2008-07-06T00:36:26-06:00 ExpressionEngine Copyright (c) 2008, Staff tag:therochesterdemocrat.com,2008:ee/index.php/34.43385 2008-07-06T00:34:00-06:00 2008-07-06T00:36:26-06:00

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2008-07-06T00:34:00-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Iraq Issues


Associated Press Exclusive
July 5, 2008


The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program - a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium - reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.

The removal of 550 metric tons of "yellowcake" - the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment - was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam's nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.

What's now left is the final and complicated push to clean up the remaining radioactive debris at the former Tuwaitha nuclear complex about 12 miles south of Baghdad - using teams that include Iraqi experts recently trained in the Chernobyl fallout zone in Ukraine.

"Everyone is very happy to have this safely out of Iraq," said a senior U.S. official who outlined the nearly three-month operation to The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

While yellowcake alone is not considered potent enough for a so-called "dirty bomb" - a conventional explosive that disperses radioactive material - it could stir widespread panic if incorporated in a blast. Yellowcake also can be enriched for use in reactors and, at higher levels, nuclear weapons using sophisticated equipment.

The Iraqi government sold the yellowcake to a Canadian uranium producer, Cameco Corp. (CCJ), in a transaction the official described as worth "tens of millions of dollars." A Cameco spokesman, Lyle Krahn, declined to discuss the price, but said the yellowcake will be processed at facilities in Ontario for use in energy-producing reactors.

"We are pleased ... that we have taken (the yellowcake) from a volatile region into a stable area to produce clean electricity," he said.

The deal culminated more than a year of intense diplomatic and military initiatives - kept hushed in fear of ambushes or attacks once the convoys were under way: first carrying 3,500 barrels by road to Baghdad, then on 37 military flights to the Indian Ocean atoll of Diego Garcia and finally aboard a U.S.-flagged ship for a 8,500-mile trip to Montreal.

And, in a symbolic way, the mission linked the current attempts to stabilize Iraq with some of the high-profile claims about Saddam's weapons capabilities in the buildup to the 2003 invasion.

Accusations that Saddam had tried to purchase more yellowcake from the African nation of Niger - and an article by a former U.S. ambassador refuting the claims - led to a wide-ranging probe into Washington leaks that reached high into the Bush administration.

Tuwaitha and an adjacent research facility were well known for decades as the centerpiece of Saddam's nuclear efforts.

Israeli warplanes bombed a reactor project at the site in 1981. Later, U.N. inspectors documented and safeguarded the yellowcake, which had been stored in aging drums and containers since before the 1991 Gulf War. There was no evidence of any yellowcake dating from after 1991, the official said.

U.S. and Iraqi forces have guarded the 23,000-acre site - surrounded by huge sand berms - following a wave of looting after Saddam's fall that included villagers toting away yellowcake storage barrels for use as drinking water cisterns.

Yellowcake is obtained by using various solutions to leach out uranium from raw ore and can have a corn meal-like color and consistency. It poses no severe risk if stored and sealed properly. But exposure carries well-documented health concerns associated with heavy metals such as damage to internal organs, experts say.

"The big problem comes with any inhalation of any of the yellowcake dust," said Doug Brugge, a professor of public health issues at the Tufts University School of Medicine.

Moving the yellowcake faced numerous hurdles.

Diplomats and military leaders first weighed the idea of shipping the yellowcake overland to Kuwait's port on the Persian Gulf. Such a route, however, would pass through Iraq's Shiite heartland and within easy range of extremist factions, including some that Washington claims are aided by Iran. The ship also would need to clear the narrow Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf, where U.S. and Iranian ships often come in close contact.

Kuwaiti authorities, too, were reluctant to open their borders to the shipment despite top-level lobbying from Washington.

An alternative plan took shape: shipping out the yellowcake on cargo planes.

But the yellowcake still needed a final destination. Iraqi government officials sought buyers on the commercial market, where uranium prices spiked at about $120 per pound last year. It's currently selling for about half that. The Cameco deal was reached earlier this year, the official said.

At that point, U.S.-led crews began removing the yellowcake from the Saddam-era containers - some leaking or weakened by corrosion - and reloading the material into about 3,500 secure barrels.

In April, truck convoys started moving the yellowcake from Tuwaitha to Baghdad's international airport, the official said. Then, for two weeks in May, it was ferried in 37 flights to Diego Garcia, a speck of British territory in the Indian Ocean where the U.S. military maintains a base.

On June 3, an American ship left the island for Montreal, said the official, who declined to give further details about the operation.

The yellowcake wasn't the only dangerous item removed from Tuwaitha.

Earlier this year, the military withdrew four devices for controlled radiation exposure from the former nuclear complex. The lead-enclosed irradiation units, used to decontaminate food and other items, contain elements of high radioactivity that could potentially be used in a weapon, according to the official. Their Ottawa-based manufacturer, MDS Nordion, took them back for free, the official said.

The yellowcake was the last major stockpile from Saddam's nuclear efforts, but years of final cleanup is ahead for Tuwaitha and other smaller sites.

The U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency plans to offer technical expertise.

Last month, a team of Iraqi nuclear experts completed training in the Ukrainian ghost town of Pripyat, which once housed the Chernobyl workers before the deadly meltdown in 1986, said an IAEA official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decontamination plan has not yet been publicly announced.

But the job ahead is enormous, complicated by digging out radioactive "hot zones" entombed in concrete during Saddam's rule, said the IAEA official. Last year, an IAEA safety expert, Dennis Reisenweaver, predicted the cleanup could take "many years."

The yellowcake issue also is one of the many troubling footnotes of the war for Washington.

A CIA officer, Valerie Plame, claimed her identity was leaked to journalists to retaliate against her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, who wrote that he had found no evidence to support assertions that Iraq tried to buy additional yellowcake from Niger.

A federal investigation led to the conviction of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.


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2008-07-06T00:15:00-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Campaign - Presidential




ST. LOUIS (AP) - Barack Obama celebrated "active faith" as an obligation of religious Americans and a chief agent of societal change while speaking Saturday to a nearly all-black roomful of churchgoers, but hoping to reach far beyond them.

Making a less than two-hour stop in this battleground state, the Democratic presidential nominee implored the thousands attending a national meeting of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the nation's largest and most politically and civicly active black denominations, to help fix national and local ills.

He preached individual responsibility, saying he knew he risked criticism for "blaming the victim" by talking of the need for parents to help children with homework and turn off the TV, to pass on a healthy self-image to daughters, and teach boys both to respect women and "realize that responsibility does not end at conception."

But Obama's main message was the government's duty to address what he said are "moral problems" - such as war, poverty, joblessness, homelessness, violent streets and crumbling schools - and to employ religious institutions to do it.

"As long as we're not doing everything in our individual and collective power to solve the challenges we face, the conscience of our nation cannot rest," he said.

Obama, who has made history by becoming the first black major-party presidential nominee, made frequent references to the civil rights movement and continuing struggles in the black community.

"We are not constrained by the accident of birth but can make of our lives what we will," Obama said. He was greeted when he arrived in the vast hall by the most thunderous cheering, waving and screaming that he has heard all week.

It was also his most enthusiastic delivery of late, employing preacher's cadences that were interrupted frequently by "Amens" and "yes."

Obama repeatedly referenced his religious faith in terms that would be familiar to white evangelicals as well as his black audience. Obama has highlighted faith and personal story over the past week as he campaigned in one-time GOP strongholds and talked more about God, country, and service than about rival Republican John McCain.

He hopes to draw more support from evangelical Christian voters than is typical for Democratic presidential candidates. Analysts are skeptical he can do that because of his support for abortion, gay rights and other issues.

Earlier in the day as he flew from Montana to Missouri, Obama told reporters he was surprised at how the media has "finely calibrated" his recent words on Iraq, and reaffirmed his commitment to ending the war if elected.

"I was a little puzzled by the frenzy that I set off by what I thought was a pretty innocuous statement," he said. "I am absolutely committed to ending the war."

On Thursday in North Dakota, Obama said that "I'll ... continue to refine my policy" on Iraq after an upcoming trip there. With a promise to end the war the central premise of his candidacy, the Obama campaign has struggled over the past two days to push back against Republicans and others who say his recent statement could be a softening or change in policy.

Obama has always said his promise to end the war would require consultations with military commanders and, possibly, flexibility.

"The tactics of how we ensure our troops are safe as we pull out, how we execute the withdrawal, those are things that are all based on facts and conditions," he said. "I am not somebody - unlike George Bush - who is willing to ignore facts on the basis of my preconceived notions."

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said Obama needs to "understand that his words matter."

"We are all absolutely committed to ending this war, but on Thursday Barack Obamas words indicated that he also shared John McCains commitment to securing the peace beforehand," he said.

The Illinois senator also said he and rival-turned-ally Hillary Rodham Clinton plan to raise money together next week in a series of fundraisers in New York next week.Two events are scheduled for Wednesday night - one for his campaign and one to help Clinton pay off debts from her primary race against him. A third, for Obama, is a cash-collecting breakfast Thursday morning with women.

The fundraisers will be the first joint appearances by the former foes since their lovefest in Unity, N.H., on June 27.

Obama said his aides and those to former President Clinton are still arranging their first campaign appearances together. What role Bill Clinton will play in Obama's campaign has been a glaring question mark ever since the former president made comments earlier this year that Obama's supporters said injected race into the nomination contest.

Obama plans to campaign next week in North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia, all Southern states that have been the province of Republicans but where his campaign thinks he can make inroads - or even win - in part because of their large black populations.

It "would be pretty foolish" not to try, Obama said.

"Democrats can't shrink the map and win," he told reporters. "The solid South for Republicans is part of that shrinkage of the map. ... I want to be greedy."

Before leaving Montana, Obama spoke via satellite to a conference of the National Education Association, the largest teachers union.

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2008-07-05T12:12:01-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Campaign - Presidential


BUTTE, Mont. (AP) - It was a family Fourth of July for Democrat Barack Obama as his wife, daughters, sister and other relatives helped him make an Independence Day play for this reliably conservative state.

Obama paid tribute to a nation in which the son of a single mother could rise to such heights.

"I know that there is no other country out there where I could be standing before you as somebody who could potentially be president of the United States," he said at a campaign-sponsored "family picnic" for hundreds of people - part rally, part birthday party for his oldest daughter, Malia, who turned 10 on Friday. "We are going to change the world."

Cheers greeted Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters everywhere. As they arrived to watch the Fourth of July parade, the crowd broke into a rendition of "Happy Birthday" for Malia.

Obama joked that he had to tell the birthday girl not to get caught up in all the fuss.

"All the fireworks and stuff are not just for her," he said to laughs.

That appeared in part a reference to the special treat the family got Thursday night. Obama's motorcade ferried the family from their private jet to a home high above town that provided a stunning view of the city's late-night fireworks display.

Friday's picnic was held on a sunny, green hillside, a mountain vista all around, with checkered tablecloths and plenty of food dotting the property of the World Mining Museum.

Introducing her husband, Michelle Obama spent almost more time talking about all the relatives who were there than "the other guy" running for president. She led the crowd in another round of "Happy Birthday," then noted that mom singing into a microphone might not be the best present for a young girl.

"Now, she's thoroughly embarrassed," she laughed.

Continuing the theme of focusing on children, Michelle Obama said "those little people and all the beautiful kids all over this park" are driving him to run for president no matter the sacrifice it costs their family.

"The reason why I am standing here today is that if he cares half as much about this country as he does about his own children, we're going to be just fine," she said.

The Obamas were spending part of the afternoon sitting for interviews with such family friendly magazines as People, Essence and Parents, and television's "Access Hollywood." Aides were seen carting Hula Hoops, coloring books and whiffle balls so the girls could be photographed playing.

At the parade, Obama sat in a small riser to watch the floats. He was surrounded by his wife, daughters dressed in combinations of red, white and blue, and his sister, her husband and their daughter.

He apologized for not walking in the parade like the other politicians, which caused some disappointment. But he explained that security concerns would have required everyone to show their hands to Secret Service agents along the route.

But then he did walk for a bit, strolling down both sides of the route where people pressed against barriers to get a glimpse or a handshake.

Only two Democratic presidential candidates have carried Montana and its three electoral votes since 1948.

But Obama has visited four times now - twice to the rough-and-tumble mining town of Butte, the hometown of motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel, where drinking in the streets is allowed. This area is the state's Democratic and union stronghold - so Democratic that a parade float dedicated to local Republican officeholders drew complete silence from the otherwise boisterous crowd.

Obama's Republican rival, John McCain, was spending the long holiday weekend at home in Phoenix.



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2008-07-04T14:53:00-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Congress, Military


July 03, 2008
The Gazette, Colorado Springs,Colo.


House leaders took the Pentagon to task July 2 for moving the nation's air and space defense command headquarters from the Cold-War era Cheyenne Mountain bunker to Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., without ensuring its new home could fend off "a wide range of threats."

In a strongly worded letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., and ranking Republican Duncan Hunter of California noted that the move hasn't saved money as predicted by a previous commander and could jeopardize the nation's ability to respond to threats and attacks.

"We are concerned that a comprehensive plan for mitigating security threats and vulnerabilities associated with the relocation has not been developed, implemented or adequately programmed," Skelton and Hunter wrote.

The House was so concerned last year about moving the North American Aerospace Defense Command's control center to Peterson's Building 2 that it tried to block funding for it. The Senate, however refused to block the move, which was initiated in 2006 by then-commander Adm. Timothy Keating.

The military completed the move May 28.

"In a June 13, 2008, letter to this committee, 16 days after the combined command post became operational," Skelton's and Hunter's letter said, "this committee received notice that an additional $9 million of security improvements would be required and that NORAD/NorthCom had elected to defer an additional $14 million of identified security improvements.

"Most importantly," they added, "the identified security improvements did not, and perhaps still do not, reflect a comprehensive deterrence against a broad range of threats."

Skelton and Hunter said the failure to plan and consider costs, benefits and risk compelled the committee to again attempt to block funding for further relocation of functions from Cheyenne Mountain "until proper analysis and certification is provided to the Congress."

The letter calls for a review of additional costs and vulnerabilities and notes the nation shouldn't have to rely on alternate command and control when viable primary capabilities are available.

Colorado's two members of the House Armed Services Committee also expressed concern.

Rep. Mark Udall, D-El Dorado Springs, said he's tried for two years to get a convincing explanation for how Peterson's protection matches that of the mountain.

"I don't think it's too late to consider shifting air and space surveillance missions back to the mountain if Peterson's security vulnerabilities can't be overcome," Udall said in a statement.

He also urged the military to speed up its clearance of an unclassified version of the GAO report.

"Everyone has a right to know about the concerns GAO has laid out," he said.

Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, expressed concern about the GAO document's being leaked to the public as well as the report's contents.

He called for a closed session with Pentagon and NORAD leaders.

Neither Colorado senator, Republican Wayne Allard or Democrat Ken Salazar, serves on the Armed Services Committee. Salazar asked NORAD/NorthCom Commander Gen. Gene Renuart to brief him next week.

After The Gazette reported on a preliminary Government Accountability Office report on June 17, NORAD issued a statement saying the move enhances the agencies' response.

On July 2, NORAD issued a similar statement and added that Cheyenne Mountain "will remain our primary alternate command facility with all capabilities."

The committee's letter was triggered by the GAO's final report, given to Congress Tuesday, which analyzed the military's March 3 classified report that outlined costs and security issues associated with the move.

The GAO's report is classified, as is the preliminary GAO document which The Gazette reported last month suggested the Pentagon misled Congress about security of the above-ground Building 2, which NORAD shares with Northern Command, the nation's homeland security command.


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2008-07-04T14:51:00-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Iraq Issues


July 03, 2008
International Herald Tribune


Dawoud Ameen, a former Iraqi soldier, lay in bed, his shattered legs splayed before him, worrying about the rent for his family of five.

Ameen's legs were shredded by shrapnel from a roadside bomb in September 2006 and now, like many wounded members of the Iraqi security forces, he is deeply in debt and struggling to survive. He gets by on $125 a month brought to him by members of his old army unit, plus charity and whatever his wife, Jinan, can beg from her relatives. But he worries that he could lose even his meager monthly stipend.

While attention in the United States has focused almost entirely on the care received by wounded American veterans, Iraqi soldiers and police officers have been wounded in greater numbers, health workers say, and have been treated far worse by their government.

A number of badly wounded Iraqis interviewed for this article said they had been effectively drummed out of the Iraqi security forces without pensions. Others were receiving partial pay and in danger of losing even that. Beset by severe wounds, often including amputations, they have been forced to pay for private doctors or turn to Iraq's failing public hospitals, which were controlled as recently as a year ago by militias that kidnapped and killed patients - particularly security personnel from rival units.

No one knows the exact number of wounded Iraqi veterans, because the government does not keep track. Iraqi government officials say that the wounded are treated well, and that a law providing for veterans' care is being drafted. In the interim, they said, wounded veterans are to receive full salaries from the Ministry of Defense.

"The wounded soldiers from the MOD still get their salaries after the incidents, depending on the reports from the medical committees," said a spokesman for the Defense Ministry, Staff Major General Mohammed al-Askari. "We are waiting for the 'Service and Pension Law' for the veterans from the Iraqi Parliament, but they still get paid during that time."

The veterans interviewed for this article disputed Askari's statement and said they were paid only a fraction of their salaries, or nothing at all. They described the government's treatment of them as at best indifferent and at worst vindictive.

On the day U.S. forces arrived in Baghdad in April 2003, Hussein Ali Hassan, a sergeant in Saddam Hussein's army, was hit by a tank round. With his legs crushed and with burns covering much of his body, Hassan was taken to a Baghdad hospital, where his left leg was quickly amputated.

But in the chaos that broke out after the fall of Saddam's regime, the staff fled the hospital. "The looters stole beds and ripped the pipes from the walls around me," Hassan said.

His friends and family cared for him until the staff trickled back to work. Weeks later, after doctors told him the hospital was rife with infectious bacteria, his family hastily took him home.

An Italian nongovernmental organization started to arrange a visa so that Hassan could fly to Italy for care. But with violence rapidly mounting in the fall of 2003, the group closed its doors before the request could be completed.

In need of more surgery, Hassan borrowed money and embarked on a series of operations at Al Jabechi, a private hospital in Baghdad, eventually spending about $13,000 of his own money, he said.

"I could have waited months in the public hospitals, and the care is very bad there," he said.

Hassan says that in the five years since he was wounded, his repeated requests for a disability pension have been ignored. Two weeks ago, however, after a reporter called to confirm Hassan's story, he learned that he had been awarded a pension of about $165 a month for his 23 years of military service, though nothing, he said, for medical care and no acknowledgment that he was disabled.

Before the approval of his pension, Hassan says, he heard only once from the Iraqi government, when a health official solicited a $3,000 bribe for approving his travel to Germany for medical care. He refused the request.

He says it does not help his cause that he was a member of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated army, anathema to the current Shiite administration.

To repay his debts and support his family, Hassan has been driving a taxi. With Iraq's high unemployment rate, he considers himself lucky to have a job.

With the uncertainty of government pensions and Iraq's desperate economic plight, some security force members have stayed on active duty even after being wounded, knowing it is their only hope for making a living.

Nubras Jabar Mohamed, a 26-year-old soldier, was shot by a sniper in May of 2007 as he manned a Baghdad checkpoint. He nearly bled to death, losing a kidney and part of his liver and suffering damage to his right hand. Two fingers are locked in a permanent curl.

He says he still has shrapnel lodged in his back, and he rarely sleeps through the night because of constant pain. He has trouble digesting food. Yet, the army refused him a disability pension, saying he was able-bodied, and he was forced to return to active duty after nine months. He says he has already spent about $2,100 of his own money on operations, selling jewelry and a pistol to raise the cash.

Though he had instructions from his doctors to avoid standing for long periods, the army quickly returned him to checkpoint duty, where he is on his feet all day long in temperatures as high as 46 degrees Celsius, or 115 degrees Fahrenheit. "I demanded that my superiors give me a desk job," Mohamed said. "They told me if I keep complaining, they'll kick me out of the army."

Dr. Waleed Abdul Majeed, who has extensive experience treating wounded soldiers, believes they are getting adequate care. But he acknowledges that they have to wait for it, in part because three military medical centers under Saddam's regime - Al Rashid, Hamaad Shihib and the Air Force Hospital - have been closed.

"Now the burden is on civilian hospitals," he said. "It would be better if we had a military hospital."

"The soldiers are taken good care of in the beginning, but there is no follow-up," he added. But with many physicians having been driven away by sectarian militias, there may not be enough competent doctors remaining to staff the hospitals.

"At least 25 percent of our doctors have left the country," Majeed said. "I see 120 to 150 patients in a day. Thirty to forty need surgeries every week, so they just have to wait. And prosthetics is a big problem."

Before the surge, which restored basic security in Baghdad, many hospitals fell under the control of armed factions that tortured and assassinated members of the Iraqi security forces in their beds.

Nubras Jabar Mohamed, the sniper victim who was forced to return to duty, fled a public hospital controlled by the Mahdi army militia of the rebel Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr. "They would come in the night and give you injections to kill you," he said. "I was scared of being murdered, so I left."

Hussein Ayad Ali was a 22-year-old member of a Judicial Police commando unit in 2005, when shrapnel from a grenade ripped into his legs and stomach. Soon afterward, his battalion commander was replaced. The new officer saw a note in Ali's file about a fight he had as a 16-year-old, an incident documented in a police report at a local precinct. As he lay at home recovering from his wounds, Ali says, he was notified that he had been fired from the force because of his "criminal background."

"The army knew about this all along," he said of the fight. "I told them when I signed up, but only after I was wounded did they kick me out."

Despite what they have suffered, most of the veterans interviewed said they were proud of their military service. "I consider my injury an honor," said Ameen, the paraplegic army veteran. "I am only sorry the government does not pay attention to us."

Leaning heavily on a cane, Colonel Ali Farhan shows up each morning at his police station, even though he lost his left leg below the knee after a bomb explosion in November 2006.

Well-connected, he was able to remain on active duty, rather than try to scrape by on a disability pension of $200 a month, a third his regular salary. He says he works partly for the money and partly because he is proud of his contribution to Iraq.

But, he added: "I lost a leg and can barely walk. I see on TV in the U.S. they lose two legs and they are running races. Why don't they do the same for us in Iraq?"

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2008-07-04T14:44:00-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Polls

Tom Philpott | July 03, 2008
Milirary.com


Ref: Webb-Hagel 'Post-9/11' Gi Bill: How It Impacts You


With the Post-9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2008 signed into law June 30, military members and veterans crave information on whether, when and how they will gain access to the richer education package, known also as the Webb GI Bill or the Webb-Hagel GI Bill.

Keith M. Wilson, director of education service for the Veterans Benefits Administration, gave refreshingly direct and detailed answers during a Military Update interview July 2.

Wilson said the VA also has a pamphlet on the new GI Bill posted at its website, http://www.gibill.va.gov, and a toll free number, 1-888-GIBILL1, for follow-up questions. Here are highlights of his comments:

Post-9/11 Benefits -- The first thing active members, reservists and veterans should know is that, to qualify for the new GI Bill, they must have served at least 90 consecutive days on active duty since Sept. 11, 2001. "Whenever you stand up a program like this, Congress draws the line somewhere. They drew it at 9/11 for this one," Wilson said.

Active service of 90 days to six months since 9/11 entitles a member to 40 percent of the new benefit. Longer service delivers a larger percentage. And those with at least 36 months' active duty since 9/11, or those who have been separated since then for disability after serving at least 30 consecutive days, earn full Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.

One Benefit, Three Payments -- Under Webb-Hagel, the VA will pay a qualified student's tuition and fees directly to any college or university, up to a maximum amount which is equal to the cost of attending their state's most expensive public college or university.

This is very different than payments under the Montgomery GI Bill which go directly to students and stay level across the country. A fulltime MGIB student draws the same $1101 a month whether attending a junior college, where he or she might be able to pocket some benefits, or a high-priced private school where MGIB covers only a fraction of actual costs.

The Post-9/11 plan also will pay a new monthly living allowance directly to students, equal to the local rate of military Basic Allowance for Housing for a married E-5. Students will get this whether living in a dorm or off campus. It will not be paid for online courses or to students on active duty most of whom already draw a housing allowance.

The third payment under the Post-9/11 GI Bill is $1000 a year for books and supplies. This stipend will be paid in equal parts at the start of each semester, Wilson said. He estimates that total Post-9/11 benefits in their first year will have an average value of about $2100 a month.

Effective Date, Retroactivity – Sens. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), in designing their Post-9/11 package, agreed to give VA until Aug. 1, 2009, to implement the benefit. Their goal to make the more generous benefits retroactive to the day the bill was signed by the president, which was June 30, 2008, apparently didn't survive final rewrites. Wilson said Post-9/11 benefits will take effect in Aug. 1, 2009, but will not be paid retroactively to the date of enactment.

Transferability – This feature will allow longer-serving members to transfer unused education benefits to spouses or children. It was added during final deliberations with the White House as a retention tool. It will not be offered to anyone already retired or separated. It will only be offered to members on active duty or in drill status on or after Aug. 1, 2009. So that also is the earliest date any Post-9/11 benefits can be transferred to a family member. "That's a key distinction," Wilson said, "because a lot of folks out there believe that, as of today, they can transfer their GI Bill benefits to dependents. That is not the case."

The new law says transferability can be offered to members with at least six years of service who agree to serve at least four more years. But it also gives the secretary of defense authority to change those requirements or even to elect not to offer transferability if it proves to be an ineffective for keeping retaining quality service members.

"The key here is that the Department of Defense determines eligibility... My understanding from DoD is that they do want to widely offer this to anybody who will qualify," Wilson said.

MGIB Improved – Though the Post-9/11 GI Bill is a year away, MGIB benefits are being raised 20 percent on Aug. 1, 2008. So a full time student will see the monthly benefit jump to $1321. Thereafter, benefits will be raised yearly to match rising costs of a public college education.

Post-9/11 benefits will be the richer benefit for most college students. A "yellow ribbon" feature, described in earlier columns, will even allow academically qualified students to attend some of the most expensive schools in the country. But MGIB could be the better deal for college students in areas where rents are low and tuition costs are modest or waived for in-state veterans. Also, Post-9/11 benefits can only be used toward an associate's degrees or higher. Only MGIB or reserve MGIB will cover vocational training.

Hurdles Removed – In final rounds of deliberations over the Post-9/11 GI Bill, Wilson said, lawmakers removed every hurdle toward a smooth implementation that VA officials had identified by last May.

So how would he now describe the new GI Bill?

"My first response would be that it was a long time comin'," said Wilson. "This is something veterans have clearly earned and it's really a great honor to be part of implementing a program that is going to be making such a significant difference in veterans' lives."


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2008-07-04T14:40:01-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com U.S. Senate



WASHINGTON - An influential Republican senator suggested Thursday that Congress might want to consider reimposing a national speed limit to save gasoline and possibly ease fuel prices.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., asked Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to look into what speed limit would provide optimum gasoline efficiency given current technology. He said he wants to know if the administration might support efforts in Congress to require a lower speed limit.

Congress in 1974 set a national 55 mph speed limit because of energy shortages caused by the Arab oil embargo. The speed limit was repealed in 1995 when crude oil dipped to $17 a barrel and gasoline cost $1.10 a gallon.

As motorists headed on trips for this Fourth of July weekend, gasoline averaged $4.10 a gallon nationwide with oil hovering around $145 a barrel.

Warner cited studies that showed the 55 mph speed limit saved 167,000 barrels of oil a day, or 2 percent of the country's highway fuel consumption, while avoiding up to 4,000 traffic deaths a year.

"Given the significant increase in the number of vehicles on America's highway system from 1974 to 2008, one could assume that the amount of fuel that could be conserved today is far greater," Warner wrote Bodman.

Warner asked the department to determine at what speeds vehicles would be most fuel efficient, how much fuel savings would be achieved, and whether it would be reasonable to assume there would be a reduction in prices at the pump if the speed limit were lowered.

Energy Department spokeswoman Angela Hill said the department will review Warner's letter but added, "If Congress is serious about addressing gasoline prices, they must take action on expanding domestic oil and natural gas production."

The department's Web site says that fuel efficiency decreases rapidly when traveling faster than 60 mph. Every additional 5 mph over that threshold is estimated to cost motorists "essentially an additional 30 cents per gallon in fuel costs," Warner said in his letter, citing the DOE data.


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2008-07-04T14:32:01-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Iraq Issues


By JAMES GLANZ and RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.
NY Times
Published: July 3, 2008


Bush administration officials knew that a Texas oil company with close ties to President Bush was planning to sign an oil deal with the regional Kurdistan government that ran counter to American policy and undercut Iraq’s central government, a Congressional committee has concluded.

The conclusions were based on e-mail messages and other documents that the committee released Wednesday.

United States policy is to warn companies that they incur risks in signing contracts until Iraq passes an oil law and to strengthen Iraq’s central government. The Kurdistan deal, by ceding responsibility for writing contracts directly to a regional government, infuriated Iraqi officials. But State Department officials did nothing to discourage the deal and in some cases appeared to welcome it, the documents show.

The company, Hunt Oil of Dallas, signed the deal with Kurdistan’s semiautonomous government last September. Its chief executive, Ray L. Hunt, a close political ally of President Bush, briefed an advisory board to Mr. Bush on his contacts with Kurdish officials before the deal was signed.

In an e-mail message released by the Congressional committee, a State Department official in Washington, briefed by a colleague about the impending deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government, wrote: “Many thanks for the heads up; getting an American company to sign a deal with the K.R.G. will make big news back here. Please keep us posted.”

The release of the documents comes as the administration is defending help that United States officials provided in drawing up a separate set of no-bid contracts, still pending, between Iraq’s Oil Ministry in Baghdad and five major Western oil companies to provide services at other Iraqi oil fields.

In the no-bid contracts, the administration said it had provided what it called purely technical help writing the contracts. The United States played no role in choosing the companies, the administration has said.

Disclosure of those contracts has provided substantial fuel to critics of the Iraq war, both in the United States and abroad, who contend that the enormous Iraqi oil reserves were a motivation for the American-led invasion — an assertion the administration has repeatedly denied.

Iraq’s oil minister, Hussain al-Shahristani, has condemned the Kurdistan deal as illegal because it was not approved by Iraq’s central government and was struck without an oil law, which has still not been passed.

After the deal was signed last year, a senior State Department official in Baghdad criticized it, saying, “We believe these contracts have needlessly elevated tensions between the K.R.G. and the national government of Iraq.”

The State Department said Wednesday that it had discouraged the deal. Hunt officials declined to comment, and Kurdish government officials said there was no impropriety.

In a letter to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, whose chairman is Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California, a State Department official wrote that the department had strongly discouraged Hunt from signing the deal until an oil law had been passed.

The State Department told Hunt that “we continue to advise all companies that they incur significant political and legal risk by signing contracts” before then, wrote Jeffrey T. Bergner, an assistant secretary for legislative affairs at the department, in one of the documents made public on Wednesday.

But in a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Mr. Waxman wrote that the documents his committee had collected “tell a different story about the role of administration officials.” In letters obtained by the committee, Mr. Hunt informed the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, of which he was a member, last July and August that he was pursuing serious business interests in Kurdistan.

“We were approached a month ago by representatives of a private group in Kurdistan as to the possibility of our becoming interested in that region,” Mr. Hunt wrote to the board last July 12. “We had one team of geoscientists travel to Kurdistan several weeks ago and we were encouraged by what we saw.”

In August 2007, Mr. Hunt informed State Department officials directly of his intentions in Kurdistan, and on Sept. 5, three days before the deal was signed, a flurry of e-mail messages among Hunt and State Department officials make clear that the department was aware of what was in the works.

In a message to a colleague with the subject line “Hunt Oil to Sign Contract With K.R.G.,” one State Department official gives a highly detailed summary of the agreement. Mr. Hunt, the official wrote, “is expecting to sign an exploration contract with the K.R.G. for a field located in the Shakkan district, an area under K.R.G. control (inside the Green Line) but technically in Nineveh Governorate.”

“Hunt would be the first U.S. company to sign such a deal,” the official wrote, suggesting that the news should be rushed onto the State Department’s internal distribution network as quickly as possible.

Despite those exchanges, a State Department official said Wednesday that the company had in fact been discouraged from completing its deal.

“All companies, including Hunt Oil, which have spoken with the United States government about investing in Iraq’s oil sector, have and will continue to be given the same advice,” John Fleming, an Iraq press officer in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, wrote Wednesday in an e-mailed response to questions. “We advise companies that they incur significant political and legal risk by signing any contracts with any party before a national law is passed by the Iraqi Parliament.”

Another State Department official, who asked to remain anonymous, expressed frustration, saying that a local State Department official in Erbil, the Kurdish provincial capital, who was the head of a so-called Regional Reconstruction Team, tried to dissuade Hunt officials from making the deal.

But no notes were taken at that meeting, the official said, and Hunt representatives later gave a conflicting account of what had been said.

“I have talked to the R.R.T. team leader personally, and he sticks by his story and they stick by theirs,” the State Department official said.

Jeanne L. Phillips, a senior vice president for corporate affairs and international relations at Hunt Oil whose correspondence appears at certain points in the documents released Wednesday, said that because Mr. Waxman’s letter was not addressed directly to the company, she could not comment on it.

“As a matter of company policy, Hunt Oil Company does not comment on correspondence between third parties,” Ms. Phillips wrote in an e-mail message.

An official in the Kurdistan Regional Government reached late Wednesday who asked not to be named said that the government had written some 22 contracts to date.

“Anyone can have a contract with the K.R.G., but it must be accepted and suitable according to assessment by our experts,” the official said. “Hunt is a good company and never had its contracts with us illegally or improperly.”

The documents released by Mr. Waxman also lay bare what has become a serious dispute between the company and the State Department over what was said between them before the deal last year.

For example, a senior Hunt official said he was told by State Department officials during a meeting on June 15, 2007, that the United States government did not object to deals with the Kurdish regional government.

“I specifically asked if the U.S.G. had a policy toward companies entering contracts with the K.R.G.,” the Hunt official, David McDonald, wrote in an e-mail message to a colleague last Sept. 28. The State Department officials, Mr. McDonald wrote, replied that there was no policy, neither for nor against.

His message concluded: “There was no communication to me or in my presence made by the nine State Department officials with whom I met prior to 8 September that Hunt should not pursue our course of action leading to a contract. In fact, there was ample opportunity to do so, but it did not happen.”

The encouragement by State Department officials did not end with the signing of the contract on Sept. 8, the documents suggest. Five days later, a State Department official in the southern city of Basra wrote to Ms. Phillips, “I read and heard about with interest your deal with the regional Kurdish government.”

“I don’t know if you are aware of another opportunity,” the official wrote, mentioning an enormous port project and a natural gas project in the south. After a few more lines, the official concluded, “This seems like it would be a good opportunity for Hunt.”

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2008-07-04T14:06:00-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Veterans

ST. PAUL - A group of Minnesota veterans, including the last World War II veteran still serving in the Minnesota Legislature, Rep. Bernie Lieder, traveled to Fargo today to take part in U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's town hall meeting to discuss his commitment to keeping our sacred trust with our veterans - giving veterans and military families the care, support, and benefits that they deserve. Obama highlighted his work on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the proposals he has laid out in this campaign.



"This town hall meeting is a great opportunity for veterans from Minnesota and North Dakota to hear about Senator Obama's commitment to veterans and military families," Lieder said. "Young men and women who choose to serve are defending the very rights and freedoms that make America great. They deserve our admiration, respect and enduring gratitude. Even more, they deserve to be supported by the country they fight for, and that's what Barack Obama will do as President."



Obama has been a strong supporter of veterans and military families throughout his career.



Most recently in the U.S. Senate, Obama strongly and proudly supported the 21st Century GI Bill, introduced by Senator Jim Webb, that Congress recently approved. This bill will provide returning veterans with a real chance to afford a college education.



As a U.S. Senator and member of the Senate Committee on Veteran's Affairs, Obama has approached veterans issues with a basic set of principles.



Treating our Veterans with Respect



Barack Obama introduced the Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act. The bill improves the condition of troop housing at hospitals like Walter Reed, streamlines the process for determining whether wounded troops can stay in the military, provides greater information to recovering service members, requires the hiring of more caseworkers, and provides more support to family members who care for injured troops.


Sheltering and Rehabilitating Homeless Veterans



One in three homeless males in this country is a veteran. That's unacceptable. Barack Obama authored legislation to extend and expand critical homeless veteran rehabilitation programs and make affordable housing available. As president, he will establish a zero-tolerance policy for veterans falling into homelessness.


Fighting for Disability Benefits



In Illinois, Obama led efforts to empower veterans who received inadequate disability benefits. He forced the VA to notify veterans in Illinois and other states about their right to review past claims. The resulting outreach led to significant numbers of veterans getting the benefits they deserve. As president, he will rebuild the Veterans Benefits Administration by switching to electronic records, hiring more caseworkers, and providing them more training and accountability.


Treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)



Barack Obama helped stop a VA effort to force some veterans to prove again that they suffered from PTSD to maintain their benefits. He also passed an amendment ensuring that all servicemembers would be properly screened for TBI. In 2007, Obama helped introduce a bill to personalize and improve overall care for TBI patients.


We have to understand that for far too many troops and their families, the war doesn't end when they come home. Because of inadequate mental health care, the number of suicides among veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan may actually exceed the number of combat deaths.


In the Senate, Obama helped lead a bipartisan effort to stop the unfair practice of kicking out troops who suffer from them. And when he is President, he will enhance mental health screening and treatment at all levels: from enlistment, to deployment, to reentry into civilian life.


Easing the Transition of Veterans into Civilian Life



Barack Obama introduced legislation that would help troops transition to civilian life after they leave the military. His legislation would provide new veterans with electronic medical and service records, monitor health trends and improve transportation services.


As president, Obama will:



Fully fund veterans' medical care.


Reverse the Bush administration policy that bars some one million moderate-income veterans from the VA system.


Recruit more mental health professionals to ensure high quality care for all veterans suffering from PTSD and other mental health problems.


Expand Vet Centers in rural areas so veterans and their families can get care where they live.


Improve the transition from military to civilian life by closer coordination between the VA and Pentagon and extending the time allowed for veterans to get health care from two to five years.

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2008-07-04T02:00:00-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com U.S. House Courtesy of Nancy Pelosi


House News Roundup:

Good News for Students – Loan Interest Rates Start Decreasing on July 1st

As a result of legislation passed by the Democratic Congress, interest rates on need-based federal student loans will be cut in half over the next few years, saving the average borrower $2,570 over the life of the loan. Starting on July 1st, the interest rate for need-based, or subsidized, federal loans drops from 6.8 percent to 6.0 percent – the first step in halving interest rates until they reach 3.4 percent.

This legislation also:


- Increases Pell Grants by $490, raising the maximum award to $4,731
- Provides up-front tuition assistance of $4,000 each year for students who commit to teaching high-need subjects in high-need public schools


An Education for Returning Veterans

This week, the GI Bill for the 21st Century became law, giving a four-year college scholarship to veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. This gives returning troops the tools to succeed when they return home, and helps to strengthen our shaky economy.

"College became affordable for the 1.7 million troops we sent to Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a promise we made to the veterans of World War II: that those who defend our country should be able to take advantage of America's opportunity. This legislation again fulfills that promise, and will do nothing less than change the course of an entire generation."


What are you doing to save energy and promote a green planet this summer?

Tell us what you‘re doing this summer to save energy, stop global warming, or clean up your neighborhood and planet. It can be anything from turning off the lights and skipping the air conditioning at home, riding a bike or taking public transportation instead of driving, or volunteering your time to make a difference. We’ll feature several entries in the next issue of the Pelosi 411.


New York Times: How Green Is the College? Time the Showers

Read about students colleges who live in sustainability houses - and the creative ways they’re reducing their impact on the planet. From competing to take the shortest shower, composting their food, and using low-flow toilets, these students are taking the lead in protecting the planet.

It’s Getting Hot In Here: MTV’s Real World Gets Real on Green

What happens when seven strangers stop being polite and start going green? The cast of the Real World Hollywood is learning about sustainability by living in the show’s first ‘green’ house. The Hollywood house has bicycle-powered computers, energy-efficient lighting, recycled furniture, and composting and recycling. Read Summer Rayne Oakes on the It’s Getting Hot In Here blog about helping the cast adjust to their new green digs.


Congress Twitters

Congressional debates on the House floor? So 2007 (or 1787 for that matter). Earlier this month, Congress witnessed its first Twitter debate, when Speaker Pelosi's 30 Something Working Group Member Rep. Tim Ryan (@timryan) challenged Rep. John Culberson to a Twitter-off. The Congressmen used Twitter, the micro-blogging site that lets users post 140 character status updates, for a real-time debate from the House floor about gas prices, oil drilling, and extending unemployment insurance for Americans looking for work.

Ensuring Access to Student Loans, Regardless of Turmoil in the Credit Market

Recent turmoil in the credit markets has made it difficult for some lenders in the federally guaranteed student loan program to secure the capital needed to finance college loans, leading some lenders to scale back their lending activity. Congress has taken action to make sure that contingency plans are in place to provide students and families with uninterrupted access to federal loans, regardless of what’s happening in the credit markets. Signed into law on May 7, the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act would provide new protections to ensure that families can continue to access the loans they need to pay for college

]]> tag:therochesterdemocrat.com,2008:ee/index.php/34.43347 2008-07-04T01:52:00-06:00 2008-07-04T01:54:08-06:00

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2008-07-04T01:52:00-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Campaign - Presidential



FARGO, N.D. (AP) - Democrat Barack Obama struggled Thursday to explain how his upcoming trip to Iraq might refine, but not basically alter, his promise to quickly remove U.S. combat troops from the war.

A dustup over war policy - one of the main issues separating the Illinois senator from his Republican opponent, John McCain - overshadowed Obama's town-hall meeting here with veterans to talk about patriotism and his plans to care for them. Republicans pounced on the chance to characterize Obama as altering one of the core policies that drove his candidacy "for the sake of political expedience." He denied equally forcefully that he was shifting positions.

Arriving in Fargo, Obama hastily called a news conference to discuss news of a sixth straight month of nationwide job losses, but the questioning turned to Iraq policy and his impending trip there.

"I am going to do a thorough assessment when I'm there," he said. "I'm sure I'll have more information and continue to refine my policy."

He left the impression that his talks with military commanders there could refine his promise to remove U.S. combat troops within 16 months of taking office.

Less than four hours later, after the town hall meeting, Obama appeared before reporters for another statement and round of questions to "try this again."

"Apparently I was not clear enough this morning," he said. He blamed any confusion on the McCain campaign, which he said had "primed the pump with the press" to suggest "we were changing our policy when we haven't."

"I have said throughout this campaign that this war was ill-conceived, that it was a strategic blunder and that it needs to come to an end," he said. "I have also said I would be deliberate and careful about how we get out. That position has not changed. I am not searching for maneuvering room with respect to that position."

He promised to summon the Joint Chiefs of Staff on his first day in office "and I will give them a new mission and that is to end this war, responsibly and deliberately, but decisively."

He said that when he talked earlier about refining his policy after talking with commanders in Iraq, he was referring not to his 16-month timeline, but to how many troops may need to remain in Iraq to train the local army and police and what troop presence might be needed "'to be sure al-Qaida doesn't re-establish a foothold there."

"I will bring our troops out at a pace of one two brigades a month" which would mean the United States would be totally out of Iraq in 16 months. "That is what I intend to do as president of the United States."

But later in the session, he said it is possible the 16-month timeline could slip if the pace of withdrawal needs to be slowed some months to ensure troop safety. "I have always said ... I would always reserve the right to do what's best," Obama said.

During his presidential campaign, Obama has gone from the hard-edged, vocal opposition to Iraq that defined his early candidacy to more nuanced rhetoric that calls for the phased-out drawdown of all combat brigades that, at a rate of one or two a month, could take 16 months. He has said that if al-Qaida builds bases in Iraq, he would keep troops either in the country or the region to carry out "targeted strikes."

Republicans, who have claimed Obama needs an update on the situation in Iraq, e-mailed a midday broadside.

"There appears to be no issue that Barack Obama is not willing to reverse himself on for the sake of political expedience," said Alex Conant, a spokesman for the national Republican Party. "Obama's Iraq problem undermines the central premise of his candidacy and shows him to be a typical politician."

McCain, has been a vocal supporter of the Iraq war and war policy has been a central disagreement between the two candidates.

But Obama insisted his position has not changed at all. He pointed out he has always said, "We need to be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in." This means, he said, that his 16-month timeline "was always premised on" not endangering either U.S. troops or Iraq's stability, which he had previously been told by commanders was possible.

"I'm going to continue to gather information to see whether those conditions still hold," he said. "My goal is to end this conflict as soon as possible."

"I continue to believe that it is a strategic error for us to maintain a long-term occupation in Iraq at a time when conditions in Afghanistan are worsening, al-Qaida is continuing to establish bases in areas of northwest Pakistan, resources there are severely strained and we are spending $10 to $12 billion a month in Iraq that we desperately need here at home, not to mention the strains on our military," Obama said.

Obama plans a visit this summer to Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. The Illinois senator also has said he intends to visit Iraq and Afghanistan this summer as part of an official congressional trip that would be separate from the campaign-funded Mideast and European tour. It would be his second trip to Iraq.

Obama's Web site contains this direct promise about Iraq: "Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al-Qaida attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al-Qaida."

McCain was an early supporter of increasing the number of U.S. troops in Iraq as President Bush did last year. He wants to pursue the current counterinsurgency tactics to give Iraqis time to work out a political reconciliation. He has said he's willing to see some U.S. troops stay there as much as 100 years but not if they are being wounded or killed in combat. Rather he supports keeping a military presence in that part of the world because of its volatility.

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2008-07-04T01:49:01-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Campaign - Presidential


MEXICO CITY (AP) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Thursday that a shake-up in the leadership of his campaign was part of a "natural evolution" as the organization becomes more national in scope.

McCain's campaign announced Wednesday that top adviser Steve Schmidt would assume a broad portfolio of duties, with nearly full control over message and strategy. Schmidt will report to Rick Davis, who will keep the title of campaign manager but focus on longer term matters like the Republican National Convention and McCain's choice of a running mate.

Addressing reporters at the conclusion of a three-day visit to Colombia and Mexico, the GOP nominee-in-waiting downplayed the personnel shift.

"Our campaign continues to grow, and the responsibilities are expanding and Mr. Schmidt is taking over some increased responsibilities," McCain said. "Rick Davis remains the campaign chairman, campaign manager. It's a natural evolution as we become more and more of a national campaign with increased staff and increased responsibilities."

Schmidt disclosed in memo Thursday to the 11 regional campaign managers that he will hire a national political director and a national field director to operate from the campaign's northern Virginia headquarters to improve regional operations and coordination.

He said the goal is to increase the capacity to "reach out to voters, build coalitions, identify supporters, and ultimately turn them out to the polls."

"In the days ahead, we will be working to enhance and strengthen the coordination between all these aspects of the campaign," Schmidt said.

The staff changes - coming after Republican complaints that the Arizona senator's campaign lacked focus and a coherent message - threatened to overshadow McCain's trip through Latin America and his effort to present himself as a statesman experienced in foreign affairs.

McCain met Thursday with Mexican President Felipe Calderon to discuss trade and immigration issues. They spoke at length about the Merida Initiative, a U.S.-sponsored effort to stem the flow of drugs and guns across the Mexico border, McCain said.

McCain and his wife, Cindy, also toured a federal police station where they reviewed drug interdiction training programs.

McCain began the day at the Basilica de Guadalupe, Mexico's holiest Roman Catholic site, where he viewed the famed portrait of the Virgin of Guadalupe and received a blessing from the Basilica's monsignor.

McCain laid a wreath of white roses at the altar and stood atop the Papal balcony. He was accompanied by President Bush's brother, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who was in Mexico on business.

"I think he's going to win," Jeb Bush said of McCain's chances against Democrat Barack Obama. "He just needs to be himself and not let Sen. Obama redefine himself."

McCain's visit to the Basilica had clear political overtones as Catholic and Hispanic voters are expected to be key swing voters in the November election. Obama also has worked to woo Catholics and Hispanics after those groups voted heavily for Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton during the primary season.

McCain's trip to Colombia and Mexico was billed primarily as an opportunity to promote free trade in the Western Hemisphere.

Obama has spoken out against NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and a pending free-trade pact with Colombia, both of which are unpopular in important general election swing states like Ohio. McCain wants to help workers displaced by free-trade agreements receive job training and other benefits.

The McCains were returning to Phoenix late Thursday, and planned to spend the Fourth of July holiday at the family compound outside Sedona, Ariz.

---

On the Net:

McCain: http://www.johnmccain.com


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2008-07-04T01:46:01-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Administration, Federal Courts



WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House said Thursday that dangerous detainees at Guantanamo Bay could end up walking Main Street U.S.A. as a result of last month's Supreme Court ruling about detainees' legal rights. Federal appeals courts, however, have indicated they have no intention of letting that happen.

The high court ruling, which gave all detainees the right to petition federal judges for immediate release, has intensified discussions within the Bush administration about what to do with the roughly 270 detainees held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"I'm sure that none of us want Khalid Sheikh Mohammed walking around our neighborhoods," White House press secretary Dana Perino said about al-Qaida's former third in command.

President Bush strongly disagreed with the Supreme Court decision that the foreigners held under indefinite detention at Guantanamo have the right to seek release in civilian courts. The 5-4 ruling was the third time the justices had repudiated Bush on his approach to holding the suspects outside the protections of U.S. law.

The legal ramifications of the Supreme Court decision remain fuzzy, but it's unlikely that a federal appeals court would order a detainee released into the United States even if a judge finds that the government was holding the detainee improperly. A court might tell the Bush administration to let a prisoner go, but it presumably would be up to the executive branch to figure out where.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey had predicted that the Supreme Court's decision would unleash a torrent of court filings from detainees seeking their freedom. Judges, however, have been particularly wary of telling the executive branch what to do with the detainees.

Late last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the military had improperly labeled Huzaifa Parhat, a Chinese Muslim, as an enemy combatant. The court said Parhat deserved a new hearing or should be released. But the court deftly avoided saying where he should be released - an indication that the courts expect the executive branch to wrestle with that decision.

Glenn Sulmasy, a national security fellow at Harvard University, said if the matter remains in the hands of civilian courts, there is an element of truth to the White House warning that detainees could be released in the United States. But he said that while it's possible, it's not probable.

He said the legislative and executive branches should find a third legal way - not through military commissions or the civilian courts - to deal with the detainees, perhaps a national security or other type of special court. "What is needed is a hybrid court," he said.

The administration opened the detention facility shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to hold enemy combatants, people suspected of ties to al-Qaida or the Taliban.

"We are in uncharted territory, and we have never had enemy combatants afforded constitutional rights like all of us have, so anybody who thinks that they know exactly what's going to happen if a detainee challenges his detention - his or her detention - in court, they're not being honest because we don't know what's going to happen," Perino said.

"But there is considered judgment, from many federal government lawyers - all the way up to the attorney general of the United States- that it is a very real possibility that a dangerous detainee could be released into the United States as a result of this Supreme Court decision."

Judges at Washington's federal courthouse are moving quickly to process about 200 cases involving Guantanamo Bay detainees. Those cases would force the Justice Department to say why the detainees are being held and defend the decision to label them enemy combatants. Defense attorneys are convinced that, in many cases, the evidence will not hold up.

"The judge might say to the United States, 'You don't have enough evidence to hold this person,'" Perino said. "And then what do we do? ... Is he allowed to leave? And if so, is he picked up by immigration? Even if that's the case, they're only allowed to be held for six months."

Judge Thomas F. Hogan set a hearing for Tuesday to decide how the cases will proceed. Under the schedule expected to be adopted, judges could start reviewing evidence in a matter of weeks and some cases could be decided by September.

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2008-07-04T01:42:01-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Campaign - Presidential

By MICHAEL COOPER and JEFF ZELENY
NY Times
Published: July 3, 2008


Senator Barack Obama said Thursday that he might “refine” his plans for a phased withdrawal from Iraq after meeting with military commanders there later this summer. But later, he hastily held a second news conference: to emphasize his commitment to withdrawing all combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office.

His two statements, made just hours apart in Fargo, N.D., reflected how the changing dynamics on the ground in Iraq have posed a challenge to Mr. Obama, as he tried to retain flexibility as violence declines there without abandoning one of the central promises of his campaign: that if elected he would end the war there.

His remarks came as Republicans — including his all-but-certain Republican rival, Senator John McCain — have been arguing that Mr. Obama would likely change his position on the phased withdrawal. They argue that with violence dropping there, bringing the troops home would risk erasing the fragile gains that have been made.

Mr. Obama said at his first news conference that he planned a “thorough assessment” of his Iraq policy when he visits the country later this summer. “I’ve always said that the pace of withdrawal would be dictated by the safety and security of our troops and the need to maintain stability,” he said. “That assessment has not changed. And when I go to Iraq and have a chance to talk to some of the commanders on the ground, I’m sure I’ll have more information and will continue to refine my policies.”

Mr. Obama has long spoken of consulting with commanders in the field as part of his plan for a phased withdrawal from Iraq, but his shift in emphasis in the way he spoke about the situation on Thursday — after weeks in which Republicans and even an outside Iraq policy adviser to the Obama campaign argued against a withdrawal along the lines he had proposed — fueled speculation that he might not be wedded to his timetable.

So the Obama campaign hastily scheduled a second news conference to try to clarify his remarks. “We’re going to try this again,” Mr. Obama said. “Apparently, I wasn’t clear enough this morning on my position with respect to the war in Iraq.”

The evolving situation in Iraq has, in fact, tested both candidates: in Mr. McCain’s case, by raising questions about his commitment to staying the course after he initially pushed for a troop escalation prevent defeat. But for Mr. Obama, who has been accused recently of changing his positions on campaign finance and a wiretapping law, the suggestion that he was undermining a central premise of his candidacy holds particular perils.

In his second news conference Thursday, Mr. Obama laid out his proposal in less-ambiguous terms.

“Let me be as clear as I can be,” he said. “I intend to end this war. My first day in office I will bring the Joint Chiefs of Staff in, and I will give them a new mission, and that is to end this war — responsibly, deliberately, but decisively. And I have seen no information that contradicts the notion that we can bring our troops out safely at a pace of one to two brigades a month, and again, that pace translates into having our combat troops out in 16 months’ time.”

He added that when he had spoken about possibly refining his policies, he was referring to questions about how big of a residual force should be left behind to train Iraqi forces and conduct counterterrorism operations — not the overall timeline for withdrawal.

Mr. Obama’s positioning on this issue has been a critical component of his candidacy from the beginning. He, almost alone among the major candidates, opposed the Iraq war from the start, and that helped him beat a crowded Democratic field to win the nomination. And while he has long said that he would consult the commanders in the field when withdrawing troops, the caveat may have been lost on many Democratic primary voters who supported his call to end the war.

With violence ebbing there, though, he must find a way to show that he will be receptive to changing circumstances without seeming to abandon his principles. In recent weeks, he has spoke more of the economic costs of the Iraq war — and the fact that it limits the ability of the United States to send troops to fight what he considers the nation’s primary security threat: Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Mr. McCain’s support for the unpopular Iraq war, meanwhile, helped him win the Republican nomination but put him at risk of alienating the many general election voters who oppose the Iraq war. To that end he too has shifted his emphasis. After taking heat for saying that he would keep an American presence in Iraq for up to 100 years if necessary, Mr. McCain gave a speech this spring suggesting that he would remove most troops by 2013, without offering specifics. He now talks more about withdrawing, as he did last week when he said “we will withdraw, but we will withdraw with victory and honor.”

Iraq, of course, remains very dangerous, as a series of lethal attacks last month showed. But fewer Americans were killed there in May than in any month since the conflict began, and violence across the nation has dropped significantly. Foreign policy experts attribute the reduction to a number of factors, including the defection of Sunni Arab insurgents who are now paid to keep the peace and the cease-fires brokered with various Shiite militias, as well as last year’s addition of more troops — the last of whom are leaving the country this month — and the adoption of a counter-insurgency strategy.

With an emerging consensus that the situation was helped in part the American troop build-up there that has now almost wound down — a build-up that Mr. Obama opposed and Mr. McCain strongly supported — the Republicans are now trying to turn the tables by putting Mr. Obama on the defensive over his judgment on Iraq .

Mr. McCain regularly points to the improving situation in Iraq as a vindication of sorts, noting that he was an early, ardent supporter of the new strategy while Mr. Obama opposed it. “His judgment was wrong,” Mr. McCain said last week in Ohio.

Republicans are attempting to put Mr. Obama in the political equivalent of a double bind: trying to paint him as impervious to the changing reality on the ground if he sticks to his plan, and as a flip-flopper if he alters it to reflect changing circumstances.

“There is nothing wrong with changing your mind when the facts on the ground dictate it,” said a McCain campaign spokesman, Brian Rogers. “Indeed, the facts have changed because of the success of the surge that John McCain advocated for years and Barack Obama opposed in a position that put politics ahead of country.”

Mr. Obama said that had not changed his mind at all. So far has dealt with the evolving situation in Iraq by welcoming the news that violence is down in there, but cautioning that those gains have not been accompanied by the long-term political reconciliation that the new strategy was designed to facilitate.

]]> tag:therochesterdemocrat.com,2008:ee/index.php/34.43338 2008-07-03T12:45:00-06:00 2008-07-03T12:49:14-06:00

{summary}

2008-07-03T12:45:00-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Campaign - Presidential



COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - Barack Obama urged people Wednesday to look past the "bustle and busyness" of their everyday lives this Fourth of July weekend to find a way to help make the American dream real not just for themselves, but for all.

The call for service is part of a flag-draped week focused on God, country, veterans and freedom. They are larger-than-life themes, all prominent in the successful campaigns of President Bush and aimed at introducing Obama to Americans who know little about the presumed Democratic nominee - or who may be skeptical based on what they've heard.

Before a boisterous University of Colorado crowd, Obama said the quiet following Friday's Independence Day celebrations would be a good time to consider how to contribute "to our most pressing national challenges," whether in the military, overseas or just next door.

"I hope that you take a moment to think about what you can do to shape a country we love, shape its future," Obama said. "Loving your country shouldn't just mean watching fireworks on the Fourth of July."

Obama talked in almost achingly intimate terms about the impact service had on him, as a boy who "spent much of my childhood adrift" and often had little idea "who I was or where I was going" because of his father's absence. But early in college, he said, values like hard work and empathy instilled by his mother and grandparents resurfaced "after a long hibernation." He eventually found himself working as a community organizer in a devastated South Side Chicago neighborhood, and said he was transformed.

Obama's call echoed Bush's "love a neighbor like you'd like to be loved yourself," an enduring staple of the president's political speeches of the last eight years. But Obama's campaign said the focus on service was meant not to recall Bush, but to reach back to President John F. Kennedy's generation-captivating "ask not what your country can do for you" inaugural address or President Clinton's creation of AmeriCorps.

To Obama, the problem is not that Americans are not willing to serve. It's that they have neither been asked aggressively enough nor given enough opportunities. In a clear slap to Bush, he decried that Americans eager to pitch in after the 2001 attacks were merely "asked to shop."

His solution is to promise repeated calls for American sacrifice as president and, to put teeth behind that, he has proposed a major expansion of government national service programs, first unveiled in Iowa in December, that would cost $3.5 billion a year. His campaign said he would fund this effort with savings from ending the war in Iraq and by canceling a new tax break for multinational corporations.

One new piece announced Wednesday would create a new "Green Vet Initiative" offering counseling, job placement and mediation with industry for veterans wanting to enter the rapidly expanding renewable energy field.

Other highlights include: increasing the all-volunteer military, expanding AmeriCorps, doubling the size of the Peace Corps, expanding service programs involving retired people, and creating a tax credit making the first $4,000 of college tuition free for students who conduct 100 hours of public service a year.

He avoided any criticism of Republican rival John McCain in the service speech, reserving that for much-applauded remarks he delivered by satellite to the United Steel Workers. Introduced by John Edwards, his former opponent for the Democratic nomination, Obama told the union's annual conference in Las Vegas that he respects McCain's accomplishments "even if he chooses to deny mine" but that the Arizona senator has little more to offer than a continuation of Bush's "tough luck, you're on your own" administration.

"We cannot afford to let John McCain serve out George Bush's third term," he said. "It's not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush ninety-five percent of the time."

Obama later paid a private visit to the U.S. Air Force Academy and Peterson Air Force Base and raised money for his campaign at a $1,000-per-person event at a luxury hotel.

On a fast ride from the academy to the hotel, a police officer in Obama's motorcade suffered minor injuries when his motorcycle crashed while blocking traffic for the entourage, the Secret Service said. Obama told the crowd of donors that he talked to the officer to convey his concern and was told "it's all part of the job."

"He is OK," Obama said. A campaign spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said the officer was released from the hospital.

As an unexpected entry in the battleground column for this November's election, Colorado is one of the chief places where Democrats see a chance to turn a reliably red state into a blue one.

In 2004, Democrat John Kerry made a play for the state but lost it 52 percent to 47 percent to Bush. But Obama chose it as one of the states where he is airing the opening television ads of his general election race. Its biggest city, Denver, was chosen to host the Democratic convention in August.

And Obama's choice of Colorado Springs, a home base for religiously oriented organizations and businesses, for his Colorado stop showed the degree to which he is courting Republican religious voters and trying to make McCain compete for their affections.

The visit brought Obama onto the turf of James Dobson, the popular and influential evangelical leader of Focus on the Family with whom Obama has sparred. A religious political action committee supporting Obama also has a new pro-Obama radio aid to highlight his faith - and is airing it on Christian radio in Colorado Springs.


]]> tag:therochesterdemocrat.com,2008:ee/index.php/34.43329 2008-07-03T00:46:01-06:00 2008-07-03T00:49:08-06:00

{summary}

2008-07-03T00:46:01-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Contractors

By SABRINA TAVERNISE
NY Times
Published: July 2, 2008


BAGHDAD — Iraq’s foreign minister said Tuesday that the United States had agreed to lift immunity for foreign security contractors operating in Iraq, making them subject to prosecution under Iraqi law, according to Iraqi politicians.

In a briefing for lawmakers on the status of a complex security agreement being negotiated with the United States, the foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, said Iraq had insisted on ending the immunity for private security companies, according to three Iraqi politicians who were present. American troops are operating under a United Nations mandate that expires in December.

The private security companies, like Blackwater USA, have reputations of using excessive force in protecting diplomatic and other foreign clients, and currently enjoy immunity from Iraqi law. That immunity became a political issue last fall, after a Blackwater shooting in Baghdad in September left 17 Iraqis dead, according to Iraqi investigators.

According to the three Iraqi politicians who were interviewed, Mr. Zebari said the agreement by the United States to lift the immunity eliminated one of many sticking points in the negotiations, which the United States has said it wants to complete by the end of this month.

A spokeswoman for the United States Embassy declined to comment on the negotiations.

Some Iraqi politicians also want to end immunity for American soldiers, a demand the United States military has strongly opposed.

Iraqi negotiators are working “to submit the American soldiers, their security companies and their movements and behaviors in military operations to Iraqi law,” said Falah Shanshal, a lawmaker from the bloc of Moktada al-Sadr, the rebel Shiite cleric.

Another point the Americans appeared to be conceding, Iraqi politicians said, was control of airspace over Iraq, an important strategic lever that would determine who is authorized to fly over the country.

Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish member of Parliament, said the concession was simply part of political maneuvering. Iraq does not have a full-fledged air force and lacks the equipment and expertise to take control of air traffic over the country. As a result, he said, the United States would “keep control even if it was handed to Iraqis.”

Also on Tuesday, Iraq’s main Sunni bloc, known in Arabic as Tawafiq, said it was closer to rejoining Iraq’s cabinet after a boycott of almost a year. The group had criticized Iraq’s prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, saying he favored Shiites in security operations, but softened its position after a series of government offensives against Mr. Sadr’s militias this spring.

Another judge was the target of an intimidation campaign on Tuesday, at least the sixth in two days, in a trend that has alarmed Iraq’s judiciary. A bomb was placed near the house of Judge Qusay al-Bayati, of the Court of Appeals in eastern Baghdad. The judges previously attacked were on the same court. The bomb was defused and did not explode.

Deaths of Iraqi civilians and security personnel, at the lowest levels in years, totaled 975 in June, compared with 1,165 in May, according to figures supplied by the Ministry of Interior. Of last month’s total, only 175 were killed in Baghdad.

]]> tag:therochesterdemocrat.com,2008:ee/index.php/34.43327 2008-07-03T00:37:00-06:00 2008-07-03T00:39:31-06:00

{summary}

2008-07-03T00:37:00-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Campaign - Presidential

By ERIC GORSKI,
Associated Press
Last update: July 2, 2008


Conservative evangelical leaders, who have been slow to warm to John McCain, met privately this week to discuss coalescing around the Republican's presidential bid.

Mathew Staver, a conservative Christian activist, convened a meeting of about 90 conservative evangelical leaders Tuesday night in Denver. Many evangelicals have been wary of McCain's commitment to their causes and his previous criticisms of movement leaders, among other things.

"Our shared core values compel us to unite and choose the presidential candidate that best advances those values," said Staver, who heads the Florida-based legal advocacy group Liberty Counsel and originally backed the candidacy of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. "That obvious choice is Sen. John McCain. I think people left the meeting in unity the likes of which have not been evident through the primaries."

Staver said the result will be more leaders "energizing their base" and targeted efforts in battleground states and states with anti-gay marriage ballot initiatives this fall such as Florida and California.

According to Staver, those in attendance included Phyllis Schlafly, head of the Eagle Forum; pastor and "Left Behind" co-author Tim LaHaye and his wife, Beverly, founder of Concerned Women for America; David Barton, founder of WallBuilders; Rick Scarborough of Vision America; and Don Hodel, a former interior secretary and former president of Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family.

James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family and a fan of neither McCain nor Democratic candidate Barack Obama, did not attend. Dobson has been in California working on a new book, aides have said.

Obama has been courting religious voters. On Tuesday, he called for expanding White House efforts to steer social service dollars to religious groups.

Staver said enthusiasm is building for McCain, in part because of the Republican senator's recent meetings with movement leaders like Phil Burress, who also attended the Denver summit. Burress helped pass an anti-gay marriage measure in Ohio that was credited with helping President Bush win the state in 2004.

Asked whether it was opposition to Obama or enthusiasm for McCain that motivated the group, Staver said: "Obama is a considerable threat to our values. At the same time, Sen. McCain recently has been reaching out to evangelicals and conservative voters that we represent."

Time magazine first reported on the meeting on its Web site Wednesday.

]]> tag:therochesterdemocrat.com,2008:ee/index.php/34.43324 2008-07-03T00:10:01-06:00 2008-07-03T00:10:48-06:00

{summary}

2008-07-03T00:10:01-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Campaign - Presidential


WASHINGTON (AP) - An independent arm of the Republican National Committee plans to spend $3 million on an ad campaign contrasting GOP presidential candidate John McCain to Democrat Barack Obama on energy security.

The ad will run in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin beginning Sunday. The ad represents the first of the RNC's independent expenditure operation.

The effort will be run by Republican media consultant Brad Todd of On Message Inc., a media and polling firm that worked on Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

Todd said the ad will focus on energy, "which is emerging as a defining difference in the race for president."

By setting up a separate organization within the RNC, the national party can spend unlimited resources on behalf of McCain as long as it does not coordinate with the candidate's campaign.

McCain and the RNC have been raising money together for a joint victory fund that can that can be used to coordinate efforts between the national party and the McCain campaign. But the RNC is limited to spending no more than $19.1 million on coordinated activities.

The independent operation faces no such restriction, but can have no connection to the rest of the RNC or the McCain campaign. McCain has decided to accept public financing in the general election, which limits him to about $84 million in spending, a step that makes reliance on the national party even more important. Obama, who has shattered fundraising records, has decided to bypass the public money and raise his own instead.

"Following Barack Obama's decision to become the only major party presidential candidate in history to not adhere to campaign spending caps, the Republican National Committee has begun an independent expenditure campaign in accordance with FEC regulations," Todd said in a statement Wednesday.

The Democratic National Committee first aired ads critical of McCain in the spring.

McCain and Obama have been running their own general election ads. Obama has focused on reintroducing himself to voters through biographical ads that are airing in 18 states. McCain ran one ad that featured his family's military service and highlighted his five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam; he is now on the air in 11 states with an ad promoting his stance to control global warming.

The RNC's first salvo of the election comes as several outside groups take advantage of a lull in summer election activity to begin defining and prodding presidential and congressional candidates with their own multimillion-dollar advocacy campaigns.

Health care, gun rights and financial security will be among the dominant issues as unions and special interest organizations try to set the tone for the general election campaign and beyond.

Among the top efforts under way:

- The AARP began airing a new ad on national cable Wednesday pressing Obama and McCain to keep talking about financial security for retirees and affordable health care. Beginning Monday, the ad will run in Orlando and Tampa, Fla.; Des Moines, Iowa; Manchester, N.H., and Detroit - markets in key battleground states. The seniors' advocacy group, acting on behalf of a coalition called Divided We Fail, plans to spend more than $20 million on its bipartisan ad campaign through Labor Day.

- A coalition of labor and liberal organizations next week plans to launch a $40 million campaign in key congressional districts to promote affordable health care coverage for all Americans. The group expects to spend $25 million in commercials in 45 states between now and Election Day in November. Its members include unions such as the Service Employees International Union, the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and Democratic-leaning organizations such as the Center for American Progress, MoveOn.org, and the Campaign for America's Future.

- The National Rifle Association plans to spend about $40 million to influence the presidential election, starting with a voter registration effort this summer and eventually moving to an ad campaign during the fall. The NRA has not yet endorsed a presidential candidate, but plans to air ads criticizing Obama's past support for restrictions on access to guns. The NRA also has had a tense relationship with Republican John McCain over his work on campaign finance laws that the NRA has opposed, concerned about the limits imposed on free speech.

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On the Web: http://www.aarp.org/issues/dividedwefail/about_us/

]]> tag:therochesterdemocrat.com,2008:ee/index.php/34.43323 2008-07-03T00:05:00-06:00 2008-07-03T00:07:35-06:00

{summary}

2008-07-03T00:05:00-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Campaign - Presidential



WASHINGTON (AP) - John McCain put a top adviser in control of day-to-day campaign operations Wednesday after weeks of private concerns among Republicans that the GOP presidential campaign had not made the transition for the general election.

Steve Schmidt, a veteran of President Bush's re-election and a member of the Arizona senator's inner circle, will oversee daily political, strategy, coalitions, scheduling and communications efforts from the campaign's northern Virginia headquarters.

The campaign's estimated 300-person staff will report to Schmidt, who will report to campaign manager Rick Davis.

Davis will continue to focus on long-term planning, the vice presidential search, fundraising and the national convention but Schmidt's added responsibilities mean the campaign manager's load now will be somewhat lighter. Davis took the reins of the campaign almost exactly a year ago amid a major staff shake-up and has been the subject of Democratic criticism for his past lobbying work.

He told the staff of Schmidt's expanded role at a Wednesday meeting at headquarters, saying that Schmidt would have "full operational control" of the campaign's daily activities.

"This is a natural growth of the campaign and we think it's a good thing," said spokesman Brian Rogers.

Other changes and additions are expected.

Republican officials with knowledge of the plans said Schmidt likely will shift the political operations into a more traditional structure, including the hiring of a single political director and a single field director who will have authority over those divisions. The campaign has been criticized for its nontraditional, decentralized structure that broke the country into 11 regions with a campaign manager for each.

Charlie Black, a senior adviser, characterized Schmidt's larger role as a typical expansion for a growing campaign.

"The deeper you get into a presidential campaign, the more tasks there are to do and the more work there is to do," Black said. "Rick asked Steve to take on more responsibility, and he did and everybody's happy."

Since McCain wrapped up the nomination in March, Republican insiders have expressed concerns privately that the stripped-down campaign of the primary season was not adequately transformed into a general election operation able to take on Democratic Sen. Barack Obama.

Even though he clinched his party's nomination three months before the Democrat did, McCain lags Obama in fundraising, organizational structure, and polls. Critics have panned his sub-par speeches, said he lacks a cohesive message and questioned his travel itinerary. For example, he is in Colombia and Mexico this week while Obama is spending the Independence Day week traveling to battleground states and traditional Republican strongholds talking about patriotism, faith and values.

In recent weeks, the campaign has brought on other former Bush aides to bolster its efforts. Former White House communications director Nicolle Wallace and former Bush re-election staffer Matt McDonald are helping coordinate message while former White House advance director Greg Jenkins is helping coordinate events.

Schmidt was involved in McCain's presidential campaign from the start, but took on a more prominent role after the campaign nearly imploded one year ago after fundraising troubles and the staff shake-up.

He was a near constant presence on the campaign trail during McCain's comeback, which resulted in his winning enough delegates to capture the GOP nomination. In recent weeks, Schmidt worked out of headquarters as he assumed additional duties.

Schmidt, 38, presided over California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful re-election bid two years ago, a campaign in which the governor moved steadily to the political middle after governing as a conservative. Schmidt helped him overcome a deficit in the polls.

He also was a top aide in Bush's re-election campaign in 2004 and worked for Vice President Dick Cheney in the White House. He ran the confirmation of Justice Samuel Alito, and played a leading role in the confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts.

The Democratic Party issued a statement saying: "It's no surprise that John McCain would put a Bush-Cheney veteran in charge of his campaign since he's been promising a third Bush term and relying on money raised by President Bush and his friends."

]]> tag:therochesterdemocrat.com,2008:ee/index.php/34.43315 2008-07-02T14:37:01-06:00 2008-07-02T14:38:09-06:00

{summary}

2008-07-02T14:37:01-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Campaign - Presidential



WASHINGTON (AP) - The public hasn't taken to Michelle Obama yet, especially whites. And it's got a question about Cindy McCain: Who is she?

People are divided over whether they like the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, with 30 percent seeing her favorably and 35 percent unfavorably, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll released Wednesday.

They tilt positively toward the spouse of Republican hopeful John McCain, by 27 percent to 17 percent.

In other words: While the two women are about equally liked, Michelle Obama is twice as disliked as Cindy McCain.

"Cindy seems like she's laid back and not trying to run her husband," said Linda Kaiser, 60, a Republican and church secretary from Clairton, Pa. "It's nice to have a brain, but they should let their husband be president."

Whites have an unfavorable view of Michelle Obama by 18 percentage points, while eight in 10 blacks like her. That is reminiscent of how Barack Obama fared in the Democratic primaries against Hillary Rodham Clinton.

In the AP-Yahoo News poll, whites saw Cindy McCain positively by 17 points, while one in eight blacks like her.

Michelle Obama does better with unmarried people and college graduates but is viewed poorly by people age 65 and up. Cindy McCain is seen more favorably by older people, those who are married and the more affluent, but she is less well-received by singles.

Cindy McCain is also more of a mystery. Nearly six in 10, or 56 percent, said they know too little to say much about her - exceeding the 34 percent clueless about Michelle Obama. Half of Republicans say they don't know Cindy McCain, while three in 10 Democrats say that about Michelle Obama.

Barack Obama's wife seems to incite stronger feelings. One in five had very negative views of her, triple the number who said so about John McCain's wife. One in 10 had very favorable views of Michelle Obama, double Cindy McCain's number.

"She's African-American, she's highly articulate, she's young and she seems highly devoted to her husband and her family," said Edythe Friley, 61, a retired teacher from Detroit. "She serves as a role model. There's not a parent on planet Earth who wouldn't want a daughter like this."

Michelle Obama has been in the spotlight more than Cindy McCain, including stories on whether she was trying to reshape her image.

Michelle Obama, 44, a lawyer and hospital administrator, took flak in February when she said she was proud of her country "for the first time in my adult life." Cindy McCain, 54, heiress to an Arizona beer distributorship, revealed in May that she earned more than $6 million in 2006 after saying she would never release her income tax returns.

The AP-Yahoo News survey of 1,759 adults was conducted from June 13-23 and had an overall margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points. Included were interviews with 844 Democrats and 637 Republicans, for whom the margins of sampling error were plus or minus 3.4 points and 3.9 points, respectively.

The poll was conducted over the Internet by Knowledge Networks, which initially contacted people using traditional telephone polling methods and followed with online interviews. People chosen for the study who had no Internet access were given it for free.

---

AP Director of Surveys Trevor Tompson and AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.

---

On the Net:

Polling site: http://news.yahoo.com/polls


]]> tag:therochesterdemocrat.com,2008:ee/index.php/34.43297 2008-07-02T08:45:00-06:00 2008-07-02T08:46:40-06:00

{summary}

2008-07-02T08:45:00-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Administration


NY Times
Published: July 2, 2008


According to the White House, this country is scoring big wins in the war on drugs, especially against the cocaine cartels. Officials celebrate that cocaine seizures are up — leading to higher prices on American streets. Cocaine use by teenagers is down, and, officials say, workplace tests suggest adult use is falling.

John Walters, the White House drug czar, declared earlier this year that “courageous and effective” counternarcotics efforts in Colombia and Mexico “are disrupting the production and flow of cocaine.”

This enthusiasm rests on a very selective reading of the data. Another look suggests that despite the billions of dollars the United States has spent battling the cartels, it has hardly made a dent in the cocaine trade.

While seizures are up, so are shipments. According to United States government figures, 1,421 metric tons of cocaine were shipped through Latin America to the United States and Europe last year — 39 percent more than in 2006. And despite massive efforts at eradication, the United Nations estimates that the area devoted to growing coca leaf in the Andes expanded 16 percent last year. The administration disputes that number.

The drug cartels are not running for cover.

Mexico and parts of Central America are being swept up in drug-related violence. Latin Americans are becoming heavy consumers of cocaine, and traffickers are opening new routes to Europe through fragile West African countries. Some experts argue that the rising price of cocaine on American streets is mostly the result of a strong euro and fast-growing demand in Europe.

Workplace drug tests notwithstanding, cocaine use in the United States is not falling. About 2.5 percent of Americans used cocaine at least once in 2006, the same percentage as in 2002, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

While cocaine use has fallen among younger teenagers, 12th graders are using more: 5.2 percent used cocaine last year — up from 4.8 percent in 2001 and 3.1 percent at the low point in 1992, says a Monitoring the Future survey done by the University of Michigan.

All this suggests serious problems with a strategy that focuses overwhelmingly on disrupting the supply of drugs while doing far too little to curb domestic demand.

Washington spent $1.4 billion on drug-related foreign assistance last year — mostly to equip Colombia’s security forces and spray coca crops in the Andes. It spent another $7 billion on drug-related law enforcement and interdiction efforts at home and abroad. It spent less than $5 billion on education, prevention and treatment programs at home to curtail substance abuse.

The counternarcotics effort has produced some successes. Marijuana use in the United States has declined since 2002, the earliest year for which the government has comparable data. Teenage use of other drugs, like methamphetamine, has fallen sharply. With American aid, Colombia’s armed forces have severely weakened the FARC guerrillas, a major player in the drug trade.

The next administration should continue to help Latin American governments take on the traffickers. But it must learn from the current strategy’s shortcomings.

Eradication efforts are most likely to have more success if more money is spent on programs to wean coca growers from the business and improve the lives of their families and communities. Mexico, in particular, is in deep trouble, and the next American president should build on the Bush administration’s plans to provide counternarcotics aid. There needs to be a different mix: less money for equipment for security forces and more for economic development and programs to reform and strengthen Mexico’s judicial system.

Above all, the next administration must put much more effort into curbing demand — spending more on treating drug addicts and less on putting them in jail. Drug courts, which sentence users to treatment, still deal only with a small minority of drug cases and should be vastly expanded. Drug-treatment programs for imprisoned drug abusers, especially juvenile offenders, must also be expanded.

Over all, drug abuse must be seen more as a public health concern and not primarily a law enforcement problem. Until demand is curbed at home, there is no chance of winning the war on drugs.

]]> tag:therochesterdemocrat.com,2008:ee/index.php/34.43295 2008-07-02T08:33:00-06:00 2008-07-02T08:34:57-06:00

{summary}

2008-07-02T08:33:00-06:00 Staff editor@TheRochesterDemocrat.com Campaign - Presidential



WASHINGTON (AP) - Retired Gen. Wesley Clark rejected suggestions he apologize Tuesday for saying John McCain's medal-winning military service does not qualify him for the White House. Elaborating, Clark said a president must have judgment, not merely courage and character.

Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential hopeful, said Clark's comments had been inartful. McCain said Obama should go further than that.

"I think the time has come for Sen. Obama to not just repudiate Gen. Clark, but to cut him loose," McCain said en route to Colombia.

One ally of the Republican presidential contender accused Obama of "winking and nodding" when he should be condemning Clark and his comments. "This is now about Obama, not Wesley Clark," added Orson Swindle on a conference call with reporters organized by the McCain's campaign.

Swindle, a retired colonel and - like McCain - prisoner of war in Vietnam, added that Obama should tell his surrogates to "knock this crap off."

Clark set off the controversy Sunday when he said McCain's wartime experience as a Navy pilot and his command of an air squadron in peacetime did not provide him with experience needed to become president.

"I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president," he added at the time.

McCain frequently emphasizes his military service as he campaigns for the White House.

Obama, who did not serve in the military, frequently cites his opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq as evidence of the judgment needed in a commander in chief.

Despite criticism from Republicans, Clark declined to back down in an interview Tuesday morning with ABC. "The experience that he had as a fighter pilot isn't the same as having been at the highest levels of the military and having to make ... life or death decisions about national, strategic issues," he said.

Asked whether he felt he owed McCain an apology, Clark responded, "I'm very sorry that this has distracted from the message of patriotism that Sen. Obama wants to put out."

Later, in a National Public Radio interview, Clark was asked about his statements in 2004 that Sen. John Kerry, the D