Contact Palestinian Government, Say Israelis

Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research

March 24, 2007

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in Israel believe their government should talk with the new Palestinian administration, according to a poll by Maagar Mochot released by Israel Radio. 52 per cent of respondents think Israel should have day-to-day contacts with the Palestinian unity government.

Fatah member Mahmoud Abbas won the January 2005 Palestinian Authority presidential ballot with 62.32 per cent of all cast ballots. In January 2006, Hamas—an organization listed as "terrorist" by several countries including the United States, Canada and Israel, and the European Union (EU)—won the Palestinian Legislative Council election, securing 74 of the 112 seats at stake. After negotiations geared at establishing a unity government with Hamas and Fatah failed in October 2006, tensions escalated between armed supporters of the two rival factions.

On Feb. 8 in Saudi Arabia, Hamas and Fatah leaders reached an accord which sets the guidelines for a power-sharing administration, headed by Hamas, which would "respect" past peace agreements with Israel. In all, Hamas would control eight cabinet positions, with Fatah taking five. Three key portfolios—finance, interior and foreign affairs—will be handled by independents.

On Mar. 17, the Palestinian unity government presented its program, which does not include an explicit recognition of Israel. Yesterday, German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger discussed the EU’s views on the new administration, saying, "The EU is prepared to cooperate with the Palestinian government of national unity insofar as it reflects the Quartet criteria in its statements and its actions. (...) We believe we should approach this issue calmly and observe how the new government acts in the days and weeks ahead."

The four preconditions—disarming, recognizing Israel, rejecting terror and changing the organization’s charter—were proposed by the European Union (EU), the United States, the United Nations (UN) and Russia to Hamas.

Polling Data

Should the government of Israel have day-to-day contacts with the Palestinian unity government?

Yes	52%
No	36%
Other replies	12%

Source: Maagar Mochot / Israel Radio
Methodology: Interviews with 534 Israeli adults, conducted on Mar. 21, 2007. Margin of error is 4.5 per cent.

Iraq Surge Will Not Help, Say Americans

Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research

March 23, 2007

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in the United States believe their government’s new strategy for the coalition effort will not be effective, according to a poll by Harris Interactive. 54 per cent of respondents think sending 20,000 troops to Iraq to fight the insurgents will not improve security, and 49 per cent think the policy is wrong.

The coalition effort against Saddam Hussein’s regime was launched in March 2003. At least 3,229 American soldiers have died during the military operation, and more than 24,100 troops have been wounded in action.

In December 2005, Iraqi voters renewed their National Assembly. In May 2006, Shiite United Iraqi Alliance member Nouri al-Maliki officially took over as prime minister.

On Jan. 10, U.S. president George W. Bush introduced his new course of action for the coalition effort, which includes an increase in U.S. troop levels. On Feb. 16, the House of Representatives voted 246-182 in favour of a non-binding resolution condemning Bush’s proposed strategy.

On Mar. 19, Bush discussed the current state of affairs, saying, "I want to stress that this operation is still in the early stages, it’s still in the beginning stages. Fewer than half of the troop reinforcements we are sending have arrived in Baghdad. The new strategy will need more time to take effect. And there will be good days, and there will be bad days ahead as the security plan unfolds."

Polling Data

The United States is sending about 20,000 troops to Iraq to fight the insurgents there. Do you think…?

This will improve security and reduce killings	26%
This will not improve security and reduce killings	54%
Not sure	19%

Still thinking about the 20,000 additional troops, do you believe this is the right thing or the wrong thing for the United States to do?

Right thing	29%
Wrong thing	49%
Not sure	21%

Source: Harris Interactive
Methodology: Online interviews with 2,223 American adults, conducted from Mar. 6 to Mar. 14, 2007. Margin of error is 2 per cent.

VOTE FRAUD! : Bev Harris

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9 Officers Held for Tillman Friendly-Fire Coverup

Officials: 9 to be held to account on Tillman
Officers reportedly to be cited in friendly-fire death of Ranger, ex-NFL star

Updated: 7:28 p.m. MT March 23, 2007

WASHINGTON - A Pentagon investigation will recommend that nine officers, including up to four generals, be held accountable for missteps in the aftermath of the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan, senior defense officials said Friday.

The Defense Department inspector general will cite a range of errors and inappropriate conduct as the military probed the former football star’s death on the battlefront in 2004, said one defense official.

The official, who like the others requested anonymity because the Army has not publicly released the information, said it appears senior military leaders may not have had all the facts or worked hard enough to get the facts of what happened on April 22, 2004, when Tillman, a corporal, was killed by members of his own platoon.
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Dozens of soldiers — those immediately around Tillman at the scene of the shooting, his immediate superiors and high-ranking officers at a command post nearby — knew within minutes or hours that his death was fratricide.

Even so, the Army persisted in telling Tillman’s family he was killed in a conventional ambush, including at his nationally televised memorial service 11 days later. It was five weeks before his family was told the truth, a delay the Army has blamed on procedural mistakes.

Tillman’s father, Pat, said Friday he had no intention of commenting on the inspector general’s report until he had heard the Army’s entire briefing on Monday and had analyzed it.

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Tillman’s college roommate sent to Iraq

NFL star turned soldier
Tillman’s case drew worldwide attention in part because he had turned down a multimillion-dollar contract to play defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals in order to join the Army Rangers after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

To date, the Army has punished seven people, but no one was court-martialed. Four soldiers received relatively minor punishments under military law, ranging from written reprimands to expulsion from the Rangers. One had his pay reduced and was effectively forced out of the Army.

The latest investigation has focused on how high up the chain of command that knowledge went.

Officers from the rank of colonel and up will be blamed in the report, according to one officer who has been informed of the findings.

According to the officials, the report will not make charges or suggest punishments, but it will recommend the Army look at holding the nine officers accountable.

Army plans to ‘take appropriate actions’
One defense official said it appears the inspector general will not conclude there was an orchestrated cover-up in the investigation.

The Army, which requested the inspector general review last year, said in a statement released Friday that it “plans to take appropriate actions after receiving the inspector general’s report.”

The commander of Tillman’s 75th Ranger Regiment was Col. James C. Nixon. Last year he was named director of operations at the Center for Special Operations at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.

Nixon knew within about two days that Tillman’s death was fratricide, another officer involved in the investigations told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The inspector general is expected to release its report Monday, and also speak to Tillman’s family about the results of the investigation.

Also to be released Monday is a report by the Army Criminal Investigation Command, which will focus on whether a crime, such as negligent homicide, was committed when Tillman’s own men shot him. One defense official said it appears the investigation did not find any criminal intent in the shooting.

Previous investigations of the case have focused on the facts of the incident and sought to answer questions of whether it was a fratricide.

The report’s findings were first reported on Friday by CBS News.

Tillman died in Afghanistan’s Paktia province, along the Pakistan border, after his platoon was ordered to split into two groups and one of the units began firing. Tillman and an Afghan with him were killed.

Since the incident, the Army has moved to improve the notification procedures and now requires an officer to review initial casualty information and verify that the families have been told the best, accurate information.

Congo's army regains control of capital

Army regains control of Kinshasa

Government troops have recaptured most of the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, Kinshasa, after a second day of gun battles with militiamen.

Most of the men loyal to Jean-Pierre Bemba, who lost presidential polls last year, have fled the business district.

Eyewitnesses say dozens of bodies, riddled with bullet wounds, have been moved from the streets and civilians have been ordered to stay indoors.

Earlier, an arrest warrant was issued for Mr Bemba on grounds of treason.

He has taken refuge in the South African embassy compound and has denied plotting military action to overthrow President Joseph Kabila.

A deadline for Mr Bemba's guards to disarm expired this week but he wants additional security guarantees before they lay down their weapons.

Last year's election - the first free poll in four decades - passed off peacefully, raising hopes of an end to years of conflict and mismanagement.

Looting

The BBC's Arnaud Zajtman in Kinshasa says sporadic shooting can still be heard but government soldiers have taken control of the city's business centre.

I am afraid of what the opposition can do Ugoo, Nigerian businessman

They have used plastic chairs and bricks to set up roadblocks in the capital.

Several supermarkets, shops and private houses have also been looted by the government troops, our reporter says.

Mr Bemba's guards have been seen running away, abandoning their uniforms and surrendering to UN peacekeepers.

A doctor in charge at Kinshasa's hospital told the BBC that 32 people were being treated for gunshots wounds.

Other sources report 60 bodies have been brought to the hospital, which tallies with eyewitness accounts, our correspondent says.

'Life in danger'

Mr Bemba has immunity as a senator but the government says this may be stripped.

South Africa's deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad urged all sides to stop fighting but did not say whether the former rebel leader would be handed over to the Congolese authorities.

"Bemba committed treason in using the armed forces for his own ends," said Congolese government spokesman Toussaint Tshilombo.

But Mr Bemba denied trying to oust Mr Kabila and said his house had been attacked four times.

"I feel they want to kill me," he told the BBC. He has called for negotiations with the government about his security arrangements.

As a former vice-president in the transitional government, he is entitled to 15 policemen for his protection.

Under another agreement signed ahead of the election, the winner of the presidential poll is committed to guarantee the loser's security.

But the country's information minister said that since the government was democratically elected last year, there was no reason for fresh talks.

President Joseph Kabila won 58% of the vote compared to Mr Bemba's 42% in an election run-off last October.

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US and UK fail to find smoking gun

Ian Black, Middle East editor
Saturday March 24, 2007
The Guardian

Although British and US military and diplomats often complain of Iranian support for insurgents in Iraq, there is no "smoking gun" to prove it, a senior British officer in Basra admitted yesterday.

Lt Col Justin Maciejewski said he could not prove Iranian interference in the southern Iraqi city, where UK troops come under regular mortar and rocket attack. But community leaders had told him Iranian agents were paying Iraqis $500 a month (£254) to carry out attacks.

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"All the information we are getting from the locals ... is that the vast majority of the violence against us is inspired from outside of Iraq and the people here very much believe that that is Iran," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "There is nothing I have seen that would disprove what they are telling me."

He said the "modern and quite sophisticated weaponry" could not be old munitions left over from the Iran-Iraq war. Both the US and Britain have accused Iran of supplying armour-piercing explosive devices detonated by infra-red triggers, but they have been unable to prove it.

Iraqi militia chiefs admit that hundreds of their fighters have crossed the poorly-guarded border into Iran for training by the Al-Qods [Jerusalem] Force, a branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard that is believed to have trained guerrillas in Lebanon, Bosnia and Afghanistan. The US Central Command claims there are 150 Iranian agents in Iraq, though this is impossible to confirm. "There are very few Iranian nationals in Iraq, or at least very few carrying Iranian documents," one diplomat said. "But they have so much influence on the ground, they are able to operate effectively at arm's length."

An Iranian opposition movement, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, claims Tehran pays 31,690 Iraqis under Al Qods command. Most are affiliated with the Badr Brigade of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which was based in Iran until the overthrow of Saddam. The Badr Brigade has been accused of operating death squads targeting Sunni Muslims. The NCRI even named the commanders of Iranian units in Iraq and procedures for delivering arms and cash across the border. The Headquarters for the Reconstruction of Iraqi Holy Sitescorrect was a regular channel.

But Iran's involvement in Iraq is not all about mischief-making. Economic ties are close, and cash from Iran pours into the Shia holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala. Iran sent a minister to join the US and Syria in recent talks on security in Baghdad. Indeed, experts argue, Iran has a strong interest in stability. "But they can't resist the temptation to make things difficult for the Brits," said the diplomat.

"I don't doubt that the Iranians do have very great influence in Iraq, but they are not manipulating everything behind the scenes," argued Toby Dodge of Queen Mary College, London. "They can keep the pot boiling, and raise or lower the temperature, but they don't create things. "

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, claimed accusations that Tehran is arming insurgents were an attempt to find a scapegoat for US "defeats and failures".

Jeb Bush Denied Honor at U. of Florida

Saturday March 24, 2007 10:16 AM

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - University of Florida President Bernie Machen said Friday he was ``tremendously disappointed'' with the school's Faculty Senate vote to deny former Gov. Jeb Bush an honorary degree.

The Senate voted 38-28 Thursday against giving the honorary degree to Bush, who left office in January.

``Jeb Bush has been a great friend of the University of Florida,'' said Machen, adding that the Senate's action is ``unheard of.''

Some faculty expressed concern about Bush's record in higher education.

``I really don't feel this is a person who has been a supporter of UF,'' Kathleen Price, associate dean of library and technology at the school's Levin College of Law, told The Gainesville Sun after the vote.

Bush's approval of three new medical schools during his tenure has diluted resources, Price told the newspaper.

Bush has also been criticized for his ``One Florida'' proposal, an initiative that ended race-based admissions programs at state universities.

Machen maintains, however, that Bush has benefited the university, such as by providing the funding to attract nationally recognized faculty.

Machen also pointed to Bush's First Generation Scholarship program, modeled after a University of Florida effort to help high school students at risk of not making it to college.

University officials said they could not recall any precedent for the Senate rejecting the nominees put forth by the Faculty Senate's Honorary Degrees, Distinguished Alumnus Awards and Memorials Committee. The committee determines whether nominees deserve consideration according to standards that include ``eminent distinction in scholarship or high distinction in public service.''

``The committee endorsed him,'' Machen said. ``It is unheard of that a faculty committee would look at candidates, make recommendations and then (those candidates) be overturned by the Senate.''

An e-mail sent to Bush by The Associated Press was not immediately returned.