BLOG IS DOWN FOR THE HOLIDAYS AND FIREFOX 2 UPDATES

General Says Army Will Need To Grow - washingtonpost.com

General Says Army Will Need To Grow - washingtonpost.com

Friday, December 15, 2006; Page A01

Warning that the active-duty Army "will break" under the strain of today's war-zone rotations, the nation's top Army general yesterday called for expanding the force by 7,000 or more soldiers a year and lifting Pentagon restrictions on involuntary call-ups of



National Guard and Army Reserve troops.

House leader proposes ethics task force - Yahoo! News

House leader proposes ethics task force - Yahoo! News

Some reform-minded lawmakers have proposed the creation of an independent body to oversee congressional behavior arguing that lawmakers were unable to police themselves.

But any proposal of outside oversight was sure to be opposed by some members of Congress, who traditionally do not like outsiders getting involved in running the legislature.

Pelosi also proposed creating a new intelligence oversight panel within the House Appropriations Committee. The proposal will help fulfill Democratic campaign pledges to enact all the recommendations made by the September 11 Commission and help strengthen congressional oversight of intelligence, she said.

Arab attitudes toward U.S. grow more negative: poll - Yahoo! News

Arab attitudes toward U.S. grow more negative: poll - Yahoo! News

The survey released by the Arab American Institute found that more than 80 percent of people in Saudi Arabia and Egypt had negative opinions of the United States, similar to previous years, but attitudes worsened in Morocco, Jordan and Lebanon.





The biggest increases were in Jordan, where negative U.S. ratings climbed to 90 percent from 62 percent and Morocco, where they grew to 87 percent from 64 percent.

Attitudes toward American people, movies and democracy were more negative than positive in most of the five countries.

Only U.S. education was viewed more positively than negatively in the five countries.

Notably, residents had negative attitudes toward most U.S. policy in the region. Opinions were most negative about the Iraq war and the Palestinian conflict, but also opposed the United States' policy on Lebanon, its promotion of democracy in the region and its challenge of
Iran's nuclear program.

Saudi will intervene in Iraq if U.S. withdraws: aide

Saudi will intervene in Iraq if U.S. withdraws: aide - washingtonpost.com

Wednesday, November 29, 2006; 10:50 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Using money, weapons or its oil power, Saudi Arabia will intervene to prevent Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias from massacring Iraqi Sunni Muslims once the United States begins pulling out of Iraq, a security adviser to the Saudi government said on Wednesday.



........

Obaid listed three options being considered by the Saudi
government:

- providing "Sunni military leaders (primarily ex-Baathist
members of the former Iraqi officer corps, who make up the
backbone of the insurgency) with the same types of assistance,"
including funding and arms.

- establishing new Sunni brigades to combat the
Iranian-backed militias.

- or the Saudi king "may decide to strangle Iranian funding
of the militias through oil policy. If Saudi Arabia boosted
production and cut the price of oil in half ... it would be
devastating to Iran ... The result would be to limit Tehran's
ability to continue funneling hundreds of millions each year to
Shi'ite militias in Iraq and elsewhere."

Saudi kingdom would back Iraq's Muslim Sunnis in the event of a wider sectarian conflict

Saudi ambassador to U.S. resigns - washingtonpost.com

The departure also came days after Turki fired a consultant who wrote an opinion piece published in The Washington Post that suggested the Saudi kingdom would back Iraq's Muslim Sunnis in the event of a wider sectarian conflict.

The article by a Saudi government security adviser, Nawaf Obaid, said the kingdom would intervene with funding and weaponry to prevent Shi'ite militias from attacking Iraq's Sunnis and suggested Saudi Arabia could bring down world oil prices to squeeze Shi'ite power Iran.

Saudi Arabia denied the assertions and Turki said he terminated a consultancy agreement with Obaid, who had said the views were his own and not of the Saudi government.

Turki was en route to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday where he would have meetings and take a prearranged vacation, the embassy official said.

Democrats want timeout on special-interest money - Yahoo! News

Democrats want timeout on special-interest money - Yahoo! News

Tue Dec 12, 2:20 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats taking control of Congress next month say they will try to ban for the remainder of fiscal 2007 the special-interest "pork" projects that got Republicans in so much trouble with voters in the November elections.
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"We will place a moratorium on all earmarks until a reformed process is put in place," the incoming Democratic chairmen of the Senate and House appropriations panels, Sen. Robert Byrd (news, bio, voting record) of West Virginia and Rep. David Obey (news, bio, voting record) of Wisconsin, said late on Monday.

Leahy vows to guard privacy rights

Appellate Ruling Pushes Skilling Closer to Prison - washingtonpost.com

Wednesday, December 13, 2006; Page D03

Former Enron chief executive Jeffrey K. Skilling must report to a Waseca, Minn., prison soon, an appeals court judge ruled yesterday, because Skilling's appeal will not result in the reversal of all 19 of his criminal convictions.

UK 'plot' terror charge dropped

A Pakistani judge has ruled there is not enough
evidence to try a key suspect in an alleged airline bomb plot on
terrorism charges.

...

Pakistan has presented Mr Rauf as one of the ringleaders behind the alleged plan to blow up flights out of London.

.........................

But an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi found no
evidence that he had been involved in terrorist activities or that he
belonged to a terrorist organisation.

As well as forgery charges, Mr Rauf has also been charged with carrying explosives.

But his lawyer says police evidence amounts only to bottles of hydrogen peroxide found in his possession.

Hydrogen peroxide is a disinfectant that can be used for bomb-making if other chemicals are added.

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the judge's
decision has reinforced the already widespread scepticism there about
the airliner plot.

Several commentators said the threat was deliberately
exaggerated to bolster the anti-terror credentials of Pakistani
President Pervez Musharraf and that it helped to demonise British
Muslims of Pakistani origin.

...........................................

The August arrests led to increased airport security around the world, causing major disruption.

Passengers on many flights were forbidden to take liquids aboard aircraft.

Set Iraq timetable, most say: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Set Iraq timetable, most say: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Poll finds majority want fixed exit dates

By Maura Reynolds
Los Angeles Times
Posted December 13 2006

washington · A majority of Americans favor setting a fixed timetable for bringing troops home from Iraq and just 12 percent would support a plan to increase troop strength, an option under serious consideration by the military, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found.

A month after midterm elections that switched control of Congress to the Democrats, respondents expressed low confidence in President Bush's ability to resolve the conflict in Iraq.



LocalLinks
By a hefty margin they said Iraq should be the top priority for the new Congress, with a plurality of 45 percent saying they had more trust in Democrats to handle the war.

Only 34 percent said they had more confidence in the president, who has rejected the idea of setting any timetable for withdrawing troops.

Almost two-thirds said they believe Iraq has descended into "civil war," which the Bush administration has denied.

"The public doesn't want the status quo any longer in Iraq and they believe the Democrats, rather than the president, will be best at finding a solution to the war," said polling director Susan Pinkus.

The poll results come at a time when Bush has come under pressure to change course in Iraq, most recently from the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.

Bush is seeking advice from other sources as well and is expected to unveil a new strategy in January.

A majority of 52 percent of the poll's respondents -- including nearly one in three Republicans -- said they preferred a "fixed timetable" for withdrawal, while only 26 percent of those surveyed favored the president's option of keeping troops on the ground until the country is secure.

Religion for a Captive Audience, Paid For by Taxes - New York Times

Religion for a Captive Audience, Paid For by Taxes - New York Times: "A JUDGE'S VIEW Robert W. Pratt, a federal judge in Iowa, ordered a prison ministry to repay more than $1.5 million in government money it received."

Congress approves offshore drilling bill - Yahoo! News

Congress approves offshore drilling bill - Yahoo! News: "The offshore legislation ends a 25-year ban on drilling in deep waters about 125 miles south of Florida's Panhandle"

Like the Nation, Military Families Divided on Iraq - washingtonpost.com

Like the Nation, Military Families Divided on Iraq - washingtonpost.com: "A poll conducted last week by the Associated Press found that 63 percent of respondents did not expect a stable, democratic government to take root in Iraq, up from 54 percent in June."

Gore plans to initiate a grass-roots 'carbon freeze' movement - The Boston Globe

Gore plans to initiate a grass-roots 'carbon freeze' movement - The Boston Globe: "December 10, 2006

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Al Gore plans to start a grass-roots political movement next month to seek a 'freeze' on carbon emissions that scientists say are to blame for global warming.

The former vice president's campaign is modeled after the nuclear freeze movement of the 1980s. Gore said he planned to enlist groups ranging from entrepreneurs and activists to political leaders to push for stronger policies to limit the growth of greenhouse gases."

Reuters - A total of 40 bodies -- many of them shot and tortured -- were found across Baghdad on Saturday

Reuters AlertNet - FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, Dec 10:

"BAGHDAD - A total of 40 bodies -- many of them shot and tortured -- were found across Baghdad on Saturday, an Interior Ministry source said.

BAGHDAD - A mortar round landed on Kadhimiya district in northwestern Baghdad, killing two people and wounding two others on Saturday, an Interior Ministry source said.

MOSUL - A hospital source said they received the bodies of two policemen and a soldier with gunshot wounds on Saturday.

BAGHDAD - Clashes erupted between Shi'ite militias and a Sunni tribe in Amil district in southwestern Baghdad on Saturday, an Interior Ministry source said, adding fighting continued on Sunday.

BAGHDAD - Shi'ite militias attacked Sunni families in Adil district, western Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

KIRKUK - Gunmen attacked a hairdresser's shop and killed its owner on Saturday in the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said."

JURIST - Paper Chase: Senate Judiciary leaders introduce bill to restore habeas rights for detainees

JURIST - Paper Chase: Senate Judiciary leaders introduce bill to restore habeas rights for detainees: "JURIST] US Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) [official website; JURIST news archive], outgoing chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee [official website], and current ranking member of the committee Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) [official website] have introduced a bill which would restore habeas corpus rights to military detainees [JURIST news archive] and amend the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA) [JURIST news archive]. A key provision in the MCA, which President Bush signed into law [JURIST report] last month, strips US courts of jurisdiction to consider writs of habeas corpus filed by detainees classified as enemy combatants.

Introducing the bill [statement text], S. 4081, Leahy said:

This bill would restore the great writ of habeas corpus, a cornerstone of American liberty for hundreds of years that Congress and the President rolled back in an unprecedented and unnecessary way with September's Military Commissions Act. Habeas corpus provides a remedy against arbitrary detentions and constitutional violations. It guarantees an opportunity to go to court, with the aid of a lawyer, to prove one's innocence. The Military Commissions Act eliminated that right, permanently, for any non-citizen determined to be an enemy combatant, or even 'awaiting' such a determination. That includes the approximately 12 million lawful permanent residents in the United States today, people who work for American firms, raise American kids, and pay American taxes."

Statement Of Sen. Patrick Leahy On S. 4081, Habeas Corpus Restoration Act

Statement Of Sen. Patrick Leahy On S. 4081, Habeas Corpus Restoration Act: "Following up on their earlier efforts to prevent the stripping of fundamental legal protections in the Military Commissions Act, Senators Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) have introduced the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2006.

The bill would restore basic legal and human rights for 12 million lawful permanent residents in the United States that were rolled back as a result of the passage of the Military Commissions Act of 2006. Below is Sen. Leahy’s statement on the introduction of the bill, as well as his co-sponsorship of the Effective Terrorists Prosecution Act of 2006."

Congressional Ratings

Congressional Ratings: "But, now, as the Republican Congress is fading into history, their ratings have sunk a bit lower--just 13% now say they’re doing a good or an excellent job (see crosstabs).

A Rasmussen Reports survey of 1,000 Likely voters found that only 12% of Americans believe that Congress had passed any legislation in the preceding year that will “significantly improve life in America.” That’s down from 17% on Election Day. Showing that American distrust of politicians is alive and well, just 15% believe that most Members of Congress are sincerely interested in helping people. Seventy-two percent (72%) believe that most in Congress are primarily interested in advancing their own careers. Earlier in 2006, a Rasmussen Reports survey found that a plurality of Americans believe used-car salesmen are more trustworthy than Members of Congress."

Iraq Study Group Settles Debate Over 'Negative' War Coverage

Iraq Study Group Settles Debate Over 'Negative' War Coverage: "Iraq Study Group Settles Debate Over 'Negative' War Coverage"

Published: December 06, 2006 7:10 PM ET

NEW YORK: For years now, the debate has raged: Does the press overstate the level of violence in Iraq and ignore the overall positive aspect of the U.S. involvment? The Iraq Study Group report today, in its main claim that the situation in Iraq is now "grave" and "deteriorating" would seem to offer a clue to the answer, but more specific details -- providing a "slam dunk" (if we may use that phrase) on the side of the press -- are found in the Intelligence section of the report near its end, starting on page 93.

There we learn, bluntly, that "there is significant underreporting of the violence in Iraq" by the U.S. military. "The standard for recording attacks acts as a filter to keep events out of reports and databases," the report continues.

Looking at one day, the report found undercounting of violent attacks by more than 1000 percent.

The Blog | Tom Hayden: Troops Out, Oil Companies In: The Baker Agenda? | The Huffington Post

The Blog | Tom Hayden: Troops Out, Oil Companies In: The Baker Agenda? | The Huffington Post:

"Recommendation 63 says the US should 'assist' Iraqi leaders in privatizing the national oil industry into a 'commercial enterprise' to encourage investment by the multi-national oil companies.

Who said it was not about blood for oil?"

Threats Wrapped in Misunderstandings - washingtonpost.com

Threats Wrapped in Misunderstandings - washingtonpost.com: "'It is a report to solve American problems, and not to solve Iraq's problems,' said Ayad al-Sammarai, an influential Sunni Muslim politician.

The report arrives at a time of turmoil within the Iraqi government. Senior politicians from Iraq's two major sects, Sunnis and Shiites, have been assassinated or kidnapped in recent weeks. Entire ministries are under the control of sect-based political parties with their own militias.

Three weeks ago, as many as 150 employees were abducted from the Higher Education Ministry, run by a Sunni, by men in police uniforms who said they were from the Interior Ministry, which is controlled by Shiites. And last week, powerful politicians loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr walked out of the government, and have yet to return."

Cell Phone Beat - Cell Phone Beat-Welcome to the mobile world. Here we keep you updated with the latest cell phones, mobiles, Smart phones, PDAs, emer

Cell Phone Beat - Cell Phone Beat-Welcome to the mobile world. Here we keep you updated with the latest cell phones, mobiles, Smart phones, PDAs, emerging technologies and the latest from cell phone leaders e.g. Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG, Cingular, Verizon...: "What Kaplan suggested in it opinion was that this bug will work whether the phone was switched off or was on as some sets can’t be fully powered down until you remove there batteries. Like for example Nokia handsets alarm function will function whether the phone is off or not.

The counter–surveillance consultant James Atkinson is of the opinion that Nextel, Samsung and Moto Razr are especially venerable to this bug and “They can be remotely accessed and made to transmit room audio all the time but you can do that without having physical access to the phone.”"

Death squads roam Baghdad's hospitals - Sunday Times - Times Online

Death squads roam Baghdad's hospitals - Sunday Times - Times Online: "The Sunday Times - World

The Sunday Times December 03, 2006

Death squads roam Baghdad's hospitals
Hala Jaber, Amman
EVERYONE seems to be desperate for money to cope with the insecurities of life in Baghdad these days, so Dr Salim Jawad was not surprised when a hospital porter took him to one side and asked whether he would be interested in making some cash.

Jawad, a busy surgeon and a Sunni, thought he was going to be urged to smuggle drugs out of the building so that they could be sold on the street. But the brutal proposition from the porter Ali, a Shi’ite from the Sadr City suburb of the capital, was far more shocking.

For every patient the doctor identified from the predominantly Sunni provinces of Diyala and Anbar and from the Adhamiyah district of Baghdad, he was told, he would be paid $300 (£151).

Jawad realised that he was being invited to pass death sentences on patients at the Medical City hospital in return for swift and surreptitious payments.

“You can make a fortune,” Ali told him calmly. “Doctor, if you have those patients in the future just tell me and I will give you $300 just for that information . . . and do not tell anyone about this little talk.”"

Is Iraq a civil war? Scholars say yes. Media debate it. | csmonitor.com

Is Iraq a civil war? Scholars say yes. Media debate it. | csmonitor.com:

"Most scholars who study war view the Iraq situation as a civil war; the only debate is when it became one - in 2004 when the US transferred sovereignty to Iraqis, or early this year when the bombing of a Shiite mosque in Samarra sparked a wave of sectarian violence that continues? Academics cite the standard definition of civil war: groups from the same country fighting for political control, and a death toll of at least 1,000. A majority of Americans view the conflict as a civil war, polls show."

Videotape Offers a Window Into a Terror Suspect’s Isolation - New York Times

Videotape Offers a Window Into a Terror Suspect’s Isolation - New York Times: "Several guards in camouflage and riot gear approached cell No. 103. They unlocked a rectangular panel at the bottom of the door and Mr. Padilla’s bare feet slid through, eerily disembodied. As one guard held down a foot with his black boot, the others shackled Mr. Padilla’s legs. Next, his hands emerged through another hole to be manacled.

Wordlessly, the guards, pushing into the cell, chained Mr. Padilla’s cuffed hands to a metal belt. Briefly, his expressionless eyes met the camera before he lowered his head submissively in expectation of what came next: noise-blocking headphones over his ears and blacked-out goggles over his eyes. Then the guards, whose faces were hidden behind plastic visors, marched their masked, clanking prisoner down the hall to his root canal.

The videotape of that trip to the dentist, which was recently released to Mr. Padilla’s lawyers and viewed by The New York Times, offers the first concrete glimpse inside the secretive military incarceration of an American citizen whose detention without charges became a test case of President Bush’s powers in the fight against terror. Still frames from the videotape were posted in Mr. Padilla’s electronic court file late Friday."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/03/wirq03.xml&site=5&page=0

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/03/wirq03.xml&site=5&page=0: "By Philip Sherwell in New York, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 11:51pm GMT 02/12/2006

The gulf's two military powers, Sunni-Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran, are lining up behind their warring religious brethren in Iraq in a potentially explosive showdown, as expectations grow in both countries that America is preparing a pull-out of its troops.

A pool of blood and a damaged vehicle after a bomb blast in Baghdad

The Saudis are understood to be considering providing Sunni military leaders with funding, logistical support and even arms, as Iran already does for Shia militia in Iraq.

The strategy — outlined in an article last week by Nawaf Obaid, a senior security adviser to the kingdom's government — risks spiralling into a proxy war between Saudi and Iranian-backed factions in the next development in Iraq's vicious sectarian conflict.

Saudi Arabia, America's closest ally in the Arab world, is considering backing anti-US insurgents because it is so alarmed that Sunnis in Iraq will be left to their fate — military and political — at the hands of the Shia majority.

However, a Saudi government spokesman said yesterday that Mr Obaid's view 'does not reflect the kingdom's policy, which uphold the security, unity and stability of Iraq with all its sects.'
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President George Bush sent vice-president Dick Cheney to Riyadh last weekend after the Saudis demanded high-level talks about their concerns. They told him Iran was trying to establish itself as the dominant regional power through its influence in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

Saudi fears were strengthened as it emerged that some senior US intelligence officials are urging the Bush administration to abandon stalled attempts to reach a compromise with Sunni dissidents and adopt a controversial 'pick a winner' strategy instead, giving priority to Shia and Kurd political factions.

The proposal is also known as the '80 per cent solution' since the Sunnis, who ruled the country under Saddam Hussein, comprise just 20 per cent of Iraq's 26 million population. It has been put forward as part of a crash White House review of Iraq strategy. Its backers claim that ambitious attempts to woo anti-US Sunni insurgents have failed, and now risk alienating Shia leaders as well, leaving the US without strong political allies in Iraq."

Funding Continues for Illness Scientists Dismiss - washingtonpost.com

Funding Continues for Illness Scientists Dismiss - washingtonpost.com: "Funding Continues for Illness Scientists Dismiss
Gulf Syndrome Has Believers in Congress

By David Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 3, 2006; Page A01

Fifteen years after the end of the 1991 war with Iraq, a Texas researcher is in line to get as much as $75 million in federal funding to press his studies of 'Gulf War syndrome,' even though most other scientists long ago discounted his theories.

Epidemiologist Robert W. Haley has been trying for 10 years to prove that thousands of Persian Gulf War troops were poisoned by a combination of nerve gas, pesticides, insect repellents and a nerve-gas antidote. With the help of $16 million in past funding obtained by his backers in Congress and the Pentagon, Haley has argued that his 'toxicity hypothesis' is the best explanation for the constellation of physical complaints that many veterans reported after returning from the Gulf."

Rumsfeld Memo on Iraq Proposed ‘Major’ Change - New York Times

Rumsfeld Memo on Iraq Proposed ‘Major’ Change - New York Times: "y MICHAEL R. GORDON and DAVID S. CLOUD
Published: December 3, 2006

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 — Two days before he resigned as defense secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld submitted a classified memo to the White House that acknowledged that the Bush administration’s strategy in Iraq was not working and called for a major course correction.

“In my view it is time for a major adjustment,” wrote Mr. Rumsfeld, who has been a symbol of a dogged stay-the-course policy. “Clearly, what U.S. forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough.”

Nor did Mr. Rumsfeld seem confident that the administration would readily develop an effective alternative. To limit the political fallout from shifting course, he suggested the administration consider a campaign to lower public expectations.

“Announce that whatever new approach the U.S. decides on, the U.S. is doing so on a trial basis,” he wrote. “This will give us the ability to readjust and move to another course, if necessary, and therefore not ‘lose.’ ”"

As Trucking Rules Are Eased, a Debate on Safety Grows - New York Times

As Trucking Rules Are Eased, a Debate on Safety Grows - New York Times: "In the course of pursuing its case, the family broached a larger issue: whether the Bush administration’s decision to reject tighter industry regulation and instead reduce what officials viewed as cumbersome rules permitted a poorly trained trucker to stay behind the wheel, alone, instead of resting after a long day of driving.

After intense lobbying by the politically powerful trucking industry, regulators a year earlier had rejected proposals to tighten drivers’ hours and instead did the opposite, relaxing the rules on how long truckers could be on the road. That allowed the driver who hit Ms. Edwards to work in the cab nearly 12 hours, 8 of them driving nonstop, which he later acknowledged had tired him."

U.S. airstrikes in Iraq kill 8 - Yahoo! News

U.S. airstrikes in Iraq kill 8 - Yahoo! News: "1 hour, 57 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. airstrikes destroyed two foreign fighter safe houses west of Baghdad on Saturday night, killing five insurgents, two women and a child, the U.S. military said on Sunday.
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Residents put the death toll in the village of al-Lihaib near the town of Garma much higher, saying as many as 24 people had been killed and some buildings leveled. The figures could not be independently confirmed."

KOMO-TV - Seattle, Washington - News - Local political operative busted in Internet sting

KOMO-TV - Seattle, Washington - News - Local political operative busted in Internet sting: "By KOMO Staff
Watch the video
SEATTLE - An arrest is sending shockwaves through the halls of local political power.

Larry Corrigan has worked on a number of Republican campaigns, but now he's in jail after he was caught in an Internet sting, accused of trying to solicit sex from young girls.

Corrigan's orange jail uniform he was wearing in court Thursday is a far cry from the business suit he wore at the King County Prosecutor's Office for 25 years.

Until last year, Corrigan was the Director of Operations and Budget. Now he's suspected of attempted child rape and communicating with a minor for sex.

'The suspect was communicating online with someone whom he believed was a 13 year old girl.' said Debra Brown with the Seattle Police Department. 'In fact, that person was a detective from our Internet Crimes Against Children unit.'

Seattle police say Corrigan used the AOL screen name LCOR102 to chat with the fictitious 13-year-old girl. Court documents say he bragged he'd already 'had sex with a 14-year-old girl from Kansas.'

Police say LCOR102 eventually switched to the screen name Palisade199. Detectives say he told the 13 year old he was in his 50's and asked her to meet and perform a very specific sex act.

Police say Corrigan also sent the fictitious girl e-mails that contained pornographic images of the kind of sex he wanted to have.

Court documents say on Wednesday, Corrigan showed up at a Capitol Hill video store to meet the fictitious girl. Instead, police threw him in jail. They also searched his Magnolia home and seized his computer.

News of Corrigan's arrest swept through the corridors of Republican power in King County. Sources describe him as a longtime political operative; a former right hand man to King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng.

Sources say Corrigan also worked on previous sheriff's campaigns for now-Congressman Dave Reichert.

Now, Corrigan finds himself snared in an Internet police sting aimed at online predators.

'We're out there aggressively looking for these guys,' Brown said. 'And unfortunately, this gentleman was caught.'

The judge ruled Thursday evening that Corrigan would be allowed to go home without posting bail."

Afghanistan Opium Crop Sets Record - washingtonpost.com

Afghanistan Opium Crop Sets Record - washingtonpost.com: "By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 2, 2006; Page A01

Opium production in Afghanistan, which provides more than 90 percent of the world's heroin, broke all records in 2006, reaching a historic high despite ongoing U.S.-sponsored eradication efforts, the Bush administration reported yesterday.

In addition to a 26 percent production increase over past year -- for a total of 5,644 metric tons -- the amount of land under cultivation in opium poppies grew by 61 percent. Cultivation in the two main production provinces, Helmand in the southwest and Oruzgan in central Afghanistan, was up by 132 percent."

L.A. Archdiocese to Pay $60 Million to Settle 45 Sex Abuse Cases - washingtonpost.com

L.A. Archdiocese to Pay $60 Million to Settle 45 Sex Abuse Cases - washingtonpost.com: "Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 2, 2006; Page A02

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 1 -- Almost five years after a sex scandal erupted within the Roman Catholic Church, the nation's largest archdiocese announced Friday that it will pay $60 million to settle 45 lawsuits alleging sex abuse by priests.

The deal, which involves incidents alleged to have occurred before 1955 and after 1986, constitutes the largest settlement made by the archdiocese and follows years of legal battles waged under the leadership of Cardinal Roger Mahony. The archdiocese still faces more than 500 lawsuits by other individuals alleging sexual abuse."

Iraqi violence "self-sustaining": U.S. intel chief - Yahoo! News

Iraqi violence "self-sustaining": U.S. intel chief - Yahoo! News: "Fri Dec 1, 9:38 PM ET

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Sectarian violence in
Iraq has become 'self-sustaining,' increasing the challenge of stabilizing the country, the top U.S. intelligence official said on Friday.
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'Violence between the Sunnis and Shia has become self-sustaining and has spread out to a wider range of ... groups and actors,' said John Negroponte, the U.S. national intelligence director.

Negroponte, who previously served as U.S. ambassador to Iraq, said the violence 'presents great challenges toward Iraqi Prime Minister (Nuri) al-Maliki in trying to implement reforms geared to improve life for all Iraqis and to reverse the escalating trend of ethno-sectarian violence.

'Nonetheless, the key to moving Iraq in the direction of a fully functioning, stable democracy must come from Iraqi leaders themselves,' Negroponte said at Harvard University."

Court to decide case on Bush's faith initiative - Yahoo! News

Court to decide case on Bush's faith initiative - Yahoo! News: "Fri Dec 1, 3:39 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide whether a challenge can go forward arguing that
President George W. Bush's faith-based initiative violates the constitutional requirement on church-state separation.
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The justices said they would hear a Bush administration appeal of a ruling that allowed a lawsuit by a Wisconsin group called the Freedom from Religion Foundation and three of its members to proceed.

In January 2001, right after he became president, Bush issued an executive order creating he White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and similar centers in a number of federal agencies.

The White House said the purpose was to help religious and community groups compete for federal funding and to eliminate 'unnecessary legislative, regulatory and other bureaucratic barriers' to their efforts to provide social services.

The lawsuit said administration officials violated the Constitution by organizing national and regional conferences at which faith-based groups were singled out as being especially worthy of federal funding due to their religious orientation.

It said the officials made public appearances and gave speeches throughout the United States intended to promote and advocate funding for religious groups.

The Supreme Court will decide whether the group and its members as taxpayers have the legal right or standing to bring the lawsuit, and thus whether the challenge can go forward or must be dismissed. The justices are not ruling on the constitutionality of the initiative."

House to vote on offshore drilling bill - Yahoo! News

House to vote on offshore drilling bill - Yahoo! News: "Fri Dec 1, 5:04 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives, who will yield to a Democratic majority in January, on Friday agreed to allow a vote on a limited offshore oil and natural gas drilling bill, which would open 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida.

House Majority Leader John Boehner decided to allow the vote on the limited drilling bill passed by the Senate. The move ends months of jockeying by House Republicans who had tried to convince their Senate colleagues to support a bill that would open nearly all U.S. Atlantic and Pacific coastal waters more than 100 miles offshore.

With Congress facing an abbreviated 'lame duck' session before it adjourns later this month, key House Republicans capitulated.

The plan to rescind a 25-year ban on drilling off Florida's coast and redistribute billions of dollars in federal royalties to four nearby Gulf Coast states is set for a vote on Tuesday.

Under the approach chosen by leaders, debate will be limited to 40 minutes and no amendments can be offered, but a two-thirds majority is required for the bill to pass."

Telegraph | News | Shoe Rapist kept store of stilettos as trophies

Telegraph | News | Shoe Rapist kept store of stilettos as trophies: "(Filed: 18/07/2006)

A company manager and 'pillar of the community' has been exposed after 20 years as a serial sex attacker known as the Shoe Rapist."

Iraq Panel to Urge Pullout Of Combat Troops by '08 - washingtonpost.com

Iraq Panel to Urge Pullout Of Combat Troops by '08 - washingtonpost.com: "Friday, December 1, 2006; Page A01

The bipartisan Iraq Study Group plans to recommend withdrawing nearly all U.S. combat units from Iraq by early 2008 while leaving behind troops to train, advise and support the Iraqis, setting the first goal for a major drawdown of U.S. forces, sources familiar with the proposal said yesterday."

Anti-Iraq war Rep. to head House intelligence panel - Yahoo! News

Anti-Iraq war Rep. to head House intelligence panel - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Iraq war opponent Silvestre Reyes will become chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee when Democrats take control of Congress in January, Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi said on Friday.
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In choosing Reyes, a former border patrol agent and Vietnam War veteran, Pelosi skipped over two more senior Democrats to head the committee.

The top-ranking Democrat on the panel, California Rep. Jane Harman (news, bio, voting record), has had strained relations with Pelosi, and the next in line, Rep. Alcee Hastings (news, bio, voting record) of Florida, is a former federal judge who was ousted from that post after allegations of corruption.

Pelosi said of Reyes: 'When tough questions are required, whether they relate to intelligence shortcomings before the 9/11 attacks or the war in Iraq, or to the quality of intelligence on
Iran or
North Korea, he does not hesitate to ask them.'

Reyes, a five-term congressman who won reelection in November, is expected to seek more information about the Bush administration's classified programs since the September 11 attacks to gather data on enemies inside and outside America.

The committee has oversight of U.S. intelligence agencies, including the
CIA,
FBI, National Security Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency."

Security Of Electronic Voting Is Condemned - washingtonpost.com

Security Of Electronic Voting Is Condemned - washingtonpost.com: "Paper Systems Should Be Included, Agency Says

By Cameron W. Barr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 1, 2006; Page A01

Paperless electronic voting machines used throughout the Washington region and much of the country 'cannot be made secure,' according to draft recommendations issued this week by a federal agency that advises the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

The assessment by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, one of the government's premier research centers, is the most sweeping condemnation of such voting systems by a federal agency."