TresSugar

Front Page: McCain Powder Not Dangerous, Iraq Withdrawal Agreed Upon, 200,000 Muslims Protest

CitizenSugar — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 06:54:24 -0700

McCain Powder Not Dangerous:
Two of McCain's campaign offices received suspicious letters and white powder yesterday - the substance has been deemed not dangerous by police and fire officials. The Denver and Manchester, NH, offices reacted quickly to the letters with Denver return addresses. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist also received a letter with powder that has been deemed nontoxic.

Iraq WIthdrawal Agreed Upon:
The US has agreed to remove combat troops from cities by next June and from the rest of Iraq by 2011. The schedule, which the Bush administration calls "aspirational goals" rather than deadlines, depends on the stability of Iraq. Ending combat operations in Iraq in less than a year didn't seem possible even a short time ago.

200,000 Muslims Protest:
Hundreds of thousands of Muslims gathered in Indian Kashmir's main city today in the largest protest against Indian rule in two months of conflict. Long lines and huge groups of people prayed and spoke as part of the protest sparked in June in a land dispute. One protester said, "This is a freedom movement, a people's movement. We are united to fight India until we get freedom." 68,000 have died in Kashmir conflicts since 1989.

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Front Page: Spanish Plane Crash Possible Cause, Pakistan Suicide Attack Kills 60, Rice Surprise Visit to Iraq

CitizenSugar — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:56:58 -0700

Spanish Plane Crash Possible Cause:
The plane that crashed in Madrid yesterday and killed 153 people, including two babies and 20 children, had reported an overheated air intake valve before the first attempt at takeoff. The problem was reported and the equipment turned off to fix it. It's not known if this is the only factor in Spain's worst air disaster in almost 25 years.

Pakistan Suicide Attack Kills 60:
Killing 60 and wounding dozens more, a suicide bomber attacked Pakistan's largest military munitions plant. The Pakistan Taliban has claimed responsibility. The violence comes amid political uncertainty in the country following the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf earlier this week.

Rice Surprise Visit to Iraq:
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice surprised Baghdad with a visit to discuss the future of US forces in Iraq. Amid negotiations over the timing of the final withdrawal of US forces, reports suggest that a compromise draft agreement of the plan is being considered by both governments. RIce will meet with Prime Minister Nouri Maliki during her visit.

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Iraqi Hit Squads to Target Officials and Troops Training in Iran

CitizenSugar — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:00:52 -0700

Iraqi Shi'ite assassination teams are being readied in four locations in Iran, with the mission to return to Iraq and kill specific Iraqi officials before targeting US and Iraqi troops. The info comes from captured militia fighters and sources within Iraq. A senior US military intelligence officer confirmed the story under the condition of anonymity, acknowledging that disclosing the info is an attempt to pressure Iran to suspend the training and prevent militia fighters from returning to Iraq. To this end, "Wanted" posters picturing the men thought to be involved.

The fighters are expected to return to Iraq between now and October, and the US is encouraging the Iraqi government to confront Iran on the issue. It's thought that part of the reason violence has declined is that the militants have moved from Basra and Sadr City to Iran. The fighters are thought to be offshoots of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia having made their own groups after al-Sadr declared a cease-fire with the Iraqi government in August 2007.

Are the training pockets small and isolated incidents, or does it put the notion that the surge has worked to quell violence into question?

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Front Page: Phelps Breaks Gold Record, Russian Convoy Violates Truce, Contractors Cost US $85 Billion

CitizenSugar — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 07:00:50 -0700

Phelps Breaks Gold Record:
US swimmer Michael Phelps has broken the record for most Olympic gold won by scoring his 10th and 11th in a double victory in races today. A win in the 200m butterfly gave him his 4th gold for these Olympics, keeping him on track to take home eight golds for these games. The most golds ever won prior to Phelps was nine.

Russian Convoy Violates Truce:
A Russian military convoy has moved deep into Georgia today in violation of a new truce agreement. Georgia's soldiers have retreated following the truce and the new movement by the Russians surprised the few remaining. The new movement came 12 hours after the cease-fire plan supposed to end the fighting that has uprooted an estimated 100,000 people.

Contractors Cost US $85 Billion:
Between 2003 and 2007 the US government spent $85 billion on contractors to support the Iraq war. The figure is likely to top $100 billion by the end of 2008, according to a review by the Congressional Budget Office. There are currently 190,000 employed on a one-to-one ratio with military personnel. Contractors have been used in Iraq at a much larger scale than in any other major conflict.

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Front Page: Bin Laden Driver Sentenced, 13 Dead in Texas Bus Crash, Iraq Proposes Timetable

CitizenSugar — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:54:43 -0700

Bin Laden Driver Sentenced:
A panel of military officers have sentenced the convicted former driver of Osama bin Laden to five and a half years in prison. Ignoring the prosecution's pleas for a strict sentence, the 66 month decision means that the first detainee convicted of a war crime in court could complete his punishment by the end of the year. The military judge said he had already planned to give credit for the 61 months the detainee has already served.

13 Dead in Texas Bus Crash:
A charter bus carrying 55 church members rolled on its side killing 13 instantly and sending 24 to the hospital. A blown tire caused the bus to run off a highway overpass. The passengers had been on their way to a religious festival honoring the Virgin Mary.

Iraq Proposes Timetable:
Iraqi negotiators have decided on October, 2010, as the deadline when combat troops will have left the country. US troops will begin to withdraw from the streets in the middle of next year, and be gone by 2010, though some support units would stay on. If agreed upon by President Bush, the schedule will be close to the proposal of Barack Obama.

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Front Page: Combat Tours Reduced, Olmert to Quit, Fewer Illegal Immigrants, Karadzic Due in Court

CitizenSugar — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 06:55:37 -0700

Combat Tours Reduced:
President Bush said in an appearance at the White House this morning that combat tours in Iraq will be reduced to 12 months from 15. He said, "we are now in our third consecutive month with reduced violence levels holding steady." With a deal on security close, it "relieves the burden on our forces." Five US soldiers died in Iraq this month compared to 66 in July 2007.

Olmert to Quit:
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has announced he will resign in September after his party chooses a new leader. Olmert is tangled in a corruption investigation, and the announcement heightens uncertainty in both the Middle East peace effort and the political legacies of both Olmert and Bush, who'd hoped for breakthroughs before leaving office.

Fewer Illegal Immigrants:
The number of immigrants in the US illegally has fallen by 1.3 million in the past year, an 11 percent fall since the peak last August. The report accompanying the census showed a "strong indication" that stricter enforcement by authorities played a major role in the reduction, though others say the shifting economy has made the US a less desirable location.
Karadzic Due in Court:
Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic will be charged with 11 counts of war crimes by the UN war crimes tribunal today. The exact charges will only be revealed in court; afterward he can enter a plea but doesn't have to. Karadzic had been on the run for 13 years before being captured in Belgrade last week.

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Front Page: New Offensive in Iraq, Fire Consumes UK Landmark, Oprah School Abuse Trial Begins

CitizenSugar — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 07:00:05 -0700

New Offensive in Iraq:
Iraqi forces with support from American troops just launched a new major operation against insurgents in the Iraqi province of Diyala, one of the last pockets of al-Qaeda militants in the country. The commander of the Iraqi ground forces says the operation's goal is ''to clear al-Qaeda in Diyala. We have a list of wanted persons that the troops will arrest during the operations.'' The offensive comes after deadly attacks in Baghdad and Kirkuk.

Fire Consumes UK Landmark:
The historic seaside pier, the Grand at Weston-super-Mare, was consumed by fire yesterday. Stretching a quarter of a mile into the water, the two-story wooden structure was reduced to ash in a couple of hours. The fire broke out in a kitchen on the pier, though no one was hurt. A spokesman for the pier, Nigel Heath, says, “it is a tragedy. It epitomized the English seaside resort.”

Oprah School Abuse Trial Begins:
The trial of the former matron at Oprah Winfrey's school in South Africa has begun with the defendant pleading not guilty. The six alleged victims will testify in private, amid reports that they're "very scared". The defendant, 28, was arrested at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy near Johannesburg last year. The $40 million school opened in 2007.

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Aide Says Obama Burdened With Supporters' Unrealistic Hopes

CitizenSugar — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:00:07 -0700

Is the hope of Obama supporters, entirely too audacious? Perhaps so, according to one of Obama's own senior aides. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph in the midst of Obama's big trip abroad, it appears like that famous hope has become a burden wrapped in unrealistic expectations of what Obama can actually achieve if he becomes president.

Greg Craig, one of Obama's top foreign policy advisers with him on the trip said that Obama is well aware of the burden of hope:

He is very conscious of it. He knows he has become a vehicle for peoples' hopes and dreams and expectations and we all fear that such expectations tend to be unrealistic.

In his trip that includes a swing through Europe, Obama is expected to meet with Gordon Brown to encourage the UK to proceed with planned troop cuts in Iraq next year to free them up to redeploy in Afghanistan.

Obama's plan for Iraq also caused a big email misunderstanding this weekend. To see the audacity of the Inbox, read more.

A German magazine, Der Spiegel reported that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had:

Supported prospective US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that US troops should leave Iraq within 16 months . . . US presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.

Everyone all the way up to the White House believed this notion - going so far as to accidentally send out the news to a huge distribution list (always check before hitting "Send," folks.)

Making the email oops worse, it turns out that the whole Maliki quote, was actually a huge misunderstanding. Der Spiegel it seems mistranslated. Maliki's spokesman said that statements by Maliki or any other member of the government should not be seen as support for any US presidential candidate.

Are Obama supporters placing unrealistic expectations on what the reality of Obama can actually do? Will there come a point when they find out they've been way too audacious?

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Au Revoir, Sanctuary: Canada Deports US Iraq War Deserter

CitizenSugar — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:00:41 -0700

US Army deserter, Robin Long, fled to Canada in 2005 to avoid serving in Iraq. Yesterday, Long was deported back to the US, the first time a resister to the US war effort in Iraq has been sent home by Canadian authorities. Long claims that he fled to avoid participation in an "illegal war of aggression in Iraq."

The judge who heard his case this week, ruled that Long couldn't provide clear evidence he would suffer irreparable harm if he was sent back to the United States. Though Long was sent home, in another deportation case last week the Federal Court blocked the deportation of National Guard Sgt. Corey Glass, 25, who also refused redeployment to Iraq, while it decides whether to hear his case.

Both Long and Glass are part of a group of about 200 American deserters thought to have crossed the northern border to avoid service in Iraq. To this point, Canadian immigration officials and courts have refused to grant them refugee status, with Prime Minister Harper's consent; he's ignored a nonbinding House of Commons motion that would allow the deserters to stay.

To see how this case compares to Vietnam, and the opposition to granting refugee status, read more.

Opponents of granting refugee status to deserters use the Vietnam War as an example, saying that unlike that war, the US currently doesn't have a military draft and deserters are instead volunteers who know the potential risks.

During the Vietnam War, about 90,000 Americans successfully won sanctuary in Canada, most of them there to avoid the military draft. Though some still remain in places like Nelson, British Columbia, the place Long fled to, a majority of the deserters went home after the United States granted amnesty in 1977.

Is the difference between volunteer service and draft, the tipping point in the debate? Is Canada right to send the deserters home?

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McCain Answers Obama on Iraq in New Mexico Town Hall

CitizenSugar — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:44:20 -0700

At a town hall that just concluded (orchestrated masterfully to rebut the speech Obama gave this morning) John McCain said, "Barack Obama is directly contradicting statements he made regarding the surge in Iraq. Today we know the surge is succeeding."

McCain went on to say of Obama's statement before he heads off to Iraq:

Sen. Obama is departing soon on a trip abroad that will include a fact-finding mission to Iraq and Afghanistan. And I note that he is speaking today about his plans for Iraq and Afghanistan before he has even left, before he has talked to Gen. Petraeus, before he has seen the progress in Iraq, and before he has set foot in Afghanistan for the first time. In my experience, fact-finding missions usually work best the other way around: first you assess the facts on the ground, then you present a new strategy.

McCain didn't mince words on his thoughts about this plan, "he has it exactly backwards. It is the success of the surge that shows us the way to succeed in Afghanistan. They are not disconnected. Success breeds success."

To see the fiery conclusion to his remarks, read more.

Asserting that Pakistan's sanctuary of terrorists must end, McCain went on to say that the US has to convince Pakistan that this is their fight too.

He concluded boldly:

I won't bluster and I won't make idle threats, but understand this: when i am Commander in Chief, there will be no where that terrorists can run and no where they can hide. I will get Osama bin Laden and I will bring him to justice. . . let me conclude by saying, in wartime, experience and judgement matter. They matter. In my entire life, nothing has been more important than the security and well-being of the country that I love.

The speech was followed by a sparky Q&A where he showed the flair we've come to expect from the context he really shines.

Which speech grabbed you this morning? Did McCain sufficiently answer Obama's "major policy address?"

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