Other Political News

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Lieberman May Run as Independent


Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), the Democratic Party's 2000 vice presidential nominee and a leading voice of its centrist wing, announced yesterday that he will run as an independent in the November general election if he loses a primary battle next month to an increasingly popular antiwar candidate.

Lieberman, who not long ago appeared to be coasting to easy reelection with strong bipartisan support, now faces a potentially career-ending challenge from Greenwich millionaire Ned Lamont. The challenger has climbed in recent polls by tapping support from Connecticut liberals and others who recoil at Lieberman's strong support for the Iraq war.

A Quinnipiac University survey conducted in early June showed Lamont gaining ground against Lieberman. Among all Democrats, Lieberman led Lamont 57 percent to 32 percent, compared with 65 percent to 19 percent in a Quinnipiac poll taken a month earlier.

The margin was slimmer among likely Democratic primary voters, including undecided voters who are leaning toward a candidate, with Lamont trailing the incumbent 55 percent to 40 percent, the June poll found.

As his lead narrows, Lieberman has weighed an alternative option: collecting 7,500 voter signatures to secure a place on the November ballot as an independent. But the due date for that option is Aug. 9, one day after the primary -- meaning that Lieberman must begin collecting signatures well before he knows the outcome against Lamont.

Lieberman said that his bid had no bearing on his party affiliation and that he would present himself as a "petitioning Democrat" rather than an independent, although that is how he would be listed on the ballot.

"I have been a proud, loyal and progressive Democrat since John F. Kennedy inspired my generation of Americans into public service," Lieberman said yesterday on the steps of the state Capitol in Hartford. "And I will stay a Democrat."

Although Lieberman said he remains confident that he will beat Lamont, two wild cards make him and his supporters exceedingly nervous.

One is that the primary will take place in early August, when many voters may be on vacation. A low turnout could draw a disproportionate share of highly motivated Lamont supporters. Lieberman predicted that turnout could be as low as 25 percent.

The other factor is Lamont's wealth, amassed from a cable-television business he founded. "What if my opponent, who says he is worth somewhere between $90 [million] and $300 million, decides to write bigger and bigger checks in the last weeks of the campaign?" asked Lieberman, addressing his supporters.

Democratic leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.), spoke to Lieberman yesterday morning and said they will continue to back him in the August contest.

"Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer and the DSCC are supporting Joe Lieberman in the primary," said Phil Singer, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and its chairman, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.). "We aren't going to speculate about what happens next because that would undermine our candidate."

But senior Democratic sources acknowledged that Lieberman had placed his party in a difficult position by potentially throwing into chaos a Senate race that Democrats had long assumed they would easily win.

Last month's Quinnipiac poll found that Lieberman would have the clear advantage in November. He would easily defeat Republican Alan Schlesinger, 68 percent to 14 percent, while Lamont would lead Schlesinger 37 percent to 20 percent, with 34 percent undecided. Running as an independent, Lieberman would win 56 percent of support, compared with 18 percent for Lamont and 8 percent for Schlesinger.

Lamont, who will debate Lieberman on Thursday night in Hartford, said his opponent's move shows a lack of respect for Democratic voters.

"We are confident that the voters in November will find in our campaign a positive voice for the change in Washington that we all deserve," Lamont said in a statement.

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Republicans fight back on Guantanamo

SENIOR congressional Republicans have vowed to quickly draw up legislation giving the Bush Administration the power to set up military tribunals to try detainees at Guantanamo, including David Hicks.

Last week's Supreme Court judgement ruled that the military commissions set up after the September 11 attacks contravened US and international law, but key Republicans in Congress have made it clear they intend to come up with a military tribunal system offering prisoners a watered-down version of a court martial.

John McCain, who successfully introduced legislation in Congress to ban torture and inhumane treatment of detainees, said the tribunals should be based on the US Code of Military Justice, the basis of the US court martial system. "But they shouldn't be exactly the same as that which applies to a member of the US military," he said.

"The US Code of Military Justice is a good framework and we should work from there.

"Using the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court, we can make sure that bad guys - and there are bad guys - are not released and those who deserve to be released will be."

Other Republicans echoed Senator McCain's response to the Supreme Court ruling, which was viewed as a serious setback for the Administration's strategy for fighting the "war on terrorism".

Senator Lindsay Graham, a former US Navy senior prosecutor, said he hoped Congress would pass a law allowing the Administration to proceed with tribunals for 14 Guantanamo detainees, including Hicks, who have been charged with offences, by the end of September.

"I intend to sit down with the Administration and come up with a process that holds terrorists accountable, to give them a fair trial, but to make sure that if they do the things we're alleging, they're fairly punished," he said.

Most observers do not believe that legislation will be ready for Congress to consider, let alone pass, by September, and congressional Democrats are unlikely to pass any legislation without vigorous debate.

Some Democrats are calling for a wide-ranging review of the Bush Administration's anti-terrorist activities, including the controversial warrantless wire-tapping program by the National Security Agency.

Major Michael Mori, Hicks's lawyer, has said nothing less than a regular court martial or a Federal Court trial would be acceptable for his client.

"We have said all along that we would accept a regular court martial," he said.

Even if Congress can agree on legislation to set up military tribunals, these tribunals would almost inevitably be challenged in the courts by defence lawyers for prisoners.

"You have to ask just why they have been so keen to avoid normal court martial proceedings for detainees like David," Major Mori said. "Is it because a court martial would not guarantee a conviction?"

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White House tells rabbis U.S. won't pressure Israel
Assures Jewish leaders any unilateral withdrawal is PM Olmert's idea


JERUSALEM – The Bush administration will not pressure Israel into making unilateral concessions to the Palestinians, top White House officials told representatives of the Chabad Lubavitch Jewish outreach movement during a meeting in Washington.

Chabad last week culminated a two-day commemoration of the 12th anniversary of the death of its leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, with an event attended by Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff and White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten.

Participants in the meeting said Bolten assured the Chabad group Bush would not strong-hand Israel into ceding territory unless it was within the framework of a negotiated settlement that involved important incentives for Israel.

Bolten reportedly said Bush would follow Olmert's lead in deciding which Israeli concessions to support.

Some analysts here have contended U.S. pressure has been crucial in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's decision to vacate Judea and Samaria, mountainous terrain within rocket-firing range of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the country's international airport.

But U.S. officials told WND the withdrawal was an Israeli initiative and that Olmert has been petitioning Bush for support.

"It is Olmert that is pressuring us to go along with his withdrawal plan," said a Bush administration official who was part of a U.S. delegation in May that received Olmert during the Israeli leader's visit to Washington.

During his Washington visit, Olmert formally presented his Judea and Samaria withdrawal to Bush. The American leader expressed some reservations and refrained during a joint press conference from issuing an endorsement.

While giving Olmert credit for proposing "bold ideas" that "could be an important step" toward peace, Bush stressed the U.S.-led "Road Map" which offers a Palestinian state, and urged talks with Abbas. He stated a negotiated agreement "best serves Israelis and Palestinians and the cause of peace."

A member of the Israeli delegation at the White House meeting described the U.S. attitude toward the Judea and Samaria withdrawal as "lukewarm," explaining the White House raised a number of concerns, including the possibility a terrorist entity would be created in the areas evacuated, reservations expressed about the plan by Jordan and Egypt and the effects of the plan on U.S. regional interests.

Political sources close to Olmert's office told WND the Israeli prime minister has been pressed to convince the Bush administration he has the political clout necessary to carry out his Judea and Samaria withdrawal.

"The Bush administration does not have faith that Olmert has the parliamentary coalition needed to sustain the firestorm of political activity that is sure to surround the implementation of the withdrawal," said a political source. "They do not see him as the strongman Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was to them."

Olmert leads a slim governing coalition of 67 out of 120 Knesset seats. Typically, Israeli governments composed of ongoing coalitions with fewer than 70 seats are unstable and short-lived.

Olmert's government relies heavily on 12 seats from the Ultra-Orthodox Shas party, which traditionally opposes land concessions and which some analysts have predicted may bolt the government as the Judea and Samaria withdrawal plan gets closer to implementation. According to yesterday's Haaretz poll, 83 percent of Shas voters oppose the evacuation.

If Shas bolts, Olmert may then be forced to bring Arab parties into his government or form a coalition with the Knesset's right-wing bloc, which would likely only enter the government on condition a Judea and Samaria withdrawal is either cancelled or postponed.

Polls here have shown dwindling support for Olmert's government and withdrawal plan.

One survey, commissioned two weeks ago by a local company and supervised by American strategist Arthur Finkelstein, revealed 70 percent of the general Israeli population oppose a Judea and Samaria withdrawal. Some 65 to 70 percent of those who backed last summer's Gaza evacuation now object to Olmert's Judea and Samaria pullout plan.

Another poll commissioned a week earlier by the Haaretz newspaper found only 35 percent of the Israeli public is pleased with Olmert's performance as prime minister. Israeli leaders typically enjoy wide public support in the early stages of their terms.

Ten months ago, Israel evacuated the entire Gaza Strip. Since then, rockets have been fired regularly into nearby Jewish communities, Hamas has been elected to power and both Israeli and Palestinian officials have stated al-Qaida has infiltrated the territory. Israel last week sent ground troops back into Gaza. Also, Egypt recently announced the terrorists who carried out April's deadly triple-bomb blasts in the Sinai resort town of Dahab trained for the operation in the Gaza Strip with local Palestinians.

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Central American trade pact hits snags

The Central American Free Trade Agreement isn't working out as planned.
    "It's caused a lot of apparel importers a lot of pain," said Jason Copland, president of Copland Industries, a Burlington, N.C., manufacturer. Copland exports material to Central America, where companies sew it into clothes that are bound for U.S. stores.
    CAFTA was supposed to boost U.S. trade with six Latin American nations. Instead, the one-at-a-time addition of countries has complicated and disrupted commerce, with an especially sharp effect on the textile and apparel industries.
    Congress approved CAFTA less than a year ago after a bruising political battle. The agreement was set to take effect Jan. 1, but U.S. trade officials said the Latin American nations had not sufficiently changed their laws to meet terms of the deal. Some countries still have not.
    The U.S. enacted CAFTA with El Salvador March 1 and with Honduras and Nicaragua a month later. Guatemala joined Saturday. The four countries are fully participating in the agreement.
    The Dominican Republic likely will accede later this year. Costa Rica's legislature has not approved the accord and may not join until December or later.
    El Salvador's reward for being first was a sharp decline in exports to the United States, from $187 million in March 2005 to $88 million this March, U.S. International Trade Commission data show.
    Much of that drop occurred in the textile and apparel industry.
    Before CAFTA, El Salvador had easy access to the U.S. market under a trade program for Caribbean basin countries. The country was allowed to use thread and other components from 22 countries in the region and export finished products with duties averaging 4 percent to 6 percent.
    Once the country joined CAFTA, it gained access for more products, but could use components only from the United States or other CAFTA countries. The problem was, no other countries were part of CAFTA. Because El Salvador was using materials from countries that had not implemented CAFTA, duties temporarily jumped to an average of 14 percent.
    "Goods not subject to duty before [CAFTA] are subject to duty now. It's a disaster," said Mr. Copland, who last year opposed the deal because of provisions that allow Chinese fabric to be incorporated into Central American-sewn clothes.
    Trade with other CAFTA countries also has been disrupted. U.S. apparel imports from the six-nation region are down almost 18 percent by volume from January through April, compared with the same period last year.
    It is an especially troubling development for the hemisphere's textile and apparel industry, which has been losing ground to imports from Asia, especially China.
    CAFTA is supposed to set up the region as a competitive bulwark against Asian companies, with fabric and yarn from high-tech U.S. factories sewn into garments by Central America's low-cost labor.
    So far, it is not working that way.
    "Absolute imports [from CAFTA countries] are dropping. Market share continues to tank. [U.S.] yarn exports are flattening and fabric exports to the region are way down. None of these are good trends," said Stephen Lamar, senior vice president at the American Apparel and Footwear Association, a Washington trade group.
    Still, Mr. Lamar said, it is too soon to write off the trade accord.
    "There's clearly hope that it is going to get squared away. The challenge will be to make sure there isn't a loss of confidence in the region and the program," he said.
    Countries that signed on to the agreement have not lost enthusiasm. El Salvador credits CAFTA for salvaging its apparel industry from Chinese competition and for boosting foreign investment.
    "So far, the implementation of CAFTA has been a huge benefit for the Salvadoran economy," said Rene Leon, the country's ambassador to the United States.
    The Bush administration says the problems are temporary glitches.
    "We will see an expansion of trade," said a U.S. trade official who asked not to be named. "We have this startup cost, but as more countries come on board, the situation will get better."
    The initial setbacks have not stopped major investments in Central America, and some companies remain optimistic the deal will help the United States and Central America compete against Asia.
    Cone Denim, for example, earlier this year announced a $90 million investment in Nicaragua to build a denim-manufacturing plant. The facility will employ about 750 people and support as many as 20,000 additional jobs at sewing operations, said John Bakane, president and chief executive of Cone Denim, which is part of the International Textile Group conglomerate.
    "We still think there is a very important place in the U.S. supply chain for Central America," Mr. Bakane said from the company's Greensboro, N.C., offices.
    The countries provide cheap labor (Nicaragua has lower wages than China), have stable currencies and are close enough to the United States to respond quickly to fashion trends, he said.
    "The one thing that the Central American countries need to do to capitalize on this opportunity is to work as a seamless region," Mr. Bakane said. "That hasn't happened yet."

[Soldier4Christ]

 Candidate: Millions of ballots missing in Mexico

Mexico faces the possibility of weeks of political uncertainty after the leftist presidential candidate -- trailing his conservative rival by a percentage point -- called for a vote-by-vote recount to find what he believes are millions of missing votes.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who promised to govern for Mexico's poor, trailed business friendly rival Felipe Calderon by more than 400,000 votes in a preliminary count -- although electoral officials say they'll declare no winner until after a time-consuming official count that begins Wednesday.

Financial markets have rallied as preliminary results showed the fiscally conservative former energy secretary in the lead, and Calderon said Tuesday that "the people are right, the markets are right" in assuming he has won.

Mexico must now focus on the future, he said in an interview with Radio Formula. "The problems are big, but Mexico is bigger than its problems," he said.

There were some fears that Lopez Obrador's refusal to accept Calderon's apparent victory could throw the country into turmoil. Allegations of irregularities threaten to drag out the process for weeks, if not months, putting Mexico's young democracy to the test. (Watch why two candidates think they're winners -- 2:13)

"There are about 3 million votes missing," Lopez Obrador told reporters at his campaign headquarters Monday night.

The former Mexico City mayor explained that officials had estimated a voter turnout of about 41 million or 42 million, yet preliminary vote tallies by Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute only showed about 38 million ballots cast.

As a result, the institute's first count is something that "we cannot accept," he said.

Jesus Ortega, Lopez Obrador's campaign manager, added that "in some cases, we are going to demand the opening of ballot packages and vote-by-vote recounts."

Members of Lopez Obrador's Democratic Revolution Party said there were indications that the preliminary count may have been manipulated to favor Calderon's National Action Party, the party of President Vicente Fox. The Federal Electoral Institute did not respond to the allegation.

The official vote count starting Wednesday could take days. Even if a winner is declared, those results can be challenged in court.

After Sunday night's rapid vote-sampling, both candidates immediately declared victory. Representatives of Roberto Madrazo, of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, conceded the race Monday night.

Lopez Obrador continued to claim victory, saying, "we have a commitment to the citizens to defend the will of millions of Mexicans."

"We are going to employ whatever legal means," he told supporters.

He claimed there were "many irregularities" in the election, including badly reported results and the double counting of votes. He also asked how it was possible that his party won 155 of 300 electoral districts without winning the presidency.

In an interview Tuesday with the Televisa network, Luis Carlos Ugalde, president of the autonomous Federal Electoral Institute, said oficials would review irregularities during the official count.

With 98.45 percent of polling stations reporting, Calderon had 36.38 percent and Lopez Obrador had 35.34 percent.

Madrazo was a distant third with 21.57 percent, and minor candidates and write-ins accounted for the rest.

[Soldier4Christ]

Mexican leftist won't concede 
Despite apparent 370,000-vote margin by ruling-party presidential candidate

Mexico's Calderon Says Lead Insurmountable

Ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon declared Monday that his 370,000-vote lead in Mexico's closest-ever presidential race lead was insurmountable. But his leftist rival refused to concede and electoral officials said they would not declare a winner for days.

Leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador huddled in his apartment with close advisers, trying to determine how to challenge results that increasingly indicated a loss. He insisted in a television appearance that he had won, and did not rule out street protests.

CountryWatch: Mexico

Mexico's stock market, currency and bonds rallied sharply on news of Calderon's lead.

The preliminary tally, with results from 97.38 percent of polling places, gave Calderon 36.37 percent of the vote and Lopez Obrador 35.4 percent.

But the Federal Electoral Institute stressed those results were not final — and said it would not declare a victor until an official count of the tallies from tens of thousands of ballot boxes, which it would not start until Wednesday.

Both candidates' declarations of victory raised questions about their pledges to respect an electoral process in which Mexicans invested hundreds of millions of dollars to overcome decades of systematic fraud.

"We have no doubt that we have won the presidential election," Calderon told supporters.

Monday morning, Lopez Obrador raised questions about the tally and said his party's polls showed him winning by 500,000 votes. In an appearance on the Televisa network, he did not rule out calling protests, but said he wanted to gather the facts first.

"Have patience," he told backers. "We are going to be keeping our supporters informed. We are always going to act responsibly. If we lose the elections I will recognize that. But if we won the vote, I'm going to defend my triumph."

Early Monday, Lopez Obrador's Web site showed an animated cartoon version of him climbing on an Olympic-style winner's podium and donning the red, white and green presidential sash. Calderon's Web site showed a photo of him in front of a large, applauding crowd, overlaid with a headline reading "Felipe Calderon, President of Mexico."

Tensions already were running high after a two-year campaign marked by vicious personal attacks. Calderon painted Lopez Obrador as a radical leftist who would ruin the economy, while Lopez Obrador called Calderon a liar who doled out million-dollar favors to a brother-in-law while serving as energy secretary.

The campaign exposed Mexico's deep class divisions, with Lopez Obrador, of the Democratic Revolution Party, pledging to govern for the poor and Calderon, of the ruling National Action Party, seen by many as the candidate of the rich.

Many feared the close result could cause the tensions to explode.

For decades, elections were rigged to ensure the ruling party's victory — fraud that allegedly included the 1988 presidential count in which a computer crash was blamed for a stunning turnaround that ensured another six years in power for the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

Many members of Democratic Revolution regret not fighting harder to challenge the loss of leftist Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, who went on to found their party.

"This is no longer the era of fraud, because the people will not accept it. It is no longer '88," Lopez Obrador said Sunday night.

In part because of outrage over the 1988 elections, PRI was defeated in 2000 after 71 years in power, and sank to a distant third Sunday.

President Vicente Fox, who finishes his single six-year term in December, appealed for patience and calm, saying: "It is the responsibility of all of the political actors to follow the law and respect the time the institute needs to announce the election results."

U.S. Ambassador Antonio Garza, who served as an election observer in a poor Mexico City neighborhood Sunday, said he was "convinced Mexicans will wait patiently and prudently as the Federal Electoral Institute reviews today's voting records."

Some voters said they had no problem waiting because they were convinced the official results would confirm their candidates' victory.

"Now we just have to wait for them to officially confirm Felipe's victory," said Marcela Chavez, 25, a Calderon supporter. "The tendency is clear and he is going to win."

In other races, National Action did well in three governor contests — Morelos, Guanajuato and Jalisco — while Marcelo Ebrard of Democratic Revolution easily won the Mexico City mayor's post, exit polls indicated.

National Action appeared to win the most seats in both houses of Congress — but was far from a majority in either. PRI fell into third place in Congress for the first time.

The estimated 11 million Mexicans living in the United States were allowed to vote from abroad for the first time, but the more than 32,000 ballots they cast weren't likely to make much of a difference.

"The main thing is, the door has been opened," said Jesus Hernandez, who sent in his ballot from California. "Later, we can reconstruct the procedures to make it easier in the future."

[Soldier4Christ]

CIA closes unit assigned to hunt bin Laden

 The CIA has reportedly closed a unit tasked with capturing Osama bin Laden and his top deputies.

Members of the unit, formed in 1996, have been reassigned to other duties, although hunting top Al-Qaeda leaders remains a priority, officials close to US intelligence agencies told the New York Times.

"There are still people who wake up every day with the job of trying to find bin Laden," one official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was quoted as saying.

The decision was taken because US officials believe Al-Qaeda is no longer as "hierarchical" as it once was, and amid growing threats from Al-Qaeda-inspired groups acting independent of bin Laden and his number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Times said.

"It reflects a belief that the agency can better deal with high-level threats by focusing on regional trends rather than on specific organizations or individuals," the daily wrote.

Bin Laden claimed responsibility for ordering the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States that killed close to 3,000 people.

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US$100 million transferred to Abbas


The Arab League and Saudi Arabia have transferred some US$ 100 million (euro 78 million) to the Palestinians, the first funding since international aid was cut off after Hamas militant won legislative elections, a top Palestinian official and the Arab League said Tuesday.

Nabil Shaath, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the Arab aid money bypassed the Hamas government and was transferred directly to Abbas on Monday.

The Palestinian president will control how the funds are spent, he said.

The EU, the US and other donors froze hundreds of millions of dollars (euros) in direct aid to the Palestinian government after Hamas won elections in January, demanding that the group recognize Israel and cease all support of terrorism.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa in Cairo, Shaath said the Arab League had transferred half of the US $100 million (euro 78 million), while Saudi Arabia directly transferred the other half.

"This is a glimpse of hope ... and a step toward squeezing-out of the siege," said Shaath.
Moussa said the Hamas-led government had had knowledge of the transfer. "The transfer was in complete coordination with the Palestinian government," he said.

Since March, Arab states have collected more than US $100 in aid for the Palestinians, but the money could not be transferred because international banks refused to allow the Arab League to transfer funds electronically to Palestinian territories, fearing sanctions from the US, which labels Hamas a terror group.

Shaath and Moussa did not specify how the funds were transferred to the Palestinian Authority on Monday, or where the money had come from.

The Hamas government, nearly bankrupted by the international sanctions, has resorted to bringing cash in suitcases to help keep it afloat.

Twice last month, globe-trotting Palestinian cabinet ministers returned to the impoverished Gaza Strip at the border crossing with Egypt with millions of dollars stuffed in their luggage.

The ministers did not specify who had donated the cash.

"Money can be transferred if it is going to the President and if it is under his supervision," his deputy Mohammed Sobeih told The Associated Press.

Shaath did not specify on Tuesday how Abbas will disburse the money received from the Arab League and Saudi Arabia.

[Soldier4Christ]

NORAD Placed on Heightened Alert


The Air Force station that is home to the North American Aerospace Defense Command was put on heightened security in the past two weeks, a spokesman said.

The current "Bravo-Plus" status is slightly higher than a medium threat level, said Michael Kucharek, a spokesman for NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command, which is also at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station.

The heightened status affects the level of security at Cheyenne Mountain and doesn't change operations at NORAD or the command, Kucharek said.

NORAD, a joint U.S.-Canadian military command, monitors the skies for threats such as missiles, aircraft and space objects. The Northern Command, founded after the Sept. 11 attacks, is responsible for defending U.S. territory.

Kucharek declined to say whether rumors of a possible missile launch in North Korea prompted the alert level to be raised.

On Tuesday, U.S. officials said that North Korea launched a long-range missile that may be capable of reaching the United States, but that the missile failed after 35 or 40 seconds.

"We continue to monitor the situation (in North Korea) and are looking for and will defeat any threat to the United States and its territory," Kucharek said.

[Soldier4Christ]

N.J. Assembly Dems Moving Forward With Budget Plan
Extending Casino Taxes To Take Place Of Sales Tax Hike

TRENTON With Atlantic City's casinos closed and New Jersey's government shutdown lingering without sign of compromise, Assembly Democrats opposed to Gov. Jon S. Corzine's sales tax increase planned to introduce their own budget.

Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Lou Greenwald said the committee would meet Wednesday evening to introduce a budget that proposes neither a sales tax nor an income tax increase, but would extend casino taxes that were to expire and apply the sales tax to more services.

Corzine has rejected such ideas in recent weeks, but Greenwald said the governor must work with Assembly legislators opposed to increasing the state's sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent. Greenwald said the new taxes they propose are less burdensome than the sales tax increase that experts estimate would cost the average state family $275 per year.

"It doesn't affect the average taxpayer," said Greenwald, D-Camden.

But with at least 15 Assembly Democrats supporting Corzine's plan, it was uncertain if the new proposal could pass. The Democrats control the Assembly 49-31; Republicans oppose any tax increase.

"We'll find out," Greenwald said of the proposal's fate.

The governor's office didn't immediately respond, but Corzine on Wednesday morning in his second speech in as many days to the full Legislature pleaded with lawmakers to present him with a budget plan. The state had a constitutional deadline to adopt a new budget by midnight Friday, and on Saturday Corzine signed an order to begin shutting down government services.

"I cannot sign, veto or amend a budget that has not come to my desk," Corzine said.

Corzine has said the sales tax increase is necessary to close a $4.5 billion budget gap and to provide reliable revenue to help solve future budget woes.

"This debate is about whether we will have a budget with predictable, reliable and recurring revenue streams," Corzine said. "Or, if we will have a budget with a patchwork quilt of unknown, untested and unvetted ideas that we hope will once again, simply get us to the finish line."

Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr., D-Camden, said the new proposal meets the governor's requirements.

"We're following the governor's mandate, which is that revenues need to be responsible and recurring," Roberts said.

Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex, expressed skepticism about the Assembly ideas and said he wouldn't post any budget bills until an agreement is reached.

"No action until such time as a compromise," said Codey, who added Corzine would veto a budget with the Assembly Democrats' ideas.

The Assembly Democrats' move came after Atlantic City gambling halted Wednesday morning. It was the first mass closing in the 28-year history of Atlantic City's casinos, with all 12 ordered closed because the state cannot pay gaming inspectors.

Greenwald pinned the blame on Corzine for failing to give up his sales tax plan.

"The reality is the governor shut the casinos," Greenwald said. "It wasn't necessary."

The shutdown could cost the 12 casinos more than $16 million per day and the state some $1.3 million in taxes it takes in daily.

Since the first casino opened in 1978, the gambling business has blossomed into a $5 billion-a-year juggernaut employing 46,000 people. The closures forced an estimated 20,000 people off their jobs as dealers, pit bosses and cocktail servers.

"No one wants to see people lose their jobs. We hope this gets resolved as quickly as possible," said Linda Kassekert, chairwoman of the state Casino Control Commission.

"I never thought this would happen," said Ruth Dodies, 77, of Philadelphia, standing at a closed entrance to Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. "It doesn't make sense."

In the lobby, gambler Ray Capozucca, 67, of Pittston, Pa., stood beside his packed bags. He had been playing video poker on a slot machine at 7:30 a.m. when a slot attendant told him to leave.

"As a dealer, you rely on tips. So it's money out of our pockets," said Lloyd Hopkins, 41, a dealer at Caesars Atlantic City Hotel Casino.

Without a spending plan, Corzine ordered state offices shut down Saturday and all nonessential state government operations closed. He furloughed more than half the state's employees. Only about 36,000 people in vital roles such as child welfare, state police and mental hospitals remained on the job.

Horse racing tracks did not open for business Wednesday and state parks and beaches also were closed.

In Jersey City, Felix Morales showed up at the gate of Liberty State Park with his family to do some fishing, but was turned away.

"Why should the citizens pay for something that the government should have fixed before it got to this point?" he said. "It should never have gone this far."

The multimillionaire Corzine, meanwhile, is considering self-financing an ad campaign about the shutdown so he could speak directly to voters.

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Miami judge denies bond for 6 accused of terror plot


MIAMI - A federal judge Wednesday denied bond to six men accused of plotting to blow up the Sears Tower and conspiring to help al-Qaida blow up several federal buildings.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Ted Bandstra ruled that the men posed too great a risk to the community to be released.

"The charges against each of the defendants are serious charges and constitute counts of violence," Bandstra stated, adding that it was "not relevant that the plans appear to be beyond the abilities of the defendants."

A seventh man, Lyglenson Lemorin, 31, was charged in the case in Atlanta. He was also being held without bond and was scheduled to be moved to Miami.

The six men, who have pleaded not guilty, were arrested June 22 in Miami's Liberty City neighborhood as part of an undercover FBI sting operation. They are accused of seeking to support what they thought was an al-Qaida operative's effort to bomb FBI buildings in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Washington.

Bandstra said he did not make his decision based on the defendants' risk of flight, given their strong family ties and their lawyers' assertions that a number their relatives would be willing to post their own property as bond.

Many of the six accused men's relatives also attended the hearing, one clasping her hands in prayer, another man offering a brief "thumbs up" sign.

Attorneys for the defendants argued in vain that the government's case was overblown and that their clients should be released pending trial.

"The case is essentially something the government set up to knock down, " said John Wylie, an attorney for the group's alleged ringleader, Narseal Batiste. Wylie and the other attorneys suggested that the informants continually sought out Batiste to bait him and his group into offering to help conduct surveillance of the federal buildings. They also questioned how many conversations occurred between Batiste and the informants before the authorities were alerted and the FBI began monitoring their communication.

In a written request to have Batiste released until trial, Wylie said that he was unable to find any other cases where the government had provided a meeting place, materials and "a sham Al-Quaeda representative (a cooperating witness) to create the basis for charges of terrorist conspiracy."

Nathan Clark, an attorney for defendant Rotschild Augustin, 33, said after the hearing that he was not surprised by the judges decision given the charges.

"We didn't put on any witnesses or testimony because we have yet to investigate the case," he said. "But the government's case is not as strong as it appears."

According to the prosecution, Batiste, 32, allegedly approached an acquaintance and asked the man to put him in touch with someone in the Middle East who might be able to fund their plan.

The acquaintance alerted the FBI, which helped put Batiste in touch with a man pretending to be an al-Qaida contact who had them swear an oath of allegiance to the terrorist group. But the men never had explosives or contact with the terrorist network, according to officials.

The other defendants in the case include Stanley Grant Phanor, 31, Patrick Abraham, 26, Naudimar Herrera, 22, and Burson Augustin, 21.

Each of the men face four counts including two counts of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and one count each of conspiracy to destroy buildings by explosives and sedition against the U.S. government. The counts carry maximum sentences of between 15 and 20 years.

Several relatives of the men have denied that they were violent. They described the defendants as deeply religious people who studied the Bible and Islam.

[Soldier4Christ]

Bush Says Enemy Vulnerable in Iraq

President Bush spent part of his Independence Day holiday delivering a speech to U.S. troops at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.  He thanked them for their courage, and said terrorists around the world are vulnerable after the death of the al-Qaida leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

President Bush spoke to U.S. troops at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, home of the 82nd Airborne Division.  He thanked American troops stationed around the world for their valor and patriotism.  Mr. Bush cited the recent killing of al-Qaida leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

He told the troops terrorists have suffered some major blows and are vulnerable.

"You're winning this war.  Your enemies understand that, too.  We get all kinds of evidence when we raid these safe houses about their concerns.  They bemoan the fact that we are keeping the pressure on them.  They see the successes we are having in training.  They know we are damaging their cause.  This moment, when the terrorists are suffering from the weight of successive blows, is not the time to call retreat.  We will stay, we will fight, and we will prevail."

President Bush again strongly rejected what he calls an "artificial timetable" to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq.   Some Democratic Party lawmakers have called on him to set a timeframe for leaving and letting Iraqis take over the security of their country. The president said setting a timetable now would undermine the new Iraqi government and the morale of U.S. troops.

"I'm going to make you this promise.  I am not going to allow the sacrifice of 2,527 troops who have died in Iraq to be in vain by pulling out before the job is done. "

President Bush had lunch with the troops at Fort Bragg, and they brought out a birthday cake. The president turns 60 Thursday.

[Soldier4Christ]

Army charges officer who refused to deploy to Iraq

The Army filed three charges today, including conduct unbecoming an officer, against a lieutenant who refused to deploy to Iraq last month because he believes the war there is illegal.

Military lawyers calculated that 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, 28, could face nearly eight years in prison and a dishonorable discharge if convicted, said his attorney, Eric Seitz of Honolulu. The other charges are missing movement and contempt toward officials.

"The Army has made a very serious mistake by charging him with the content of the statements he has made, which are not only true with regard to the manner with which the war was initiated and conducted, but are not disrespectful or contemptuous as alleged," Seitz said. "He was fully entitled to make those statements in the manner in which he did."

Watada, a member of the Army's first Stryker Brigade Combat Team, refused to go to Iraq after researching the war and determining it to be illegal. He said he would be willing to serve in Afghanistan or elsewhere. The Army refused to allow him to resign his commission because his unit is covered by a stop-loss policy and he has not fulfilled his service obligation, which ends in December.

Watada's stance prompted rallies of support near Fort Lewis, in Seattle and in Honolulu, his hometown, as well as some counter-demonstrations. Watada's commanders barred him from attending a news conference by his supporters last month, but they played a video in which he said the "war in Iraq is not only morally wrong but a horrible breach of American law."

"Although I have tried to resign out of protest, I will be forced to participate in a war that is manifestly illegal," Watada said. "As the order to take part in an illegal act is ultimately unlawful as well, I must as an officer of honor and integrity refuse that order."

Army officials warned then that the public announcement of his intent to disobey orders could lead to sanctions.

"Officers are held to a high moral and legal standard," the Army said in a news release announcing the charges. "Acts contrary to this standard may be tried by court-martial."

Watada did not apply for status as a conscientious objector because he isn't opposed to war in principle, just the war in Iraq. Army regulations define conscientious objection as a "firm, fixed and sincere objection to participation in war in any form or the bearing of arms, because of religious training and belief."

Watada will face a preliminary military hearing on the charges to determine whether he will be court-martialed.

[Soldier4Christ]

US eyes next step after court ruling on Guantanamo
Core group of 100 a hurdle to closure


WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court decision striking down military tribunals for detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has renewed calls for the government to close the facility that has held terrorism suspects for four years. The problem facing US officials is how to shut it and what to do with the 450 men still there.

Of particular concern to the Bush administration are about 100 prisoners it considers too dangerous to ever release.

Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, said yesterday that the court's ruling may be the first step toward closing the prison. ``The president has said he'd like to see Guantanamo shut down, but it's not Guantanamo itself, it's the status of these detainees," he said on ABC-TV's ``This Week."

``If we use the Supreme Court decision correctly, we will move forward and adjudicate these cases," McCain said.

Officials acknowledge that closing Guantanamo Bay is likely, though there is no timetable and no plan for how to do it. While the State Department works to repatriate nearly two-thirds of the prison's population via complex negotiations with other nations, the administration will have to decide what to do with the core group who officials have contended would kill Americans if they were freed.

Senior members of the administration, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter, said there are only two options for the men the United States deems too dangerous to release: transfer them to federal or military prisons in the United States -- such as the supermax facilities or Fort Leavenworth -- or arrange for another country to assume responsibility for their detention.

So far, no third country has said it would be willing to take the men, and the Bush administration has been reluctant to consider allowing them to be transferred onto US soil. Senior officials said in interviews that it is possible that any suspects who are convicted of crimes could land in US prisons.

The United States has taken that step previously with international criminals, such as Panamanian general Manuel Noriega, who was convicted in 1992 on drug trafficking and racketeering charges and is incarcerated in a federal prison near Miami.

Admitted Al Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui is serving a life sentence in a Colorado supermax prison along with Ramzi Yousef, convicted in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York.

White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday that closing the facility will not be easy, adding that the administration does not want some of the people there to cross the US border. ``As we've said many times, you don't simply shut it down," Snow said. ``There are some people who you do not want on American soil."

President Bush and senior members of the administration have said they want Guantanamo Bay to close, in large part because the detention center has become an enormously negative symbol.

John B. Bellinger III, legal adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said last week that there are about 300 detainees from Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen who are likely to be returned to the custody of their home countries when agreements can be worked out.

Retired Army general Barry R. McCaffrey wrote in a recent academic paper for the US Military Academy that the United States should ``rapidly weed out as many detainees as possible and return them to their host nation," urging countries to try their nationals for war crimes and terrorist actions. If detainees appear back on the battlefield fighting the United States, ``it may be cheaper and cleaner to kill them in combat than sit on them for the next 15 years," McCaffrey wrote.

[Soldier4Christ]

`No Child' Law Found Leading States to Weaken Tests (Update1)

U.S. states are ``dumbing down'' their grade-school tests, where high failure rates could bring penalties under the federal ``No Child Left Behind'' law, University of California researchers reported.

The study, covering test results for fourth-graders in 12 states, found the states are reporting more than twice as many of their students proficient in math and reading as in a separate nationwide set of tests.

``State results consistently exaggerate the percentage of fourth-graders deemed proficient or above in reading and math,'' according to the study by Policy Analysis for California Education, a research center at the University of California campuses in Berkeley and Davis and at Stanford University.

The report follows previous private studies contending states appear to be weakening their testing standards, and comes as Congress prepares next year to consider whether and how to renew the No Child Left Behind law.

The law, enacted in 2002, requires states to show annual improvement in student test scores in subjects that include reading and math. Failing districts face penalties that initially include granting students special tutoring and the right to transfer to other schools, and eventually can include the replacement of school management.

Test Discrepancies

The study led by University of California education professor Bruce Fuller found the states reported that about 68 percent of their fourth-graders were proficient in reading, while the federally funded National Assessment of Educational Progress test put the figure at 31 percent. In math, the states found 65 percent proficient while NAEP found 30 percent.

The study covered Arkansas, California, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington, chosen for reasons that include their geographical and educational diversity.

The figures covered the period from 1992 to 2005. That period begins before No Child Left Behind was enacted, though the gap between state tests and the NAEP assessment has grown wider over time, the researchers said.

A U.S. Education Department spokeswoman, Samara Yudof, criticized the study group, Policy Analysis for California Education, as having ``a track record of putting out flawed and misleading information about No Child Left Behind.''

The Bush administration also recognizes ``the disparity between state proficiency levels and NAEP,'' and the No Child Left Behind law responds to that by calling for more frequent NAEP tests, Yudof said.

Minority Improvement

NAEP already is showing more improvement among minority 9- year-olds in reading in the last five years than in the previous 28 years combined, Yudof said. ``The fact that state scores have risen more quickly than NAEP scores does nothing to diminish the gains we have seen on both state and NAEP scores,'' she said.

The Washington-based policy study group Education Sector, in a report in May, also described states as exaggerating their test results and other performance measures considered by No Child Left Behind, including graduation rates, teacher qualifications and school safety.

Education Sector named its findings the ``Pangloss Index,'' in reference to the excessively optimistic character created by the 18th century French author Voltaire.

Michael Petrilli, a former U.S. Education Department official who helped the Bush administration implement the No Child Left Behind law, said such studies demonstrate the need for nationally uniform testing standards.

``Letting the states measure their own progress in student learning is like letting a soccer team's coach also play referee,'' said Petrilli, now vice president for policy at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, an education reform group, in Washington.

U.S. lawmakers have resisted such suggestions, fearing it would be seen as an attack on local control of schools, said Representative Vernon Ehlers, a Michigan Republican, who serves as chairman of the House Science Committee's subcommittee on environment, technology and standards.