Former international weapons inspector David Kay, now seeking Iraqi weapons of mass destruction for the Pentagon, has privately reported successes that are planned to be revealed to the public in mid-September.

Kay has told his superiors he has found substantial evidence of biological weapons in Iraq, plus considerable missile development.

Senior officials in the Bush administration believe Kay's weapons discoveries should have been revealed as they were made. However, a decision, approved by President Bush, was made to wait until more was discovered and then announce it -- probably in September.

DR. RICE: Well, let me first say that David Kaye has an orderly process for mining the miles of documentation, the hundreds, even thousands of interviews, that need to be done, the physical evidence that needs to be gathered to understand precisely the status of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, the status of the programs, what became of unaccounted for weapons stockpiles.

Q When will Kaye's report will be public?

DR. RICE: David Kaye is not going to be done with this for quite some time. And I would not count on reports. I suppose there may be interim reports. I don't know when those will be, and I don't know what the public nature of them will be.

MR. SECRETARY GENERAL, Mr. President, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen: Twenty-four months ago — and yesterday in the memory of America — the center of New York City became a battlefield, and a graveyard, and the symbol of an unfinished war. Since that day, terrorists have struck in Bali, Mombassa, in Casablanca, in Riyadh, in Jakarta, in Jerusalem — measuring the advance of their cause in the chaos and innocent suffering they leave behind.

Last month, terrorists brought their war to the United Nations itself. The UN headquarters in Baghdad stood for order and compassion — and for that reason, the terrorists decided it must be destroyed.

...the sanctions exist -- not for the purpose of hurting the Iraqi people, but for the purpose of keeping in check Saddam Hussein's ambitions toward developing weapons of mass destruction. We should constantly be reviewing our policies, constantly be looking at those sanctions to make sure that they are directed toward that purpose. That purpose is every bit as important now as it was ten years ago when we began it. And frankly they have worked. He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors.

Sec. of State Colin Powell at a Cairo press conference - 2/4/01
Verbatim from the State Department website

Shocking Statement About the Election from Issa

A shocking statement from the man who spent a small fortune to get the California recall effort started. Congressman Darrell Issa now say it may be best to keep Gray Davis in office, after all. Issa claims a split between the two leading republicans could result in a disastrous political climate.

He adds that he would rather have Davis as Governor than Cruz Bustamante, who he call a more liberal leader. Issa said, "When you vote, if there are still two major Republicans, Tom McClintock and Arnold Schwarzenegger, then I advise you to vote no on the recall."

I've been thinking long and hard about some of the recent bad blood that is being spilled in the battles between Clark and Dean supporters.

I'm sick of it.

Therefore, I am pledging that from this point onward I will not be a part of any divisive campaign that will tear Democrats apart.

USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll results

If retired General Wesley Clark were the Democratic Party's candidate and George W. Bush were the Republican Party's candidate, who would you be more likely to vote for — Wesley Clark, the Democrat or George W. Bush, the Republican?

Among registered voters nationwide:
Wesley Clark 49%
George W. Bush 46%


If former Vermont Governor Howard Dean were the Democratic Party's candidate and George W. Bush were the Republican Party's candidate, who would you be more likely to vote for — Howard Dean, the Democrat or George W. Bush, the Republican?

Among registered voters nationwide:
Howard Dean 46%
George W. Bush 49%

Chicks to break with country scene

The Dixie Chicks say they don't want to be a country music band any more.

Violinist Martie Maguire told Spiegel magazine: "We don't feel part of the country scene any longer, it can't be our home any more."

She said she was disappointed other country singers didn't back up the Dixie Chicks in their criticism of George W Bush's politics on Iraq. "A few weeks ago, Merle Haggard said a couple of nice words about us, but that was it," Maguire complained. "The support we got came from others, like Bruce Springsteen."

Going home empty-handed from the Country Awards ceremony also made them decide to break with the scene, Maguire said.

"Instead, we won three Grammys against much stronger competition. So we now consider ourselves part of the big Rock 'n' Roll family."

Gen. Clark was CINCEUR when the Kosovo war began, and bears much of the responsibility for President Clinton's decision to try to bomb Serb dictator Slobodan Milosevic out of Kosovo. Gen. Clark argued that after a few days of bombing, Mr. Milosevic would fold his tent and slink away. When the Serbs didn't budge after months of bombing, Gen. Clark lost Mr. Clinton's favor.

As the war dragged on, Gen. Clark advocated the use of ground troops. This put him at loggerheads with Gen. Henry Shelton, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and with Gen. Eric Shinseki, chief of staff of the Army, who thought this was a terrible idea. These generals faulted Gen. Clark for getting America into an unnecessary war, and for having done a poor job of preparing for it.

"NATO did not expect a long war," wrote former Clinton national security aide Ivo Daalder. "Worse, it did not even prepare for the possibility."

The conduct of the war drew unprecedented criticism from Gen. Clark's predecessor, Gen. George Joulwan, and a quiet rebellion by subordinate commanders.

NBC's 'West Wing' to Take More Bipartisan Approach

Executive producer John Wells promises that Sheen will get his old job back before long.

But Wells said Goodman's guest-starring role is just one way in which "West Wing," which some have criticized as being too liberal, too Democratic, will become more politically balanced this season.

To represent the Republican point of view, Wells has recruited former Reagan chief of staff Ken Duberstein, along with John Podhoretz, a conservative columnist who wrote speeches for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush senior. Wells said Podhoretz has been one of the show's "staunchest critics" in recent years.

There have been suggestions that the show, launched in more peaceful times, lost its course after September 11 as make-believe politics were displaced by real world events. The series' star, Sheen, has also come under attack for his antiwar efforts. After voicing his dissatisfaction with President Bush and the war with Iraq last month Sheen said NBC big-wigs "let it be known they're very uncomfortable with where I'm at" on the war and said the network worried that his vocal antiwar stance would affect the show's ratings--NBC officials swore there was "no concern among top management."

White House is ambushed by criticism from America's military community

George Bush probably owes his presidency to the absentee military voters who nudged his tally in Florida decisively past Al Gore's. But now, with Iraq in chaos and the reasons for going to war there mired in controversy, an increasingly disgruntled military poses perhaps the gravest immediate threat to his political future, just one year before the presidential elections.

From Vietnam veterans to fresh young recruits, from seasoned officers to anxious mothers worried about their sons' safety on the streets of Baghdad and Fallujah, the military community is growing ever more vocal in its opposition to the White House.

Ipsos-Reid/Cook Political Report Poll. Sept. 16-18, 2003. N=1,000 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.1.

"Generally speaking, would you say things in this country are heading in the right direction, or are they off on the wrong track?"

Wrong Track 57% (previous high 56% 9/2/03)
Right Direction 37%
Not Sure 6%

Newsweek Poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates. Sept. 18-19, 2003. N=1,001 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.

"Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?"

Approve 51% (previous low was 52% last week and 2/8/01)
Disapprove 42%
Don't Know 7%

Newsweek Poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates. Sept. 18-19, 2003. N=377 registered Democrats and independents who lean Democratic nationwide. MoE ± 6.

"Now I'm going to name 10 Democrats in the race for president. After I read you their names, tell me which ONE you would most like to see nominated as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate in 2004. Here are the choice . . . ." (July '03 in parenthesis)

Wesley Clark 14% (n/a)
Howard Dean 12% (12%)
Joseph Lieberman 12% (13%)
John Kerry 10% (10%)
Dick Gephardt 8% (14%)
Al Sharpton 7% (6%)
John Edwards 6% (6%)
Bob Graham 4% (7%)
Carol Mosely Braun 2% (3%)
Dennis Kucinich 2% (2%)

Police detained two suspects and were searching for another Saturday in the killing of a 25-year-old San Francisco Giants fan in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium, a shooting that authorities said had been triggered by a decades-old baseball rivalry.

Two families leaving the game during the eighth inning apparently traded words about the teams, police said. The dispute culminated when Mark Allen Antenorcruz, of Covina, was shot twice after a man he was arguing with pulled a .25-caliber semiautomatic handgun from his family's white SUV, police said.

Mortar Fire Kills Two U.S. Soldiers at Iraqi Prison

ABU GHRAIB, Iraq -- A volley of incoming mortar fire that has become almost routine at the U.S.-occupied Abu Ghraib prison slammed into the square-mile prison compound Saturday night, killing at least two U.S. soldiers and seriously wounding at least a dozen of the U.S. Army military police who guard and run it.

It was a relatively light attack -- just two 82 mm rounds, after weeks that have seen as many as seven a night. But one was a direct hit, exploding in a tent filled with U.S. soldiers inside the compound in one of the worst single attacks on American forces since they occupied Iraq five months ago.

Bush was asked, "How did you feel when you heard about the terrorist attack?" Bush replied, "I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower--the TV was obviously on. And I used to fly myself, and I said, well, there's one terrible pilot. I said, it must have been a horrible accident. But I was whisked off there. I didn't have much time to think about it." Bush repeated the same story on January 5, 2002, stating, "First of all, when we walked into the classroom, I had seen this plane fly into the first building. There was a TV set on. And you know, I thought it was pilot error, and I was amazed that anybody could make such a terrible mistake...."

This is false. Nobody saw the jetliner crash into the first tower on television until a videotape surfaced a day later. What's more, Bush's memory not only contradicts every media report of that morning, it also contradicts what he said on the day of the attack. In his speech to the nation that evening, Bush said, "Immediately following the first attack, I implemented our government's emergency response plans." Again, this statement has never been satisfactorily explained. No one besides Bush has ever spoken of these "emergency plans," and the mere idea of their implementation is contradicted by Bush's claim that at the time, he believed the crash to have been a case of pilot error.

Legendary disc jockey Dan Ingram says he decided to hang up his headphones rather than take a pay cut.

"Let's just say the people with sharp pencils at [WCBS-FM parent] Infinity Broadcasting decided the amount of money they were paying me was way too much and they just wanted somebody cheaper," Ingram told Ed Walsh yesterday on WOR radio's morning program.

Ingram, a mainstay of New York radio for more than 40 years - the last 10 at CBS (101.1 FM) - disappeared from his weekend shifts on the oldies station without explanation in June. Ingram wasn't given a chance to bid farewell to his fans with a final show.

"I think they were afraid of what I might say," he told Walsh. A spokeswoman for Infinity Broadcasting declined to comment.

Ingram added he has no plans to return to the air as a disk jockey. Instead, the die-hard Democrat and longtime union official is shopping a one-minute commentary segment to radio stations.

Kerry Says Dean Is 'Imploding'

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 — Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts today sharply criticized one of the other leading Democrats running for president, Howard Dean, asserting that some of his recent pronouncements show that his "bubble's bursting a bit."

Referring to statements by Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont, on the Middle East, the Hamas guerrillas and other issues, Mr. Kerry said, "You can't make 15 gaffes a week and be president."

Mr. Kerry's remarks came near the end of an interview on WCBS-TV in New York when the camera had turned away from Mr. Kerry, who was still wearing a microphone.

Mr. Dean's campaign manager, Joe Trippi, seemed mildly amused by the interview.

"I guess we're just on his mind a lot," Mr. Trippi said, pointing to another episode, the recent debate in Baltimore, when a microphone picked up Mr. Kerry muttering, "Dean. Dean. Dean. Dean. Dean."

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Under fire from Republicans on Friday, Sen. Edward Kennedy defended his harsh criticism of President Bush's policy on Iraq, in which he charged that the threat from Saddam Hussein was exaggerated by the administration for political purposes.

"This is a failed, flawed, bankrupt policy," the Massachusetts Democrat said on CNN's "Judy Woodruff's Inside Politics." "The American people want answers."

DeLay said Kennedy "went too far" and he called on Democrats to repudiate Kennedy's comments.

"It's disturbing that Democrats have spewed more hateful rhetoric at President Bush than they ever did at Saddam Hussein," DeLay said in a written statement.

But Kennedy would not back down and said Republicans attack the patriotism of those who question White House policies.

Gov. Gray Davis said Friday he wanted to get the recall election over with Oct. 7, as he appeared with former Vice President Al Gore and cast the recall as the latest in a string of Republican power grabs.

"My attitude is, let's just get it over with. Let's just have this election on Oct. 7, put this recall behind us so we can get on with governing the state of California," Davis said after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided to reconsider a three-judge panel's ruling postponing the election.

I have quickly become addicted to your blog. The only other one I read regularly is Talking Points Memo. You have an amazing talent of getting news stories before they become mainstream. My friends think I am psychic.

I wanted to thank you for this wonderful service!

One other thing -- not to impugn your effectiveness, but I frequently want to send links from your website to my friends and colleagues but do not. As much as I dislike this administration, I mean REALLY dislike this administration, it would be unprofessional of me to pass on things that refer to them as crackheads. This is your site and you have every right to post what you wish -- but your euphemisms may hinder your evangelization. I suspect if you toned down the language, more people would e-mail your site to others, and your would grow in influence.

Both candidates demanded that the format of the debate set for Wednesday in Sacramento be changed, saying it was inappropriate that questions had been provided in advance.

The actor responded angrily, lashing out for the first time against McClintock, the conservative Republican whose candidacy threatens to split the GOP vote in the recall election.

"I think that as far as Tom McClintock is concerned, the question for him is: What side is he on?" Schwarzenegger said. "Is he on the side of the Republicans? Does he represent the Republicans? Or does he represent Bustamante? Because he's getting money from the same Indian tribes that are financing his commercials and his TV spots."

So Which Story Is It?

President Bush's declaration Wednesday that Saddam Hussein had Al Qaeda ties but that there was "no evidence" he was linked to 9/11 had an Alice-in-Wonderland quality. Only a few days earlier, Vice President Dick Cheney on national television had expanded the administration's claims, hinting darkly that Hussein's security forces might have been involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and that Iraq was at "the heart of the base" of the terrorist threat that culminated in Sept. 11.

Who is the public supposed to believe, Bush or Cheney? In delivering a different message depending on what day of the week it is, the administration is shredding whatever remains of its credibility on Iraq.

On Thursday, Hans Blix, the former United Nations weapons inspector who has patiently watched as the United States and Britain fruitlessly search for weapons they said Blix was too incompetent to discover, finally decried "the culture of spin, the culture of hyping." Both Blix and his successor at the U.N., Demetrius Perricos, say Hussein probably destroyed any weapons of mass destruction a decade ago.

The administration's flip-flops aren't trivial, but rather are symptomatic of wider disarray. At a moment when Secretary of State Colin L. Powell is trying to win the cooperation of wary allies for a U.N. resolution that will internationalize the occupation and bring in foreign troops and money, Cheney went out of his way to antagonize Europeans. Cheney made an impassioned case Wednesday at the Air Force Assn.'s annual convention for an America goes-it-alone policy — preemptive strikes abroad whenever and wherever Bush sees fit. The unspoken premise is that the U.S. doesn't need the U.N. or other countries to help rebuild invaded countries.

With Iraq in danger of meltdown, however, it's clear that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon have failed to properly plan for the postwar period. Bush not only needs Europe on board, he also must listen to Republican lawmakers, led by Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) and Sen. Charles Hagel (R-Neb.), who are urging the White House to shift control of Iraq's reconstruction from the Pentagon to the State Department.

AP: No Evidence Iraq Stockpiled Smallpox

Top American scientists assigned to the weapons hunt in Iraq found no evidence Saddam Hussein's regime was making or stockpiling smallpox, The Associated Press has learned from senior military officers involved in the search.

Smallpox fears were part of the case the Bush administration used to build support for invading Iraq and they were raised again as recently as last weekend by Vice President Dick Cheney.

The radio gabblers and the Internet nutcases will smear Clark because they and their master Karl Rove fear him.

It will be interesting to see how much of this the Republicans can perpetrate before their tactics start to backfire. But their real problem is that they don't know any other way to win an election -- and their sinking numbers could soon give rise to panic. The more they attack Clark now, the more obvious it will become that he is the nominee of their nightmares.

Jobless claims fell last week, the government said Thursday, by more than analysts expected, dropping just below the benchmark 400,000 that signifies job-market weakness.

The Labor Department report said 399,000 people filed for benefits in the week ended Sept. 13, compared with a revised reading of 428,000 in the prior week.

U.S. Deficit Goes Over $400 Billion

WASHINGTON — With one month left in the fiscal year, the U.S. budget deficit moved further into record territory, passing the $400-billion mark for the first time, the Treasury Department said Wednesday.

A shortfall of $76.48 billion last month pushed the fiscal 2003 budget gap to $400.46 billion, a Treasury report said. The fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

Born with a silver pitchfork in his mouth

In an ascension that could spark a heated rivalry for the News Corp. throne, Rupert Murdoch's younger son, James, is poised to take the helm of British Sky Broadcasting, Britain's dominant pay TV provider and a jewel in the family's media conglomerate.

"He goes on [the Howard Stern Show which has] whores, prostitutes, moral degenerates and says, 'I'm a wonderful guy, I should be governor. He goes on Larry King, who fawns over every misbegotten movie star who comes down the pike. He goes on Oprah Winfrey and talks about his sex life. What kind of sickness is this?"

CBS News Poll. Sept. 15-16, 2003. N=675 adults nationwide. MoE ± 4.

"Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?"

Approve 52% (down from 55% three weeks ago)
Disapprove 39% (up from 37%)
Don't Know 9% (up from 8%)

President Bush said Wednesday that there was no proof tying Saddam Hussein to the Sept. 11 attacks. Bush's statement was the latest in a flurry of remarks this week by top administration officials after Vice President Dick Cheney resurrected a number of contentious allegations about Iraqi ties to Al Qaeda in an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.

"We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the September 11th," Bush said in an impromptu session with reporters. He contended, however, that "there's no question that Saddam Hussein had Al Qaeda ties."

Saudi Arabia, in response to the current upheaval in the Middle East, has embarked on a strategic review that includes acquiring nuclear weapons, the Guardian has learned.

Cash contributes to Jamaican charity
published: Wednesday | September 17, 2003


Photo from SOS-Jamaica website

OFFICIALS WITH SOS Children's Villages were surprised the family of Johnny Cash requested donations in his memory be sent to them.

The singer, who died Friday, had worked with the charitable organisation near his home in Jamaica, often visiting the children it supported and following their progress.

Cash lived next to the village that opened in 1972 and regularly visited it, charity officials said.

He also donated money for construction of a home in the village and occasionally entertained children there with his music.

Saying it is time to put aside differences with France, [Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee] circulated a letter on Monday urging the U.S. House of Representatives to put back the word "French" in fries and toast on House cafeteria and dining hall menus.

A Field Poll released today says fewer than half of California's voters approve of President Bush's performance in office.

Just 46 percent of the 649 registered voters questioned said they approve of Bush's conduct. Forty-eight percent disapprove.

In an August poll, 50 percent of those questioned praised Bush's performance, while 45 percent were critical.

Rumsfeld Sees No Link Between Iraq, 9/11

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday he had no reason to believe that Iraq's Saddam Hussein had a hand in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

At a Pentagon news conference, Rumsfeld was asked about a poll that indicated nearly 70 percent of respondents believed the Iraqi leader probably was personally involved.

"I've not seen any indication that would lead me to believe that I could say that," Rumsfeld said.

...Cheney, in commenting about Iraq on Sunday during a rare television appearance, broke new ground. He not only defended the Bush administration's record in rebuilding Iraq but he upheld sweeping, unproven claims about Saddam Hussein's connections to terrorism.
---
On Aug. 26, 2002, Cheney announced to the Veterans of Foreign Wars that "simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction," and in mid-March he declared that U.S. troops would be "greeted as liberators." Since then, no weapons of mass destruction have been found and American troops face up to 17 attacks a day.
---
The longer that top officials peddle rosy scenarios, the more resentful the audience will be when the pep talks no longer work.

...Cheney, in bullshitting about Iraq on Sunday during a rare television appearance, broke new ground. He not only defended the Bush administration's bullshit record in rebuilding Iraq but he upheld sweeping, unproven bullshit about Saddam Hussein's connections to terrorism.
---
On Aug. 26, 2002, Cheney bullshitted to the Veterans of Foreign Wars that "simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction," and in mid-March he declared that U.S. troops would be "greeted as liberators." Bullshit! Since then, no weapons of mass destruction have been found and American troops face up to 17 attacks a day.
---
The longer that top officials peddle bullshit scenarios, the more resentful the audience will be when the bullshit pep talks no longer work. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.

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OTTAWA (CP) - Some of the first patients to smoke Health Canada's government-approved marijuana say it's "disgusting" and want their money back.

"It's totally unsuitable for human consumption," said Jim Wakeford, 58, an AIDS patient in Gibsons, B.C. "It gave me a slight buzziness for about three to five minutes, and that was it. I got no other effect from it."

In what was the last of about a dozen legal challenges trying to delay or thwart the recall to unseat Gov. Gray Davis, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday it is unacceptable that six counties would be using outdated punch-card ballots, the type that sparked the "hanging chads" litigation in Florida during the 2000 presidential election.

The appellate panel agreed with the American Civil Liberties Union that the voting machines were prone to error and that Davis' fate could be decided later. By that time, the counties have promised to replace their punch-card machines under a court order in separate litigation.

"I think the press was muzzled, and I think the press self-muzzled. I'm sorry to say, but certainly television and, perhaps, to a certain extent, my station was intimidated by the administration and its foot soldiers at Fox News. And it did, in fact, put a climate of fear and self-censorship, in my view, in terms of the kind of broadcast work we did."

Fox News spokeswoman Irena Briganti said of Amanpour's comments: "Given the choice, it's better to be viewed as a foot soldier for Bush than a spokeswoman for al-Qaeda."

"Gray Davis and I have been friends a long time, and I don't want this to happen to him. But this is way bigger than him.

"It's you I worry about. It's California I worry about. I don't want you to become a laughingstock, a carnival or the beginning of a circus in America where we just throw people out, soon as they make a tough decision. Don't do this. Don't do this.

"Don't shred your Constitution. Don't shred the fabric of government. Don't tell people Californians are so impatient that they give somebody an employment contract and then tear it up in the middle because times are tough. This is the right thing to do, to beat this recall."

"While we acknowledge that Mr. Clinton has support from a certain segment of the California electorate, it is Gray Davis who is on the ballot, not Bill Clinton. And to use the now famous line from Mr. Clinton, 'It's Gray Davis, stupid.' "

Where did a comedian like Al Franken get the time, research power and expertise to cover such a wide range of subject matters, almost all of which are out of his normal depth?

The answer, which Franken himself provides, is Harvard. It seems that the Kennedy School of Government there called him up and offered him a fellowship.

He had to write something, but he could use 14 students to provide him with his research and write as much of it as he cared to let them. All under the auspices of the university.

Although liberals like Franken regularly complain about the unfair advantage "big right-wing think tanks" provide to the Republican cause, Harvard and in fact the entire Ivy League constitute infinitely larger left-wing think tanks that serve the Democratic cause.

Iraq WMD report shelved due to lack of evidence

London: After failing to get any evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the US and Britain have decided to delay indefinitely the publication of a full report on the controversial issue, media reported today.
Efforts by the Iraq Survey Group, an Anglo-American team of 1,400 scientists, military and intelligence experts, to scour Iraq for the past four months to uncover evidence of chemical or biological weapons have so far ended in failure, The Sunday Times claimed in its report.

It had been expected that a progress report would be published tomorrow but MPs on the British Parliaments security and intelligence committee have been told that even this has been delayed and no new date set.

British defence intelligence sources have confirmed that the final report, which is to be submitted by David Kay, the survey groups leader, to George Tenet, head of the CIA, had been delayed and may not necessarily even be published, the paper said.

Revealed: new doubts on Blair's Iraq dossier

Dramatic new evidence from the intelligence services casts fresh doubts over Tony Blair's central claim that Iraq continued to produce chemical and biological weapons until the outbreak of war, The Observer can reveal.

Newly disclosed Cabinet Office documents show that the Prime Minister's categorical assertion was based only on a single source and was attacked as 'too strong' by a senior intelligence official. The same official attacks the dossier's descriptions of the graphic effects of mustard gas and VX, a nerve agent, as 'grossly misleading'.

"...in 1993, Lewis drafted a criminal referral alleging illegal Whitewater dealings that eventually became the basis for Ken Starr’s probe. Republicans praised Lewis as a whistle-blower; Democrats blasted her as a partisan. (In a private letter on her computer, she once called Bill Clinton a “lying bastard.”)

The weekend convention, meant to energize the party's most loyal activists, instead featured a version of political chicken, each man wanting the other to exit the race and allow a one-on-one contest with Bustamante, the sole major Democrat running in the Oct. 7 election.

Neither is budging, despite pressure on the more conservative McClintock to quit and smooth the way for Schwarzenegger, who leads the GOP contest in money, polls and - judging from hawkers around the convention hall - merchandising opportunities.

Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger has denounced illegal immigration in his bid to become California's next governor, but the Austrian native may have stretched the bounds of United States law to secure his own ticket to America in the 1960s.

Gray Davis is far from popular. But with the recall campaign at its midway point, a substantial portion of Californians - perhaps enough to save the governor's career - appear to have come around to the argument that the effort to oust him violates basic standards of fair play.

"I don't think someone should be voted out of office because the voters don't like them any more," said Barbara Pavey, a Republican from Hollywood. "It's petulant."

"Ideologically-driven voters don't care. It's like if you're a bedrock conservative Republican, that's the way you're going to go every time. All right? If you're a looney liberal, you're going to go there every time. You don't care."

"They put the interests of our party and our state first."

"We are following a clear strategy with three objectives: destroy the terrorists, enlist international support for a free Iraq and quickly transfer authority to the Iraqi people," Bush said Saturday in his weekly radio address.

U.S. soldiers killed nine people Friday, including eight Iraqi law enforcement officers, in the worst "friendly fire" incident since the end of major combat operations, further inflaming anti-American sentiment in one of the most tense corners of Iraq.

By publicizing his meetings with Clark -- and perhaps slightly exaggerating their significance -- Dean's team has created an awkward situation for the good doctor from Vermont. How will he campaign against a man whom he reportedly tried to lure onto his ticket? What will he offer voters as an argument to support him instead of Clark?

There are plausible answers: As a former governor, Dean has substantial domestic policymaking experience that Clark lacks, as well as a geographic base and an enormous, deeply committed corps of volunteers. He also has strong political skills and an original style. And of course, Dean has gathered far more money than Clark is likely to collect during the next few months (although Clark supporters insist that there are substantial donors waiting for him to declare).

How can an administration led by a president who pipes the message of Christianity ignore or treat lightly God's overriding concern for the poor, downtrodden, sickly and unfortunate, the frail elderly and helpless children? How can the president sign a huge tax-cut bill that provides zero support for the poorest families-too poor to pay taxes?

Is it not callous and detached from reality for the president to be charging around the country raising multi-millions for his re-election campaign from well-heeled, black tie contributors, and touting our victory in Iraq while American youth are still dying in that sand-locked, oil-rich nation-and while some 10 million here are jobless and struggling desperately to support their families?


-------------------------------

If Bush wins a second term, he and his neocon allies will have four more years to perfect their far-reaching scheme without further re-election worries and political compromises. The path will be clear. A look backward at our history provides evidence that the first two years after George W. Bush's 2000 selection by a one-vote margin in the Supreme Court saw a greater departure from deepetched U.S. principles, policies and practices than in any prior time.

-------------------------------

You are gullible and naive if you believe the huge and misdirected tax cuts that the president has pressed so aggressively will rapidly stimulate the economy and produce a meaningful tide of new jobs.

-------------------------------

Don't expect the president or anyone close to him to confirm this grand scheme. The Bush administration's reputation for candor and 'the whole truth' is questionable. In a CBS 60 Minutes commentary last December, Andy Rooney branded this the 'most secretive administration in the history of this country, and it's a disgrace, I think.'

The grand scheme of the neocons, with the total and enthusiastic embrace of this president, envisions a very different America from what we have known and what its founders bequeathed to us. There is no way I can support or accept this grand scheme for remaking the America I know and love. How about you?

President Bush will get his $87 billion for a year's worth of victory in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he will have to endure a lot of nyah-nyah-nyah and I-told-you-so along the way. He could have avoided all this irritation—and he is just the kind of man to find it incredibly irritating—with two little words in his TV address last Sunday evening:

"I'm sorry."

Gov. Howard Dean has been issuing diatribes against the Bush administration that would surpass even Tariq Aziz with severe menstrual cramps. This strategy has made him the runaway favorite of the Democratic Party. Even Mr. War Hero, John Kerry, is getting shellacked by Dean. At times Kerry seems almost ready to surrender, making him look even more French. (If only Kerry had a war record or an enormously rich spouse to fall back on!)

In the wake of Dean's success, the entire Democratic Dream Team is beginning to sound like Dr. Demento. On the basis of their recent pronouncements, the position of the Democratic Party seems to be that Saddam Hussein did not hit us on 9-11, but Halliburton did.

Jobless claims rose last week, the government said Thursday, climbing even higher above the benchmark 400,000 that signifies job-market weakness.

"These jobless claims figures strongly suggest that any discussion of a runaway economic recovery have been greatly exaggerated," said Anthony Chan, chief economist at Banc One Investment Advisors.

"The governor's told him repeatedly that he should run if he wants," Joe Trippi, Dr. Dean's campaign manager, said at the campaign headquarters here. "I'm sure that along the way the governor's made clear that we want General Clark's support if he decides not to run for president. I assume every other candidate has done the same thing."

Blue Movies Proliferate in Post-Saddam Iraq

"Under Saddam, forget it. You would go to jail for showing or watching this," said movie-watcher Mohammed Jassim at the Atlas Cinema where one of the films on offer was disturbingly named "Real Raping." The fall of Saddam Hussein liberalised Iraq's cinema industry overnight.

Gen. Clark Reportedly Is Asked to Join Dean

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean has asked retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark to join his campaign, if the former NATO commander does not jump into the race himself next week, and the two men discussed the vice presidency at a weekend meeting in California, sources familiar with the discussions said.

Clark, in a telephone interview yesterday, said he did not want to comment about the private meeting. Asked about reports that the two men had discussed a wide range of issues, including endorsing Dean, joining the campaign, possible roles in a Dean administration and the vice presidency, he said only, "It was a complete tour of the horizon."

"(Bruce Springsteen) prefaced "Born in the U.S.A.'' with a public service announcement about holding our political leaders accountable and closed by plugging Al Franken's new book."

Why is Bush falling so badly? The superficial reasons are the Iraq casualties, the failure to find WMDs and the continuing inability to round up Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. But the real reason is that terror is receding as an issue, largely due to Bush's success.

The solution for Bush is to put terrorism back on the front burner by high profile and aggressive action against Iran and/or North Korea. It's not necessary to wag the dog, but Bush should wag his tongue and raise the profile of these two remaining threats to our security.

Mr. Bush rolled out a domestic agenda that included some ambitious programs aimed at lifting up America's least fortunate, particularly his No Child Left Behind education package. But in this — as in the African AIDS initiative and even his controversial faith-based initiative for social services — Mr. Bush has been content to take the credit for proposing, without paying the political dues necessary to get things done. Certainly most American parents, whose public schools are racked by state and local budget crises, are not feeling that their children are enjoying better educational opportunity. The AIDS program that got such a positive response when the president unveiled it has been underfinanced by Congress, with the White House's encouragement.

Even the administration's foreign policy reflects its tendency to go for quick gratification without much thought of the gritty long haul. The invasion of Iraq appears to have been planned by people who assumed that after a swift military assault, Saddam Hussein would be gone and Iraq would quickly snap into a prosperous, semidemocratic state that would be a model for the rest of the Middle East.

When it turned out that things were far more complicated, the president hedged on the price tag — apparently out of fear that if Congress knew how high the bill was going to be, there would not be enough votes for another round of tax cuts. Congress, however, was happy enough to be deluded until it was too late. Now we know the cost is going to be massive, with much of the tab to be paid by the future generations who will be saddled with the Bush debt.

Mr. Bush is a man who was reared in privilege, who succeeded in both business and politics because of his family connections. The question during the presidential campaign was whether he was anything more than just a very lucky guy. There were times in the past three years when he has been much more than that, and he may no longer be a man who expects to find an easy way out of difficulties. But now, at the moment when we need strong leadership most, he is still a politician who is incapable of asking the people to make hard choices. And we are paying the price.

Iraq Estimates Were Too Low, U.S. Admits

The White House acknowledged Monday that it substantially underestimated the cost of rebuilding Iraq and that even the additional $87 billion it was seeking from a wary Congress would fall far short of what is needed for postwar reconstruction.

Administration officials said President Bush's emergency spending request — which would push the U.S. budget deficit above the half-trillion-dollar mark for the first time — still left a reconstruction funding gap of as much as $55 billion.

Iraq-Terrorism Link Continues to Be Problematic

The president invoked the terrorism theme repeatedly in his speech to the nation Sunday night, portraying the invasion of Iraq as part of the U.S. response to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Tying Iraq to the war on terrorism has become crucial to the Bush administration's appeal for continued public support, particularly with the failure so far to find banned weapons and the ongoing turmoil that is undercutting visions of a swift transition to democracy that might spread across the Middle East.

But the terrorism link is problematic. The administration has yet to prove that deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had any complicity in the Sept. 11 attacks, or even any significant relationship with Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network. For that reason, some counter- terrorism experts challenge Bush's characterization.

"I do think this argument about terrorism is disingenuous," said James Steinberg, vice president and director of foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan public policy center in Washington. "This wasn't the place you had to confront Al Qaeda. They weren't there, and this is not what that war was about."

Meanwhile, the war has attracted foreign fighters to Iraq, Al Qaeda members reportedly among them, U.S. officials say. Some counter-terrorism officials and experts are expressing concern that the war could incite a new generation of terrorists.

"Now Bush says it's the United Nations' responsibility to fix the mess he and his administration created. When will this irresponsibility, hubris and abuse of power end?"

"Without the alleged Iraq-terror connection, the president's case for war in Iraq collapses like a house of cards. This administration is incapable of admitting mistakes or telling the truth and should not be believed."

"How about starting a giant pool where everyone guesses how much of the $87 billion will go to Halliburton?"

Santa Cruz council to ask about dumping President Bush
LETTER TO CONGRESS WILL BE CONSIDERED
By Ken McLaughlin
Mercury News

The Santa Cruz City Council on Tuesday is expected to become the nation's first lawmaking body to ask Congress to look into impeaching President Bush, charging that he misled the public on the Iraq war and trampled civil rights.

The measure to be considered is a watered-down version of July's strident call for a council resolution in favor of impeaching Bush and other top members of his administration.

A year ago, Santa Cruz became the first city council to oppose the war. More than 150 councils and boards of supervisors across the nation subsequently passed similar resolutions.

A majority of Santa Cruz council members are hoping their all-but-certain action Tuesday will spark a similar movement.

"You need to speak up when you see evil being done,'' Councilman Mike Rotkin said.

"We have to know why the Bush administration lied to us about Iraq,'' Rotkin said, alluding to White House assertions that Iraq had nuclear aspirations and was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.

SHANNON, Ireland (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Monday opposition to the U.S. President was encouraging Washington's enemies and hindering his 'war against terrorism'.

Rumsfeld was speaking after a trip to Afghanistan and Iraq where he sought to highlight progress on reconstruction efforts and dampen criticism of the U.S. presence there and the almost daily casualties in a guerrilla campaign against occupation.

He said if Washington's enemies believed Bush might waver or his opponents prevail, that could increase support for their activities.

"They take heart in that and that leads to more money going into these activities or that leads to more recruits or that leads to more encouragement or that leads to more staying power," he told reporters traveling with him on his plane.

"Obviously that does make our task more difficult."

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, the early front-runner for the Democratic nomination, called Bush's remarks "nothing short of outrageous."

"In 15 minutes, he attempted to make up for 15 months of misleading the American people and 15 weeks of mismanaging the reconstruction," he said. "The president has created a much more dangerous situation in Iraq. The president has created Iraq to be the front line of terrorism."

And for America, there will be no going back to the era before September 11th, 2001 -- to false comfort in a dangerous world. We have learned that terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength -- they are invited by the perception of weakness. And the surest way to avoid attacks on our own people is to engage the enemy where he lives and plans. We are fighting that enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan today, so that we do not meet him again on our own streets, in our own cities.

I will soon submit to Congress a request for $87 billion. The request will cover ongoing military and intelligence operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, which we expect will cost 66 billion dollars over the next year. This budget request will support our commitment to helping the Iraqi and Afghan people rebuild their own nations, after decades of oppression and mismanagement. We will provide funds to help them improve security. And we will help them to restore basic services, such as electricity and water, and to build new schools, roads, and medical clinics. This effort is essential to the stability of those nations, and therefore to our own security.