I am a free woman, and attacking this woman or killing protesters is just like going after one of my own children."
Ringed by a protective chain of men, the women marched from Tahrir to the Journalists' Syndicate, several blocks away, chanting slogans demanding the military council step down.
Many accused the military of intentionally targeting women to scare them and their male relatives from joining protests against the generals. Previously, the military has implied women who joined protests were of loose morals. In March, soldiers subjected detained female protesters to humiliating tests to determine if they were virgins.
"They are trying to break women's spirits, starting with the virginity tests. They want to break their dignity so that they don't go out and protest," Maha Abdel-Nasser, an engineer who joined the march, said.
Two sisters, Yomna and Tasneem Shams, said they never took part in previous protests because their parents wouldn't allow them. But they happened to be downtown Tuesday and spontaneously joined the women's march.
"No one should ever be beaten for expressing their opinion," Yomna, 19, said. "I am proud I took part in today's protest. I feel I can tell my kids I have done something for them in the future."
Some also criticised Islamic parties, which stayed out of the antimilitary protests and did not participate in Tuesday's march - even though religious conservatives often tout their defense of "women's honor." Pro-democracy activists accused them of being worried about anything that might derail ongoing, multistage parliamentary elections, which the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood and the more conservative Al-Nour Party have dominated so far.
"This is a case of honour. But they clearly don't care for honor or religion. They now care only about their political interests," said Mohammed Fawaz, one of the men in the protective chain around the marching women.
The protest also is likely to deepen the predicament of the military as critics began to talk openly about putting them on trial for abuses, and politicians are floating ideas for their exit, perhaps in return for immunity.
Emad Gad, a newly elected lawmaker, said that without guarantees they would not be prosecuted, the generals won't hand over power by the end of June as promised. Foremost on their minds, he said, was the fate of Mubarak, who ended in court facing charges that carry the death penalty after ruling Egypt for nearly 30 years.
"They didn't get clear assurances and that is why they try diabolical tactics to make sure they get these guarantees," he said, citing the military's attempt to enshrine in the next constitution language that would shield it from civilian scrutiny.
"We have to address their fears, their interests and future role," he said.
The public and many activists welcomed the military when it took power from Mubarak in February. But relations have deteriorated sharply since as the democracy activists accused the generals of hijacking their uprising, obstructing reforms, human rights abuses and failing to revive the ailing economy or restore security.
The most recent protests - and an earlier round of protests that saw a deadly crackdown last month - have seen unprecedentedly bold ridiculing of the military, which for decades was considered a revered institution above criticism. Young protesters have heaped profanities into their antimilitary slogans, demanded the execution of Tantawi and taunted soldiers in Tahrir.
On Monday, a member of the military council, Maj. Gen. Adel Emara, took a hard-line in a press conference, denouncing the protests as a conspiracy to "topple the state" and accusing the media of fomenting sedition.
He defended the use of force by troops, saying they had a duty to defend the state's institutions and declined to offer an apology for brutality toward female protesters. He did not dispute the authenticity of the image of the woman being dragged half naked by soldiers, but said Egyptians should not see it without considering the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The apparent change in attitude with Tuesday's statement of regret left some women unimpressed.
Sahar Abdel-Mohsen, a 31-year old activist, doubted the promise to punish those responsible and said the statement was in response to the US criticism. "This is an apology to one woman, Hillary Clinton."
"This is like someone raping a girl, and then going to the police station to marry her (to avoid prosecution) and then divorce her as soon as he leaves," she said. "It is an attempt to exonerate themselves after the deed is done, but with little accountability."
(telegraph.co.uk)
"Tantawi stripped your women naked, come join us," the crowd chanted to passers-by, referring to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of the military council that has ruled Egypt since the Feb. 11 fall of Hosni Mubarak. "The daughters of Egypt are a red line," they chanted.
Even before the protest was over, the military council issued an unusually strong statement of regret for what it called "violations" against women - a quick turnaround after days of dismissing the significance of the abuse.
The council expressed "deep regret to the great women of Egypt" and affirmed "its respect and total appreciation" for women and their right to protest and take part in political life. It promised it was taking measures to punish those responsible for violations.
The statement suggested the military's fear that attacks on women could wreck its prestige at home and abroad, which has already been heavily eroded by its fierce, five-day-old crackdown on pro-democracy protesters demanding it surrender power. The ruling generals have campaigned to keep the public on its side in the confrontation, depicting the activists as hooligans and themselves as the honorable protectors of the nation, above reproach.
In unusually harsh words, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday accused the Egyptian security forces and extremists of specifically targeting women.
"This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform, and is not worthy of a great people," she said.
In a possibly significant hint of new flexibility, the council also said in its statement Tuesday that it was prepared to discuss any initiatives to help the security of the country. In recent days, a number of political factions have pressed the military to hand over power by February, rather than June, when it promised to hold presidential elections.
In the past, police in Mubarak's regime were accused of intentionally humiliating women in protest crackdowns. But images of women being abused by soldiers were particularly shocking in a society that is deeply conservative and generally reveres the military. The independent press has splashed its front pages with pictures of soldiers chasing women protesters, including ones in conservative headscarves and full face-veils, beating them with sticks and clubs and dragging them by their hair. The crackdown has left 14 people dead - all but one by gunshots - and hundreds wounded.
The images of the half-stripped protester, whose identity is not known, clearly had a powerful resonance. A banner showing a photo of her on the asphalt - one soldier yanking up her black robes and shirt, another poised to stomp on her chest - was put up in Tahrir Square for passing drivers to see.
"The girl dragged around is just like my daughter," said Um Hossam, a 54-year old woman in traditional black dress and a headscarf at Tuesday's march. "I am a free woman, and attacking this woman or killing protesters is just like going after one of my own children."
Ringed by a protective chain of men, the women marched from Tahrir to the Journalists' Syndicate, several blocks away, chanting slogans demanding the military council step down.
Many accused the military of intentionally targeting women to scare them and their male relatives from joining protests against the generals. Previously, the military has implied women who joined protests were of loose morals. In March, soldiers subjected detained female protesters to humiliating tests to determine if they were virgins.
"They are trying to break women's spirits, starting with the virginity tests. They want to break their dignity so that they don't go out and protest," Maha Abdel-Nasser, an engineer who joined the march, said.
Two sisters, Yomna and Tasneem Shams, said they never took part in previous protests because their parents wouldn't allow them. But they happened to be downtown Tuesday and spontaneously joined the women's march.
"No one should ever be beaten for expressing their opinion," Yomna, 19, said. "I am proud I took part in today's protest. I feel I can tell my kids I have done something for them in the future."
Some also criticised Islamic parties, which stayed out of the antimilitary protests and did not participate in Tuesday's march - even though religious conservatives often tout their defense of "women's honor." Pro-democracy activists accused them of being worried about anything that might derail ongoing, multistage parliamentary elections, which the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood and the more conservative Al-Nour Party have dominated so far.
"This is a case of honour. But they clearly don't care for honor or religion. They now care only about their political interests," said Mohammed Fawaz, one of the men in the protective chain around the marching women.
The protest also is likely to deepen the predicament of the military as critics began to talk openly about putting them on trial for abuses, and politicians are floating ideas for their exit, perhaps in return for immunity.
Emad Gad, a newly elected lawmaker, said that without guarantees they would not be prosecuted, the generals won't hand over power by the end of June as promised. Foremost on their minds, he said, was the fate of Mubarak, who ended in court facing charges that carry the death penalty after ruling Egypt for nearly 30 years.
"They didn't get clear assurances and that is why they try diabolical tactics to make sure they get these guarantees," he said, citing the military's attempt to enshrine in the next constitution language that would shield it from civilian scrutiny.
"We have to address their fears, their interests and future role," he said.
The public and many activists welcomed the military when it took power from Mubarak in February. But relations have deteriorated sharply since as the democracy activists accused the generals of hijacking their uprising, obstructing reforms, human rights abuses and failing to revive the ailing economy or restore security.
The most recent protests - and an earlier round of protests that saw a deadly crackdown last month - have seen unprecedentedly bold ridiculing of the military, which for decades was considered a revered institution above criticism. Young protesters have heaped profanities into their antimilitary slogans, demanded the execution of Tantawi and taunted soldiers in Tahrir.
On Monday, a member of the military council, Maj. Gen. Adel Emara, took a hard-line in a press conference, denouncing the protests as a conspiracy to "topple the state" and accusing the media of fomenting sedition.
He defended the use of force by troops, saying they had a duty to defend the state's institutions and declined to offer an apology for brutality toward female protesters. He did not dispute the authenticity of the image of the woman being dragged half naked by soldiers, but said Egyptians should not see it without considering the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The apparent change in attitude with Tuesday's statement of regret left some women unimpressed.
Sahar Abdel-Mohsen, a 31-year old activist, doubted the promise to punish those responsible and said the statement was in response to the US criticism. "This is an apology to one woman, Hillary Clinton."
"This is like someone raping a girl, and then going to the police station to marry her (to avoid prosecution) and then divorce her as soon as he leaves," she said. "It is an attempt to exonerate themselves after the deed is done, but with little accountability."
(telegraph.co.uk)
Selasa, 20 Desember 2011
Exclusive: N.Korea military backs Kim heir but will share power
BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea's new young leader will have to share power with an uncle and the military after the death of his father Kim Jong-il as the isolated country shifts to collective rule from strongman dictatorship, a source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said.
The source added that the military, which is trying to develop a nuclear arsenal, has pledged allegiance to the untested Kim Jong-un who takes over the family dynasty that has ruled North Korea since it was founded after world War Two.
The source also said Beijing was only notified of Kim's death earlier on Monday, the same day that North Korean state television broadcast the news. Kim died on Saturday.
The source declined to be identified but has correctly predicted events in the past, telling Reuters about the North's first nuclear test in 2006 before it took place.
The situation in North Korea appeared stable after the military gave its backing to Kim's son and successor, Kim Jong-un, the source said.
"It's very unlikely," the source said when asked about the possibility of a military coup. "The military has pledged allegiance to Kim Jong-un."
With no military strongman, North Korea will be ruled by collective leadership, including Kim Jong-un, his uncle and the military, the source said.
Jang Song-thaek, 65, brother-in-law of Kim Jong-il and the younger Kim's uncle, was named in 2009 to the National Defense Commission, the supreme leadership council Kim Jong-il led as head of the military state.
The source also said the North Korea test-fired a missile on Monday to warn the United States not to make any moves against it. Pyongyang also had no immediate plans for further tests barring an escalation of tensions.
"With the missile test, (North) Korea wanted to deliver the message that they have the ability to protect themselves," the source said.
"But (North) Korea is unlikely to conduct a nuclear test in the near future unless provoked" by the United States and South Korea, the source said.
The North's nuclear program has been a nagging source of tensions with the international community. Pyongyang carried out nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, and has quit six-party talks with South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia on abandoning its nuclear program and returning to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
China, the North's closest ally and biggest provider of aid,
on Tuesday welcomed the new North Korean leader to visit after his father's death. Chinese President Hu Jintao and Vice-President Xi Jinping also visited the hermit state's embassy in Beijing to express their condolences on Tuesday. Roads leading to the embassy were blocked.
Still the prospect of instability on its northeastern border worries China. North Korea has been pressed by China to denuclearize and is willing to do so on condition that North and South Korea, the United States and China sign an armistice replacing a 1953 ceasefire agreement, the source said.
The two Koreas have been divided for decades and remain technically at war since their 1950 to 1953 conflict ended with an armistice but no peace agreement. The United States backed the South, while China supported the North in that conflict.
Pyongyang also is convinced there are U.S. nuclear weapons in South Korea and demands Washington pull them out, the source said.
Impoverished and squeezed by international sanctions for conducting its nuclear and missile tests, North Korea has increasingly turned to Beijing for help to fill the gap left by the drying up of economic assistance from South Korea and the United States.
(Editing by Brian Rhoads and Jonathan Thatcher)
The source added that the military, which is trying to develop a nuclear arsenal, has pledged allegiance to the untested Kim Jong-un who takes over the family dynasty that has ruled North Korea since it was founded after world War Two.
The source also said Beijing was only notified of Kim's death earlier on Monday, the same day that North Korean state television broadcast the news. Kim died on Saturday.
The source declined to be identified but has correctly predicted events in the past, telling Reuters about the North's first nuclear test in 2006 before it took place.
The situation in North Korea appeared stable after the military gave its backing to Kim's son and successor, Kim Jong-un, the source said.
"It's very unlikely," the source said when asked about the possibility of a military coup. "The military has pledged allegiance to Kim Jong-un."
With no military strongman, North Korea will be ruled by collective leadership, including Kim Jong-un, his uncle and the military, the source said.
Jang Song-thaek, 65, brother-in-law of Kim Jong-il and the younger Kim's uncle, was named in 2009 to the National Defense Commission, the supreme leadership council Kim Jong-il led as head of the military state.
The source also said the North Korea test-fired a missile on Monday to warn the United States not to make any moves against it. Pyongyang also had no immediate plans for further tests barring an escalation of tensions.
"With the missile test, (North) Korea wanted to deliver the message that they have the ability to protect themselves," the source said.
"But (North) Korea is unlikely to conduct a nuclear test in the near future unless provoked" by the United States and South Korea, the source said.
The North's nuclear program has been a nagging source of tensions with the international community. Pyongyang carried out nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, and has quit six-party talks with South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia on abandoning its nuclear program and returning to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
China, the North's closest ally and biggest provider of aid,
on Tuesday welcomed the new North Korean leader to visit after his father's death. Chinese President Hu Jintao and Vice-President Xi Jinping also visited the hermit state's embassy in Beijing to express their condolences on Tuesday. Roads leading to the embassy were blocked.
Still the prospect of instability on its northeastern border worries China. North Korea has been pressed by China to denuclearize and is willing to do so on condition that North and South Korea, the United States and China sign an armistice replacing a 1953 ceasefire agreement, the source said.
The two Koreas have been divided for decades and remain technically at war since their 1950 to 1953 conflict ended with an armistice but no peace agreement. The United States backed the South, while China supported the North in that conflict.
Pyongyang also is convinced there are U.S. nuclear weapons in South Korea and demands Washington pull them out, the source said.
Impoverished and squeezed by international sanctions for conducting its nuclear and missile tests, North Korea has increasingly turned to Beijing for help to fill the gap left by the drying up of economic assistance from South Korea and the United States.
(Editing by Brian Rhoads and Jonathan Thatcher)
Hundreds of coffins shipped to flood-hit southern Philippines as death toll nears 1,000
ILIGAN, Philippines — The government shipped more than 400 coffins to two flood-stricken cities in the southern Philippines on Tuesday as the death toll neared 1,000 and President Benigno Aquino III declared a state of national calamity.
The latest count listed 957 dead and 49 missing and is expected to climb further as additional bodies are recovered from the sea and mud in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro cities.
( Aaron Favila / Associated Press ) - Philippine Navy personnel arrange coffins that will be shipped with drinking water, clothes and other relief goods to flood-stricken Cagayan De Oro and Iligan cities on board a Philippine Navy ship in Manila, Philippines on Tuesday Dec. 20, 2011. Nearly a thousand people died in massive flash floods when tropical storm Washi hit the country last week in one of the worst disasters to strike the region in decades.
.
A handful of morgues are overwhelmed and running out of coffins and formaldehyde for embalming. Aid workers appealed for bottled water, blankets, tents and clothes for many of 45,000 in crowded evacuation centers.
Navy sailors in Manila loaded a ship with 437 white wooden coffins to help local authorities handle the staggering number of dead. Also on the way were containers with thousands of water bottles.
Most of the dead were women and children who drowned Friday night when flash floods triggered by a tropical storm gushed into homes while people were asleep.
Dozens of grieving relatives of at least 38 victims wept openly during funeral rites at the Iligan city cemetery. Many wore masks to try to block the stench of decomposing bodies.
“We have to give the dead a decent burial,” Mayor Lawrence Cruz said. He said authorities were using part of the cemetery’s passageway to build tombs.
A Briton was the first foreigner reported dead in the flooding, according to the British Embassy in Manila. It didn’t provide details.
Aquino, on a visit to Cagayan de Oro on Tuesday, said the declaration of a national calamity will help local authorities gain quick access to recovery funds and keep prices of basic goods stable.
“Our national government will do its best to prevent a repeat of this tragedy,” Aquino told residents who came to greet him.
He said there would be an assessment of why so many people died, if there was ample warning that a storm would sweep through the area, and why people living along riverbanks and close to the coast had not been moved to safety.
“I do not accept that everything had been done. I know that we can do more. We must determine what really happened,” Aquino said. “Must this end in tragedy? We knew that (storm) was coming. There should have been efforts to avoid the destruction.”
The U.N. food agency flew in 3 tons of high-protein biscuits together with water tanks, blankets, tarpaulins and tents for some 75,000 people. Shortage of water was still a major problem in the two cities.
In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.
“The United Nations and its partners stand ready to support the government in responding to this disaster,” the deputy spokesman added.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The latest count listed 957 dead and 49 missing and is expected to climb further as additional bodies are recovered from the sea and mud in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro cities.
( Aaron Favila / Associated Press ) - Philippine Navy personnel arrange coffins that will be shipped with drinking water, clothes and other relief goods to flood-stricken Cagayan De Oro and Iligan cities on board a Philippine Navy ship in Manila, Philippines on Tuesday Dec. 20, 2011. Nearly a thousand people died in massive flash floods when tropical storm Washi hit the country last week in one of the worst disasters to strike the region in decades.
.
A handful of morgues are overwhelmed and running out of coffins and formaldehyde for embalming. Aid workers appealed for bottled water, blankets, tents and clothes for many of 45,000 in crowded evacuation centers.
Navy sailors in Manila loaded a ship with 437 white wooden coffins to help local authorities handle the staggering number of dead. Also on the way were containers with thousands of water bottles.
Most of the dead were women and children who drowned Friday night when flash floods triggered by a tropical storm gushed into homes while people were asleep.
Dozens of grieving relatives of at least 38 victims wept openly during funeral rites at the Iligan city cemetery. Many wore masks to try to block the stench of decomposing bodies.
“We have to give the dead a decent burial,” Mayor Lawrence Cruz said. He said authorities were using part of the cemetery’s passageway to build tombs.
A Briton was the first foreigner reported dead in the flooding, according to the British Embassy in Manila. It didn’t provide details.
Aquino, on a visit to Cagayan de Oro on Tuesday, said the declaration of a national calamity will help local authorities gain quick access to recovery funds and keep prices of basic goods stable.
“Our national government will do its best to prevent a repeat of this tragedy,” Aquino told residents who came to greet him.
He said there would be an assessment of why so many people died, if there was ample warning that a storm would sweep through the area, and why people living along riverbanks and close to the coast had not been moved to safety.
“I do not accept that everything had been done. I know that we can do more. We must determine what really happened,” Aquino said. “Must this end in tragedy? We knew that (storm) was coming. There should have been efforts to avoid the destruction.”
The U.N. food agency flew in 3 tons of high-protein biscuits together with water tanks, blankets, tarpaulins and tents for some 75,000 people. Shortage of water was still a major problem in the two cities.
In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.
“The United Nations and its partners stand ready to support the government in responding to this disaster,” the deputy spokesman added.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Syria, Egypt and Middle East unrest - live updates
11.06am: Syria's president Assad has a signed a new law that will impose the death penalty on anyone caught distributing weapons "with the aim of committing terrorist acts".
The regime has branded political opponents as terrorists since the start of the uprising, so the new law appears to be another signal of its determination to carry on with the crackdown.
10.49am: The Democratic Alliance, a political bloc in which the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party is the biggest player, has released a statement throwing its support firmly behind the protesters
.
Confirming its intention to participate in the sit-in at the supreme judiciary court until violence against protesters is halted and executive powers are handed over to the new parliament, it says:
Scaf (Supreme Council of Armed Forces) has failed in the management of the transitional period up to this critical moment, and it bears full responsibility for immediate cessation of violence, abuse of the citizens, assault of female demonstrators, the targeting of the revolutionaries who stood in the face of heavy-handed attacks, and for the immediate release of all protesters detained for no legal reason.
The conferees insist on bringing to justice and accountability military leaders and security officials responsible for ordering and carrying out violent attacks on the protesters, sitters and demonstrators, and on the formation of a special independent judicial commission of inquiry to take the necessary measures for the afore-mentioned purpose with full authority to initiate an investigation with the military and the security forces in charge of the area at the time. The conferees also condemn attempts to tarnish the image of the revolution and the revolutionaries who were always determined to maintain the peaceful nature of their protest and sit-in, which lasted nearly three weeks without any attack on a single institution.
10.46am: Video filmed by the Egyptian daily al-Masry al-Youm TV
at dawn today shows security forces in riot gear and protesters hurling projectiles at each other. What sounds like gunshots can be heard in the background.
Four people were killed in the raid on this morning's raid on Tahrir Square, a doctor told Ahram Online (see 10.07am).
10.22am: Reports of the killing of scores of Syrian army defectors in Idlib are sketchy, but the area is known to be a centre of desertion.
Dissident Ammar Abdulhamid claimed 72 defectors were killed in Kinsafrah.
The Syrian Observatory for Human said 60 to 70 defected troops were killed as they fled military positions between Kinsafrah and Kefer Quaid.
Last week residents of Kinsafrah were filmed hoisting an independence flag after reports that hundreds of troops switched sides in the town.
10.07am: Four people were killed when the Egyptian security forces raided Tahrir Square this morning,
a doctor told Ahram Online reports.
Yamen El Genedy, a doctor at the Omar Makram Mosque field hospital, told Ahram Online that he saw four people admitted at 8 this morning. All of them had been shot dead. "The bullets had entered and exited their bodies, making it seem like the result of snipers. The force of the gunshots was very strong," said El Genedy. One of the deaths, he added, was a 19-year-old.
9.50am: The US state department has also appears to suspect Syria of playing for time by signing a deal with the Arab League to allow in observers.
Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters:
We've seen too many broken promises from the Syrian regime, so we're really less interested in a signed piece of paper than we are in actions to implement commitments made.
We firmly support the calls by the Arab League and the stipulations in this agreement that monitors, international human rights monitors, would have unfettered access to all locations in Syria, that the violence will stop, that all political prisoners will be released, and that armed elements of the Syrian regime will be withdrawn from populated areas. So it's on that basis that we will judge the seriousness of the Syrian regime with regard to this – its apparent acquiescence now to the Arab League's proposal.
On the other hand, Russia and China have welcomed the deal.
Russia's foreign ministry said:
We believe the document signed in Cairo offers an opportunity to use a mechanism of independent monitoring on the ground, to provide protection for all Syrian citizens and to stabilize the situation. This chance must be utilized.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90777/7682071.html?
8.21am: Welcome to Middle East Live. Grim reports of escalating violence in both Syria and Egypt continue to emerge. Here's a round up of the latest developments.
Syria
• Up to 70 army deserters were killed on Monday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, making it one one of the bloodiest days in uprising so far.
A survivor told the Observatory that defected soldiers were shot by machine gun fire
as they tried to flee their base. It also counted 40 civilians shot dead across Syria in the crackdown on protests.
• The regime of president Bashar al-Assad has signed an Arab League initiative that will allow observers into the country, in a move seen as another stalling tactic by Damascus.
Syria's foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, said the observers will have a one-month mandate that could be extended by another month if both sides agree. The observers will be "free" in their movements and "under the protection of the Syrian government," he said, but would not be allowed to visit sensitive military sites. Dissident Ammar Abdulhamid said the deal gave the regime more time
to allow the crackdown to continue:
The move was not a concession, but another stalling tactic. Assad was just granted several weeks of respite in which he can do pretty much what he wants, knowing that nothing will take place in the meantime on the regional or international scene to hurt him.
• The authorities have released US-born blogger Razan Ghazzawi who was charged last week with fomenting sectarian strife and spreading false information through a secret organisation.
The Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, where she worked, said in a statement that Ghazzawi was freed on Sunday night on bail.
Egypt
• Egyptian troops and riot police raided Cairo's Tahrir Square early on Tuesday in their latest attempt to evict protesters who want the ruling military to immediately step down, according to a field hospital doctor.
Ahmed Saad said a 15-year-old protester was in critical condition after suffering a gunshot wound in the attack, AP reports.
• Prominent political personalities and newly elected MPs are planning to stage a sit-in at Cairo's supreme judiciary court to demand immediate halt of violence against protesters, Jadaliyya reports.
The sit-in will also demand an immediate transfer of power from military to civilian rule, it says.
• Amnesty has condemned the excessive use of force used by the army against protesters.
"It is clear that either the military police has been given orders to disperse demonstrators at any cost, or the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces does not control the army and security forces. Either scenario is equally worrying," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
• US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has accused the security forces of targeting female protesters for beatings.
In a speech in Washington she said:
Recent events in Egypt have been particularly shocking. Women are being beaten and humiliated in the same streets where they risked their lives for the revolution only a few short months ago. And this is part of a deeply troubling pattern. Egyptian women have been largely shut out of decision-making in the transition by both the military authorities and the major political parties. At the same time, they have been specifically targeted both by security forces and by extremists ...
Women are being attacked, stripped, and beaten in the streets. This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonours the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform, and is not worthy of a great people.
• Revolutionaries are partly to blame for the clashes, according to a Foreign Policy magazine article by Steven Cook from the Council on Foreign Relations.
He writes:
What is perhaps most disturbing is that the weekend's battle ... didn't seem to have a point. The young toughs who descended on Qasr al-Aini Street after news spread of the Army's efforts to clear the area seemed less concerned with principle than combat ...
If the revolutionaries and their supporters are now stunned that the Islamists -- both the Brotherhood and the Salafists -- are set to dominate post-uprising Egypt, they must take a hard look at what they have done, or not done, over the last 11 months. Indeed, their ability to read Egyptian public sentiment is as bad as that of the military, and a good deal more myopic.
The Muslim Brothers are just about the only ones who have played post-Mubarak Egypt well.
• Thousands of historic manuscripts are feared destroyed after the Institute of Egypt, a research centre set up by Napoleon Bonaparte during France's invasion in the late 18th century, caught fire during the clashes.
Volunteers have spent the past two days trying to salvage what's left of some 192,000 books, journals and writings from the Institute.
Iraq
• Iraq's Shia-led government has issued an arrest warrant for the vice-president, Tariq al-Hashimi, the country's highest ranking Sunni official, on terrorism charges.
The move, a day after the last US troops left Iraq and ended the nearly nine-year war, could signal a sharp escalation in the sectarian tensions that drove Iraq to the brink of civil war a few years ago.
Libya
• A Libyan military commander and rebel leader has launched legal proceedings against the British government over his rendition and alleged "barbaric" treatment meted out to him and his pregnant wife.
Abdel Hakim Belhadj, head of the Tripoli Military Council and a former leader of the militant Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, is suing ministers and MI6 for the part he claims they played in secretly sending him and his wife to Libya in March 2004.
Posted by
Matthew Weaver and Haroon Siddique
Tuesday 20 December 2011 11.15 GMT guardian.co.uk
The regime has branded political opponents as terrorists since the start of the uprising, so the new law appears to be another signal of its determination to carry on with the crackdown.
10.49am: The Democratic Alliance, a political bloc in which the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party is the biggest player, has released a statement throwing its support firmly behind the protesters
.
Confirming its intention to participate in the sit-in at the supreme judiciary court until violence against protesters is halted and executive powers are handed over to the new parliament, it says:
Scaf (Supreme Council of Armed Forces) has failed in the management of the transitional period up to this critical moment, and it bears full responsibility for immediate cessation of violence, abuse of the citizens, assault of female demonstrators, the targeting of the revolutionaries who stood in the face of heavy-handed attacks, and for the immediate release of all protesters detained for no legal reason.
The conferees insist on bringing to justice and accountability military leaders and security officials responsible for ordering and carrying out violent attacks on the protesters, sitters and demonstrators, and on the formation of a special independent judicial commission of inquiry to take the necessary measures for the afore-mentioned purpose with full authority to initiate an investigation with the military and the security forces in charge of the area at the time. The conferees also condemn attempts to tarnish the image of the revolution and the revolutionaries who were always determined to maintain the peaceful nature of their protest and sit-in, which lasted nearly three weeks without any attack on a single institution.
10.46am: Video filmed by the Egyptian daily al-Masry al-Youm TV
at dawn today shows security forces in riot gear and protesters hurling projectiles at each other. What sounds like gunshots can be heard in the background.
Four people were killed in the raid on this morning's raid on Tahrir Square, a doctor told Ahram Online (see 10.07am).
10.22am: Reports of the killing of scores of Syrian army defectors in Idlib are sketchy, but the area is known to be a centre of desertion.
Dissident Ammar Abdulhamid claimed 72 defectors were killed in Kinsafrah.
The Syrian Observatory for Human said 60 to 70 defected troops were killed as they fled military positions between Kinsafrah and Kefer Quaid.
Last week residents of Kinsafrah were filmed hoisting an independence flag after reports that hundreds of troops switched sides in the town.
10.07am: Four people were killed when the Egyptian security forces raided Tahrir Square this morning,
a doctor told Ahram Online reports.
Yamen El Genedy, a doctor at the Omar Makram Mosque field hospital, told Ahram Online that he saw four people admitted at 8 this morning. All of them had been shot dead. "The bullets had entered and exited their bodies, making it seem like the result of snipers. The force of the gunshots was very strong," said El Genedy. One of the deaths, he added, was a 19-year-old.
9.50am: The US state department has also appears to suspect Syria of playing for time by signing a deal with the Arab League to allow in observers.
Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters:
We've seen too many broken promises from the Syrian regime, so we're really less interested in a signed piece of paper than we are in actions to implement commitments made.
We firmly support the calls by the Arab League and the stipulations in this agreement that monitors, international human rights monitors, would have unfettered access to all locations in Syria, that the violence will stop, that all political prisoners will be released, and that armed elements of the Syrian regime will be withdrawn from populated areas. So it's on that basis that we will judge the seriousness of the Syrian regime with regard to this – its apparent acquiescence now to the Arab League's proposal.
On the other hand, Russia and China have welcomed the deal.
Russia's foreign ministry said:
We believe the document signed in Cairo offers an opportunity to use a mechanism of independent monitoring on the ground, to provide protection for all Syrian citizens and to stabilize the situation. This chance must be utilized.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90777/7682071.html?
8.21am: Welcome to Middle East Live. Grim reports of escalating violence in both Syria and Egypt continue to emerge. Here's a round up of the latest developments.
Syria
• Up to 70 army deserters were killed on Monday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, making it one one of the bloodiest days in uprising so far.
A survivor told the Observatory that defected soldiers were shot by machine gun fire
as they tried to flee their base. It also counted 40 civilians shot dead across Syria in the crackdown on protests.
• The regime of president Bashar al-Assad has signed an Arab League initiative that will allow observers into the country, in a move seen as another stalling tactic by Damascus.
Syria's foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, said the observers will have a one-month mandate that could be extended by another month if both sides agree. The observers will be "free" in their movements and "under the protection of the Syrian government," he said, but would not be allowed to visit sensitive military sites. Dissident Ammar Abdulhamid said the deal gave the regime more time
to allow the crackdown to continue:
The move was not a concession, but another stalling tactic. Assad was just granted several weeks of respite in which he can do pretty much what he wants, knowing that nothing will take place in the meantime on the regional or international scene to hurt him.
• The authorities have released US-born blogger Razan Ghazzawi who was charged last week with fomenting sectarian strife and spreading false information through a secret organisation.
The Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, where she worked, said in a statement that Ghazzawi was freed on Sunday night on bail.
Egypt
• Egyptian troops and riot police raided Cairo's Tahrir Square early on Tuesday in their latest attempt to evict protesters who want the ruling military to immediately step down, according to a field hospital doctor.
Ahmed Saad said a 15-year-old protester was in critical condition after suffering a gunshot wound in the attack, AP reports.
• Prominent political personalities and newly elected MPs are planning to stage a sit-in at Cairo's supreme judiciary court to demand immediate halt of violence against protesters, Jadaliyya reports.
The sit-in will also demand an immediate transfer of power from military to civilian rule, it says.
• Amnesty has condemned the excessive use of force used by the army against protesters.
"It is clear that either the military police has been given orders to disperse demonstrators at any cost, or the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces does not control the army and security forces. Either scenario is equally worrying," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
• US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has accused the security forces of targeting female protesters for beatings.
In a speech in Washington she said:
Recent events in Egypt have been particularly shocking. Women are being beaten and humiliated in the same streets where they risked their lives for the revolution only a few short months ago. And this is part of a deeply troubling pattern. Egyptian women have been largely shut out of decision-making in the transition by both the military authorities and the major political parties. At the same time, they have been specifically targeted both by security forces and by extremists ...
Women are being attacked, stripped, and beaten in the streets. This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonours the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform, and is not worthy of a great people.
• Revolutionaries are partly to blame for the clashes, according to a Foreign Policy magazine article by Steven Cook from the Council on Foreign Relations.
He writes:
What is perhaps most disturbing is that the weekend's battle ... didn't seem to have a point. The young toughs who descended on Qasr al-Aini Street after news spread of the Army's efforts to clear the area seemed less concerned with principle than combat ...
If the revolutionaries and their supporters are now stunned that the Islamists -- both the Brotherhood and the Salafists -- are set to dominate post-uprising Egypt, they must take a hard look at what they have done, or not done, over the last 11 months. Indeed, their ability to read Egyptian public sentiment is as bad as that of the military, and a good deal more myopic.
The Muslim Brothers are just about the only ones who have played post-Mubarak Egypt well.
• Thousands of historic manuscripts are feared destroyed after the Institute of Egypt, a research centre set up by Napoleon Bonaparte during France's invasion in the late 18th century, caught fire during the clashes.
Volunteers have spent the past two days trying to salvage what's left of some 192,000 books, journals and writings from the Institute.
Iraq
• Iraq's Shia-led government has issued an arrest warrant for the vice-president, Tariq al-Hashimi, the country's highest ranking Sunni official, on terrorism charges.
The move, a day after the last US troops left Iraq and ended the nearly nine-year war, could signal a sharp escalation in the sectarian tensions that drove Iraq to the brink of civil war a few years ago.
Libya
• A Libyan military commander and rebel leader has launched legal proceedings against the British government over his rendition and alleged "barbaric" treatment meted out to him and his pregnant wife.
Abdel Hakim Belhadj, head of the Tripoli Military Council and a former leader of the militant Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, is suing ministers and MI6 for the part he claims they played in secretly sending him and his wife to Libya in March 2004.
Posted by
Matthew Weaver and Haroon Siddique
Tuesday 20 December 2011 11.15 GMT guardian.co.uk
House GOP to Reject Stopgap Payroll Tax Cut
With the Senate adjourned for the holidays, House Republicans are moving to shelve a bipartisan two-month extension of the Social Security payroll tax cut that cleared the Senate over the weekend and are demanding instead that their fellow lawmakers return to the Capitol for negotiations.
After a spate of bipartisanship last week, the combatants are back in full-throated warfare over President Barack Obama's payroll tax initiative and other expiring measures, including jobless benefits for almost 1.8 million people who will lose them next month if Congress doesn't act.
Instead of accepting a two-month stopgap Senate measure that would ensure fighting continues into February, Republicans said they would move Tuesday to set up an official House-Senate negotiating panel known as a conference committee. The Senate's top Democrat said he would refuse to negotiate until the House passes the short-term version.
Both sides insist they want to extend the provisions before a Dec. 31 deadline, but that will prove difficult. After overwhelmingly passing a two-month extension Saturday, senators raced for the exits in the belief that the House would see no alternative but to go along. The Senate isn't scheduled to resume legislative work until Jan. 23.
The Senate's short-term, lowest-common-denominator approach would renew a 2 percentage point cut in the Social Security payroll tax, plus jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed, and would prevent a huge cut in Medicare payments to doctors.
But House Republicans quickly erupted in frustration at the Senate measure, which drops changes to the unemployment insurance system pressed by conservatives, along with cuts to Obama's health care law. Also driving their frustration was that the Senate, as it so often does, appeared intent on leaving the House holding the bag — leaving it no choice but to go along.
"With millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet, it would be unconscionable for Speaker (John) Boehner to block a bipartisan agreement that would protect middle-class families from the thousand-dollar tax increase looming on January 1st," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who negotiated the two-month extension with Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. The 2 percentage point tax cut provides about a $1,000 annual tax cut for a typical earner making about $50,000 a year.
Both sides were eager to position themselves as the strongest advocates of the payroll tax cut, with House Republicans accusing the Senate of lollygagging on vacation and Senate Democrats countering that the House was seeking a partisan battle rather than taking the obvious route of approving the stopgap bill to buy more time for negotiations.
Just a couple of weeks after many Republicans made it plain they thought that the payroll tax cut — the centerpiece of Obama's autumn jobs agenda — hadn't worked and that renewing it was a waste of money, Republicans emerged from a closed-door meeting touting their support for the president.
"Do you want to do something for 60 days that kicks the can down the road?" said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas. "Or do you want to do what the president asked us to do? And we're people who don't agree with the president all that often."
"I've never seen us so unified," Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, said as he left a two-hour, closed-door meeting Monday night where Republicans firmed up their plans. He said the payroll tax cut that has been in effect this year failed to create any jobs, but he favored extending it for another 12 months because "it's tough to raise taxes when you're in a down economy."
Congress' approval ratings are in the cellar, in part because of repeated partisan confrontations that brought the Treasury to the brink of a first-ever default last summer, and more than once pushed the vast federal establishment to the edge of a partial shutdown.
This time, unlike the others, Republican divisions were prominently on display.
The two-month measure that cleared the Senate, 89-10, on Saturday had the full support of McConnell, the Republican leader, who also told reporters he was optimistic the House would sign on. Senate negotiators had tried to agree on a compromise to cover a full year, but were unable to come up with enough savings to offset the cost and prevent deficits from rising.
The two-month extension was a fallback, and officials say that when McConnell personally informed Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of the deal at a private meeting, they said they would check with their rank and file.
But on Saturday, restive House conservatives made clear during a telephone conference call that they were unhappy with the measure.
Ironically, until the House rank and file revolted, it appeared that Republicans had outmaneuvered Democrats and Obama on one point.
The two-month measure that cleared the Senate required the president to decide within 60 days to allow construction on a proposed oil pipeline that promises thousands of construction jobs. Obama had threatened to veto legislation that included the requirement, then did an about-face.
The president recently announced he was delaying a decision on the pipeline until after the 2012 elections, meaning that while seeking a new term, he would not have to choose between disappointing environmentalists who oppose the project and blue-collar unions that support it.
(abcnews.go.com)
After a spate of bipartisanship last week, the combatants are back in full-throated warfare over President Barack Obama's payroll tax initiative and other expiring measures, including jobless benefits for almost 1.8 million people who will lose them next month if Congress doesn't act.
Instead of accepting a two-month stopgap Senate measure that would ensure fighting continues into February, Republicans said they would move Tuesday to set up an official House-Senate negotiating panel known as a conference committee. The Senate's top Democrat said he would refuse to negotiate until the House passes the short-term version.
Both sides insist they want to extend the provisions before a Dec. 31 deadline, but that will prove difficult. After overwhelmingly passing a two-month extension Saturday, senators raced for the exits in the belief that the House would see no alternative but to go along. The Senate isn't scheduled to resume legislative work until Jan. 23.
The Senate's short-term, lowest-common-denominator approach would renew a 2 percentage point cut in the Social Security payroll tax, plus jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed, and would prevent a huge cut in Medicare payments to doctors.
But House Republicans quickly erupted in frustration at the Senate measure, which drops changes to the unemployment insurance system pressed by conservatives, along with cuts to Obama's health care law. Also driving their frustration was that the Senate, as it so often does, appeared intent on leaving the House holding the bag — leaving it no choice but to go along.
"With millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet, it would be unconscionable for Speaker (John) Boehner to block a bipartisan agreement that would protect middle-class families from the thousand-dollar tax increase looming on January 1st," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who negotiated the two-month extension with Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. The 2 percentage point tax cut provides about a $1,000 annual tax cut for a typical earner making about $50,000 a year.
Both sides were eager to position themselves as the strongest advocates of the payroll tax cut, with House Republicans accusing the Senate of lollygagging on vacation and Senate Democrats countering that the House was seeking a partisan battle rather than taking the obvious route of approving the stopgap bill to buy more time for negotiations.
Just a couple of weeks after many Republicans made it plain they thought that the payroll tax cut — the centerpiece of Obama's autumn jobs agenda — hadn't worked and that renewing it was a waste of money, Republicans emerged from a closed-door meeting touting their support for the president.
"Do you want to do something for 60 days that kicks the can down the road?" said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas. "Or do you want to do what the president asked us to do? And we're people who don't agree with the president all that often."
"I've never seen us so unified," Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, said as he left a two-hour, closed-door meeting Monday night where Republicans firmed up their plans. He said the payroll tax cut that has been in effect this year failed to create any jobs, but he favored extending it for another 12 months because "it's tough to raise taxes when you're in a down economy."
Congress' approval ratings are in the cellar, in part because of repeated partisan confrontations that brought the Treasury to the brink of a first-ever default last summer, and more than once pushed the vast federal establishment to the edge of a partial shutdown.
This time, unlike the others, Republican divisions were prominently on display.
The two-month measure that cleared the Senate, 89-10, on Saturday had the full support of McConnell, the Republican leader, who also told reporters he was optimistic the House would sign on. Senate negotiators had tried to agree on a compromise to cover a full year, but were unable to come up with enough savings to offset the cost and prevent deficits from rising.
The two-month extension was a fallback, and officials say that when McConnell personally informed Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of the deal at a private meeting, they said they would check with their rank and file.
But on Saturday, restive House conservatives made clear during a telephone conference call that they were unhappy with the measure.
Ironically, until the House rank and file revolted, it appeared that Republicans had outmaneuvered Democrats and Obama on one point.
The two-month measure that cleared the Senate required the president to decide within 60 days to allow construction on a proposed oil pipeline that promises thousands of construction jobs. Obama had threatened to veto legislation that included the requirement, then did an about-face.
The president recently announced he was delaying a decision on the pipeline until after the 2012 elections, meaning that while seeking a new term, he would not have to choose between disappointing environmentalists who oppose the project and blue-collar unions that support it.
(abcnews.go.com)
Egypt Tahrir clashes rage on for fifth day
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police and soldiers fired weapons and used batons and teargas for a fifth day on Tuesday in the latest effort to clear Cairo's central Tahrir Square of opponents of army rule, amid mounting international concern about the violence.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned as "shocking" incidents such as one in which two Egyptian soldiers were filmed dragging a woman protester on the ground by her shirt, exposing her underwear, then clubbing and kicking her.
"This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform and is not worthy of a great people," Clinton was quoted as saying in a speech at Washington's Georgetown University.
General Adel Emara, a member of Egypt's ruling military council that took over after President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in February, said on Monday the attack on the woman protester was an isolated incident that was under investigation.
The United States, which saw Egypt as a staunch ally in the Mubarak era, gives Cairo $1.3 billion a year in military aid.
Gunfire rang out across Tahrir Square at dawn as security forces charged hundreds of protesters attempting to hold their ground, activists and a Reuters journalist at the scene said.
After a night of clashes, hundreds of people were in Tahrir in the morning, although traffic was still flowing through.
Medical sources say 13 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the violence that began on Friday in Tahrir and nearby streets leading to parliament and the cabinet office.
Army generals and their advisers have condemned the pro-democracy protesters, sometimes in extraordinarily harsh terms.
"HITLER'S INCINERATORS"
"What is your feeling when you see Egypt and its history burn in front of you?" retired general Abdel Moneim Kato, an army adviser, told al-Shorouk daily, referring a government archive building set alight during clashes. "Yet you worry about a vagrant who should be burnt in Hitler's incinerators."
Emara said "evil forces" wanted to sow chaos and that said soldiers had shown "self-restraint" despite provocation.
"What is happening does not belong with the revolution and its pure youth, who never wanted to bring down this nation," he said. Despite the actions of the security forces in Tahrir, Emara denied that the army had given orders to clear the square.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has criticized the use of "excessive" force by the Egyptian authorities. Rights groups said suppliers should not send small arms to Egypt.
The flare-up has also marred a staggered parliamentary election that began on November 28 and ends on January 11, but the army has said a promised transition to civilian rule will go ahead.
Results so far suggest the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties will dominate the lower house.
Before the latest charge by the security forces in Tahrir, protesters had been trying to tear down a brick wall the army had put up to block access to parliament, located nearby.
"Hundreds of state security forces and the army entered the square and began firing heavily. They chased protesters and burned anything in their way, including medical supplies and blankets," said a protester who gave his name only as Ismail.
"Some of those who fell had gunshot wounds to the legs," he added, speaking by telephone from Tahrir.
Politicians and members of parliament who had been staging a sit-in nearby tried to enter the square but were forced to turn back as the gunfire and clashes raged on, Ismail said.
The violent crackdown has alarmed rights group. Amnesty International urged arms suppliers to stop sending small arms and ammunition to Egypt's military and security forces.
Reporters Without Borders said the army's "systematic use of violence against media personnel," was blocking access to information in and around the square.
Many Egyptians want to focus on building democratic institutions, not street activism, but have nevertheless been shocked by the tactics of security forces in and around Tahrir.
The latest violence broke out just after the second stage of a six-week election for Egypt's new parliament that starts a slow countdown to the army's return to barracks. The military has pledged to hand power to an elected president by July.
Hard-core activists have camped in Tahrir since a protest against army rule on November 18, which was sparked by the army-backed cabinet's proposals to permanently shield the military from civilian oversight in the new constitution.
(Additional reporting by Shaimaa Fayed and Dina Zayed; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Alistair Lyon)
(reuters.com)
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned as "shocking" incidents such as one in which two Egyptian soldiers were filmed dragging a woman protester on the ground by her shirt, exposing her underwear, then clubbing and kicking her.
"This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform and is not worthy of a great people," Clinton was quoted as saying in a speech at Washington's Georgetown University.
General Adel Emara, a member of Egypt's ruling military council that took over after President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in February, said on Monday the attack on the woman protester was an isolated incident that was under investigation.
The United States, which saw Egypt as a staunch ally in the Mubarak era, gives Cairo $1.3 billion a year in military aid.
Gunfire rang out across Tahrir Square at dawn as security forces charged hundreds of protesters attempting to hold their ground, activists and a Reuters journalist at the scene said.
After a night of clashes, hundreds of people were in Tahrir in the morning, although traffic was still flowing through.
Medical sources say 13 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the violence that began on Friday in Tahrir and nearby streets leading to parliament and the cabinet office.
Army generals and their advisers have condemned the pro-democracy protesters, sometimes in extraordinarily harsh terms.
"HITLER'S INCINERATORS"
"What is your feeling when you see Egypt and its history burn in front of you?" retired general Abdel Moneim Kato, an army adviser, told al-Shorouk daily, referring a government archive building set alight during clashes. "Yet you worry about a vagrant who should be burnt in Hitler's incinerators."
Emara said "evil forces" wanted to sow chaos and that said soldiers had shown "self-restraint" despite provocation.
"What is happening does not belong with the revolution and its pure youth, who never wanted to bring down this nation," he said. Despite the actions of the security forces in Tahrir, Emara denied that the army had given orders to clear the square.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has criticized the use of "excessive" force by the Egyptian authorities. Rights groups said suppliers should not send small arms to Egypt.
The flare-up has also marred a staggered parliamentary election that began on November 28 and ends on January 11, but the army has said a promised transition to civilian rule will go ahead.
Results so far suggest the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties will dominate the lower house.
Before the latest charge by the security forces in Tahrir, protesters had been trying to tear down a brick wall the army had put up to block access to parliament, located nearby.
"Hundreds of state security forces and the army entered the square and began firing heavily. They chased protesters and burned anything in their way, including medical supplies and blankets," said a protester who gave his name only as Ismail.
"Some of those who fell had gunshot wounds to the legs," he added, speaking by telephone from Tahrir.
Politicians and members of parliament who had been staging a sit-in nearby tried to enter the square but were forced to turn back as the gunfire and clashes raged on, Ismail said.
The violent crackdown has alarmed rights group. Amnesty International urged arms suppliers to stop sending small arms and ammunition to Egypt's military and security forces.
Reporters Without Borders said the army's "systematic use of violence against media personnel," was blocking access to information in and around the square.
Many Egyptians want to focus on building democratic institutions, not street activism, but have nevertheless been shocked by the tactics of security forces in and around Tahrir.
The latest violence broke out just after the second stage of a six-week election for Egypt's new parliament that starts a slow countdown to the army's return to barracks. The military has pledged to hand power to an elected president by July.
Hard-core activists have camped in Tahrir since a protest against army rule on November 18, which was sparked by the army-backed cabinet's proposals to permanently shield the military from civilian oversight in the new constitution.
(Additional reporting by Shaimaa Fayed and Dina Zayed; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Alistair Lyon)
(reuters.com)
Gingrich assails judges as he courts conservatives
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — As he works to rev up his conservative base in Iowa with just two weeks to go until the state's caucuses, Newt Gingrich is launching a full-throated assault on a reliable GOP target: judges.
There is little love for the judicial branch among the Republicans seeking the White House. But Gingrich's ridicule has been, by far, the sharpest and the loudest. And it's taken a central role as his campaign struggles to stay atop polls in Iowa, a state where irate social conservatives ousted three judges who legalized same-sex marriage.
"I commend the people of Iowa for sending a strong signal that when judges overreach that they can find a new job," Gingrich told about 200 supporters who turned out to hear him speak in Davenport, Iowa, on Monday.
Gingrich has suggested that judges who issue what he termed "radical" rulings out of step with mainstream American values should be subpoenaed before Congress to explain themselves before facing possible impeachment. As president, he said, he'd consider dispatching U.S. marshals to round up judges who refuse to show voluntarily. In extreme cases, whole courts could be eliminated.
In the final debate before voters weigh in at the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, Gingrich called the courts "grotesquely dictatorial." He cast the fight in stark religious terms reminiscent of the culture wars, in which a secular, legal elite was encroaching on religious liberties.
The targets of Gingrich's strongest derision: the West Coast's 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a perennial punching bag for the right, and a federal judge in Texas who banned prayer in a public school.
The rhetoric — in which Gingrich promises a more muscular executive branch that would simply ignore some federal court rulings it disagrees with — draws applause on the campaign trail. But among some conservative legal experts who, like Gingrich, embrace a more limited judicial role, his ideas are being met with alarm.
Two former attorneys general named to the nation's top law enforcement post by Republican President George W. Bush have slammed Gingrich's proposal.
Michael Mukasey, a former federal judge, said Gingrich's ideas were "dangerous, ridiculous, totally irresponsible, outrageous, off-the-wall and would reduce the entire judicial system to a spectacle."
Alberto Gonzales was disturbed by the provision that would allow Congress to police judicial decisions. "I cannot support and would not support efforts that would appear to be intimidation or retaliation against judges," he said.
Gingrich's chief Republican rival, Mitt Romney, also chimed in, using Gingrich's remarks on judges as further evidence to suggest the former Georgia congressman isn't steady enough to be president.
"His comments about the justices and the Congress, sending the Capitol police to bring in judges — that's not exactly a practical idea or a Constitutional idea," Romney said.
Bert Brandenberg, executive director of the nonpartisan group Justice at Stake, which favors an independent judiciary, said Gingrich's ideas "would plunge the rule of law into chaos and dysfunction."
"They would make courts answer to politicians rather than the law and Constitution," he said.
But Gingrich said he approaches the issue as a historian, not a lawyer. In a 54-page paper peppered with quotes from The Federalist Papers, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson, he outlines what he says is a judicial power grab that the founders never intended.
Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn said that while GOP criticism of judges has faded as a national issue, "here in Iowa, it resonates more than most places."
The battle over gay marriage became a fresh rallying cry for social conservatives in the state in 2009. Gingrich knows this well. He provided $200,000 in seed money to what became a successful effort to remove three of the judges who held same-sex marriage in the state was constitutional. That won him support from key evangelicals in the state.
And his strong words on the stump have found an appreciative audience.
"Why shouldn't judges have to answer questions about what they do, just like everyone else, especially if they are out there pushing their own agenda?" asked 62-year-old Tom Hall of Cedar Rapids, who attended a Gingrich speech in nearby Hiawatha.
Still, not everyone thought the issue was a winner.
Bob Wachtel, a 63-year-old house painter, had crossed the Mississippi River from Geneseo, Ill., to hear Gingrich speak in Davenport on Monday. He called the fixation on judges distracting.
"There is plenty to talk about with jobs and the economy, and that's what people are really worried about," Wachtel said.
Follow Shannon McCaffrey: www.twitter.com(backslash)smccaffrey13
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
There is little love for the judicial branch among the Republicans seeking the White House. But Gingrich's ridicule has been, by far, the sharpest and the loudest. And it's taken a central role as his campaign struggles to stay atop polls in Iowa, a state where irate social conservatives ousted three judges who legalized same-sex marriage.
"I commend the people of Iowa for sending a strong signal that when judges overreach that they can find a new job," Gingrich told about 200 supporters who turned out to hear him speak in Davenport, Iowa, on Monday.
Gingrich has suggested that judges who issue what he termed "radical" rulings out of step with mainstream American values should be subpoenaed before Congress to explain themselves before facing possible impeachment. As president, he said, he'd consider dispatching U.S. marshals to round up judges who refuse to show voluntarily. In extreme cases, whole courts could be eliminated.
In the final debate before voters weigh in at the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, Gingrich called the courts "grotesquely dictatorial." He cast the fight in stark religious terms reminiscent of the culture wars, in which a secular, legal elite was encroaching on religious liberties.
The targets of Gingrich's strongest derision: the West Coast's 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a perennial punching bag for the right, and a federal judge in Texas who banned prayer in a public school.
The rhetoric — in which Gingrich promises a more muscular executive branch that would simply ignore some federal court rulings it disagrees with — draws applause on the campaign trail. But among some conservative legal experts who, like Gingrich, embrace a more limited judicial role, his ideas are being met with alarm.
Two former attorneys general named to the nation's top law enforcement post by Republican President George W. Bush have slammed Gingrich's proposal.
Michael Mukasey, a former federal judge, said Gingrich's ideas were "dangerous, ridiculous, totally irresponsible, outrageous, off-the-wall and would reduce the entire judicial system to a spectacle."
Alberto Gonzales was disturbed by the provision that would allow Congress to police judicial decisions. "I cannot support and would not support efforts that would appear to be intimidation or retaliation against judges," he said.
Gingrich's chief Republican rival, Mitt Romney, also chimed in, using Gingrich's remarks on judges as further evidence to suggest the former Georgia congressman isn't steady enough to be president.
"His comments about the justices and the Congress, sending the Capitol police to bring in judges — that's not exactly a practical idea or a Constitutional idea," Romney said.
Bert Brandenberg, executive director of the nonpartisan group Justice at Stake, which favors an independent judiciary, said Gingrich's ideas "would plunge the rule of law into chaos and dysfunction."
"They would make courts answer to politicians rather than the law and Constitution," he said.
But Gingrich said he approaches the issue as a historian, not a lawyer. In a 54-page paper peppered with quotes from The Federalist Papers, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson, he outlines what he says is a judicial power grab that the founders never intended.
Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn said that while GOP criticism of judges has faded as a national issue, "here in Iowa, it resonates more than most places."
The battle over gay marriage became a fresh rallying cry for social conservatives in the state in 2009. Gingrich knows this well. He provided $200,000 in seed money to what became a successful effort to remove three of the judges who held same-sex marriage in the state was constitutional. That won him support from key evangelicals in the state.
And his strong words on the stump have found an appreciative audience.
"Why shouldn't judges have to answer questions about what they do, just like everyone else, especially if they are out there pushing their own agenda?" asked 62-year-old Tom Hall of Cedar Rapids, who attended a Gingrich speech in nearby Hiawatha.
Still, not everyone thought the issue was a winner.
Bob Wachtel, a 63-year-old house painter, had crossed the Mississippi River from Geneseo, Ill., to hear Gingrich speak in Davenport on Monday. He called the fixation on judges distracting.
"There is plenty to talk about with jobs and the economy, and that's what people are really worried about," Wachtel said.
Follow Shannon McCaffrey: www.twitter.com(backslash)smccaffrey13
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Gingrich assails judges as he courts conservatives
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — As he works to rev up his conservative base in Iowa with just two weeks to go until the state's caucuses, Newt Gingrich is launching a full-throated assault on a reliable GOP target: judges.
There is little love for the judicial branch among the Republicans seeking the White House. But Gingrich's ridicule has been, by far, the sharpest and the loudest. And it's taken a central role as his campaign struggles to stay atop polls in Iowa, a state where irate social conservatives ousted three judges who legalized same-sex marriage.
"I commend the people of Iowa for sending a strong signal that when judges overreach that they can find a new job," Gingrich told about 200 supporters who turned out to hear him speak in Davenport, Iowa, on Monday.
Gingrich has suggested that judges who issue what he termed "radical" rulings out of step with mainstream American values should be subpoenaed before Congress to explain themselves before facing possible impeachment. As president, he said, he'd consider dispatching U.S. marshals to round up judges who refuse to show voluntarily. In extreme cases, whole courts could be eliminated.
In the final debate before voters weigh in at the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, Gingrich called the courts "grotesquely dictatorial." He cast the fight in stark religious terms reminiscent of the culture wars, in which a secular, legal elite was encroaching on religious liberties.
The targets of Gingrich's strongest derision: the West Coast's 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a perennial punching bag for the right, and a federal judge in Texas who banned prayer in a public school.
The rhetoric — in which Gingrich promises a more muscular executive branch that would simply ignore some federal court rulings it disagrees with — draws applause on the campaign trail. But among some conservative legal experts who, like Gingrich, embrace a more limited judicial role, his ideas are being met with alarm.
Two former attorneys general named to the nation's top law enforcement post by Republican President George W. Bush have slammed Gingrich's proposal.
Michael Mukasey, a former federal judge, said Gingrich's ideas were "dangerous, ridiculous, totally irresponsible, outrageous, off-the-wall and would reduce the entire judicial system to a spectacle."
Alberto Gonzales was disturbed by the provision that would allow Congress to police judicial decisions. "I cannot support and would not support efforts that would appear to be intimidation or retaliation against judges," he said.
Gingrich's chief Republican rival, Mitt Romney, also chimed in, using Gingrich's remarks on judges as further evidence to suggest the former Georgia congressman isn't steady enough to be president.
"His comments about the justices and the Congress, sending the Capitol police to bring in judges — that's not exactly a practical idea or a Constitutional idea," Romney said.
Bert Brandenberg, executive director of the nonpartisan group Justice at Stake, which favors an independent judiciary, said Gingrich's ideas "would plunge the rule of law into chaos and dysfunction."
"They would make courts answer to politicians rather than the law and Constitution," he said.
But Gingrich said he approaches the issue as a historian, not a lawyer. In a 54-page paper peppered with quotes from The Federalist Papers, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson, he outlines what he says is a judicial power grab that the founders never intended.
Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn said that while GOP criticism of judges has faded as a national issue, "here in Iowa, it resonates more than most places."
The battle over gay marriage became a fresh rallying cry for social conservatives in the state in 2009. Gingrich knows this well. He provided $200,000 in seed money to what became a successful effort to remove three of the judges who held same-sex marriage in the state was constitutional. That won him support from key evangelicals in the state.
And his strong words on the stump have found an appreciative audience.
"Why shouldn't judges have to answer questions about what they do, just like everyone else, especially if they are out there pushing their own agenda?" asked 62-year-old Tom Hall of Cedar Rapids, who attended a Gingrich speech in nearby Hiawatha.
Still, not everyone thought the issue was a winner.
Bob Wachtel, a 63-year-old house painter, had crossed the Mississippi River from Geneseo, Ill., to hear Gingrich speak in Davenport on Monday. He called the fixation on judges distracting.
"There is plenty to talk about with jobs and the economy, and that's what people are really worried about," Wachtel said.
Follow Shannon McCaffrey: www.twitter.com(backslash)smccaffrey13
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
There is little love for the judicial branch among the Republicans seeking the White House. But Gingrich's ridicule has been, by far, the sharpest and the loudest. And it's taken a central role as his campaign struggles to stay atop polls in Iowa, a state where irate social conservatives ousted three judges who legalized same-sex marriage.
"I commend the people of Iowa for sending a strong signal that when judges overreach that they can find a new job," Gingrich told about 200 supporters who turned out to hear him speak in Davenport, Iowa, on Monday.
Gingrich has suggested that judges who issue what he termed "radical" rulings out of step with mainstream American values should be subpoenaed before Congress to explain themselves before facing possible impeachment. As president, he said, he'd consider dispatching U.S. marshals to round up judges who refuse to show voluntarily. In extreme cases, whole courts could be eliminated.
In the final debate before voters weigh in at the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, Gingrich called the courts "grotesquely dictatorial." He cast the fight in stark religious terms reminiscent of the culture wars, in which a secular, legal elite was encroaching on religious liberties.
The targets of Gingrich's strongest derision: the West Coast's 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a perennial punching bag for the right, and a federal judge in Texas who banned prayer in a public school.
The rhetoric — in which Gingrich promises a more muscular executive branch that would simply ignore some federal court rulings it disagrees with — draws applause on the campaign trail. But among some conservative legal experts who, like Gingrich, embrace a more limited judicial role, his ideas are being met with alarm.
Two former attorneys general named to the nation's top law enforcement post by Republican President George W. Bush have slammed Gingrich's proposal.
Michael Mukasey, a former federal judge, said Gingrich's ideas were "dangerous, ridiculous, totally irresponsible, outrageous, off-the-wall and would reduce the entire judicial system to a spectacle."
Alberto Gonzales was disturbed by the provision that would allow Congress to police judicial decisions. "I cannot support and would not support efforts that would appear to be intimidation or retaliation against judges," he said.
Gingrich's chief Republican rival, Mitt Romney, also chimed in, using Gingrich's remarks on judges as further evidence to suggest the former Georgia congressman isn't steady enough to be president.
"His comments about the justices and the Congress, sending the Capitol police to bring in judges — that's not exactly a practical idea or a Constitutional idea," Romney said.
Bert Brandenberg, executive director of the nonpartisan group Justice at Stake, which favors an independent judiciary, said Gingrich's ideas "would plunge the rule of law into chaos and dysfunction."
"They would make courts answer to politicians rather than the law and Constitution," he said.
But Gingrich said he approaches the issue as a historian, not a lawyer. In a 54-page paper peppered with quotes from The Federalist Papers, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson, he outlines what he says is a judicial power grab that the founders never intended.
Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn said that while GOP criticism of judges has faded as a national issue, "here in Iowa, it resonates more than most places."
The battle over gay marriage became a fresh rallying cry for social conservatives in the state in 2009. Gingrich knows this well. He provided $200,000 in seed money to what became a successful effort to remove three of the judges who held same-sex marriage in the state was constitutional. That won him support from key evangelicals in the state.
And his strong words on the stump have found an appreciative audience.
"Why shouldn't judges have to answer questions about what they do, just like everyone else, especially if they are out there pushing their own agenda?" asked 62-year-old Tom Hall of Cedar Rapids, who attended a Gingrich speech in nearby Hiawatha.
Still, not everyone thought the issue was a winner.
Bob Wachtel, a 63-year-old house painter, had crossed the Mississippi River from Geneseo, Ill., to hear Gingrich speak in Davenport on Monday. He called the fixation on judges distracting.
"There is plenty to talk about with jobs and the economy, and that's what people are really worried about," Wachtel said.
Follow Shannon McCaffrey: www.twitter.com(backslash)smccaffrey13
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Gingrich assails judges as he courts conservatives
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — As he works to rev up his conservative base in Iowa with just two weeks to go until the state's caucuses, Newt Gingrich is launching a full-throated assault on a reliable GOP target: judges.
There is little love for the judicial branch among the Republicans seeking the White House. But Gingrich's ridicule has been, by far, the sharpest and the loudest. And it's taken a central role as his campaign struggles to stay atop polls in Iowa, a state where irate social conservatives ousted three judges who legalized same-sex marriage.
"I commend the people of Iowa for sending a strong signal that when judges overreach that they can find a new job," Gingrich told about 200 supporters who turned out to hear him speak in Davenport, Iowa, on Monday.
Gingrich has suggested that judges who issue what he termed "radical" rulings out of step with mainstream American values should be subpoenaed before Congress to explain themselves before facing possible impeachment. As president, he said, he'd consider dispatching U.S. marshals to round up judges who refuse to show voluntarily. In extreme cases, whole courts could be eliminated.
In the final debate before voters weigh in at the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, Gingrich called the courts "grotesquely dictatorial." He cast the fight in stark religious terms reminiscent of the culture wars, in which a secular, legal elite was encroaching on religious liberties.
The targets of Gingrich's strongest derision: the West Coast's 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a perennial punching bag for the right, and a federal judge in Texas who banned prayer in a public school.
The rhetoric — in which Gingrich promises a more muscular executive branch that would simply ignore some federal court rulings it disagrees with — draws applause on the campaign trail. But among some conservative legal experts who, like Gingrich, embrace a more limited judicial role, his ideas are being met with alarm.
Two former attorneys general named to the nation's top law enforcement post by Republican President George W. Bush have slammed Gingrich's proposal.
Michael Mukasey, a former federal judge, said Gingrich's ideas were "dangerous, ridiculous, totally irresponsible, outrageous, off-the-wall and would reduce the entire judicial system to a spectacle."
Alberto Gonzales was disturbed by the provision that would allow Congress to police judicial decisions. "I cannot support and would not support efforts that would appear to be intimidation or retaliation against judges," he said.
Gingrich's chief Republican rival, Mitt Romney, also chimed in, using Gingrich's remarks on judges as further evidence to suggest the former Georgia congressman isn't steady enough to be president.
"His comments about the justices and the Congress, sending the Capitol police to bring in judges — that's not exactly a practical idea or a Constitutional idea," Romney said.
Bert Brandenberg, executive director of the nonpartisan group Justice at Stake, which favors an independent judiciary, said Gingrich's ideas "would plunge the rule of law into chaos and dysfunction."
"They would make courts answer to politicians rather than the law and Constitution," he said.
But Gingrich said he approaches the issue as a historian, not a lawyer. In a 54-page paper peppered with quotes from The Federalist Papers, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson, he outlines what he says is a judicial power grab that the founders never intended.
Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn said that while GOP criticism of judges has faded as a national issue, "here in Iowa, it resonates more than most places."
The battle over gay marriage became a fresh rallying cry for social conservatives in the state in 2009. Gingrich knows this well. He provided $200,000 in seed money to what became a successful effort to remove three of the judges who held same-sex marriage in the state was constitutional. That won him support from key evangelicals in the state.
And his strong words on the stump have found an appreciative audience.
"Why shouldn't judges have to answer questions about what they do, just like everyone else, especially if they are out there pushing their own agenda?" asked 62-year-old Tom Hall of Cedar Rapids, who attended a Gingrich speech in nearby Hiawatha.
Still, not everyone thought the issue was a winner.
Bob Wachtel, a 63-year-old house painter, had crossed the Mississippi River from Geneseo, Ill., to hear Gingrich speak in Davenport on Monday. He called the fixation on judges distracting.
"There is plenty to talk about with jobs and the economy, and that's what people are really worried about," Wachtel said.
Follow Shannon McCaffrey: www.twitter.com(backslash)smccaffrey13
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
There is little love for the judicial branch among the Republicans seeking the White House. But Gingrich's ridicule has been, by far, the sharpest and the loudest. And it's taken a central role as his campaign struggles to stay atop polls in Iowa, a state where irate social conservatives ousted three judges who legalized same-sex marriage.
"I commend the people of Iowa for sending a strong signal that when judges overreach that they can find a new job," Gingrich told about 200 supporters who turned out to hear him speak in Davenport, Iowa, on Monday.
Gingrich has suggested that judges who issue what he termed "radical" rulings out of step with mainstream American values should be subpoenaed before Congress to explain themselves before facing possible impeachment. As president, he said, he'd consider dispatching U.S. marshals to round up judges who refuse to show voluntarily. In extreme cases, whole courts could be eliminated.
In the final debate before voters weigh in at the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, Gingrich called the courts "grotesquely dictatorial." He cast the fight in stark religious terms reminiscent of the culture wars, in which a secular, legal elite was encroaching on religious liberties.
The targets of Gingrich's strongest derision: the West Coast's 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a perennial punching bag for the right, and a federal judge in Texas who banned prayer in a public school.
The rhetoric — in which Gingrich promises a more muscular executive branch that would simply ignore some federal court rulings it disagrees with — draws applause on the campaign trail. But among some conservative legal experts who, like Gingrich, embrace a more limited judicial role, his ideas are being met with alarm.
Two former attorneys general named to the nation's top law enforcement post by Republican President George W. Bush have slammed Gingrich's proposal.
Michael Mukasey, a former federal judge, said Gingrich's ideas were "dangerous, ridiculous, totally irresponsible, outrageous, off-the-wall and would reduce the entire judicial system to a spectacle."
Alberto Gonzales was disturbed by the provision that would allow Congress to police judicial decisions. "I cannot support and would not support efforts that would appear to be intimidation or retaliation against judges," he said.
Gingrich's chief Republican rival, Mitt Romney, also chimed in, using Gingrich's remarks on judges as further evidence to suggest the former Georgia congressman isn't steady enough to be president.
"His comments about the justices and the Congress, sending the Capitol police to bring in judges — that's not exactly a practical idea or a Constitutional idea," Romney said.
Bert Brandenberg, executive director of the nonpartisan group Justice at Stake, which favors an independent judiciary, said Gingrich's ideas "would plunge the rule of law into chaos and dysfunction."
"They would make courts answer to politicians rather than the law and Constitution," he said.
But Gingrich said he approaches the issue as a historian, not a lawyer. In a 54-page paper peppered with quotes from The Federalist Papers, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson, he outlines what he says is a judicial power grab that the founders never intended.
Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn said that while GOP criticism of judges has faded as a national issue, "here in Iowa, it resonates more than most places."
The battle over gay marriage became a fresh rallying cry for social conservatives in the state in 2009. Gingrich knows this well. He provided $200,000 in seed money to what became a successful effort to remove three of the judges who held same-sex marriage in the state was constitutional. That won him support from key evangelicals in the state.
And his strong words on the stump have found an appreciative audience.
"Why shouldn't judges have to answer questions about what they do, just like everyone else, especially if they are out there pushing their own agenda?" asked 62-year-old Tom Hall of Cedar Rapids, who attended a Gingrich speech in nearby Hiawatha.
Still, not everyone thought the issue was a winner.
Bob Wachtel, a 63-year-old house painter, had crossed the Mississippi River from Geneseo, Ill., to hear Gingrich speak in Davenport on Monday. He called the fixation on judges distracting.
"There is plenty to talk about with jobs and the economy, and that's what people are really worried about," Wachtel said.
Follow Shannon McCaffrey: www.twitter.com(backslash)smccaffrey13
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Langganan:
Postingan (Atom)