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TOP STORIES
For U.S. and Sadr, Wary Cooperation
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/15/AR2007031502447.html
U.S. troops are conducting security
sweeps in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City for the first time in three years,
part of a revamped plan to pacify the capital. Yet the Mahdi Army militia of
Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has not risen up to fight them, despite U.S.
raids on militia members' homes and growing Sunni attacks on Shiites.
"Until now, our leader has ordered us to keep quiet," explained Ayad
al-Khaby, a local official in Sadr's organization. "This is in order for
the security plan to succeed." After four years of hostility, Sadr and the
Americans are cooperating uneasily as the United States and Iraq attempt to tame Baghdad's sectarian violence. American officials, who in recent months
described Sadr's Mahdi Army and other Shiite militias as the biggest threat to Iraq's stability, now praise the Shiite cleric.
RELATED: Sadr City's mayor target of an attack
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq16mar16,1,2275681.story?coll=la-headlines-world
RELATED: Attack on
Sadr City Mayor Hinders Antimilitia Effort
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/16/world/middleeast/16iraq.html
Two
Senators Secretly Flew to Cuba for Alleged 9/11 Mastermind's Hearing
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/15/AR2007031500865.html
Two key congressional
leaders secretly flew to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Saturday to observe the
closed military hearing for al-Qaeda leader Khalid Sheik Mohammed, according to
Capitol Hill staff members and Pentagon officials. Sen. Carl M. Levin
(D-Mich.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham
(R-S.C.), a committee member, watched the proceedings over closed-circuit
television from an adjacent room, said Tara Andringa, a spokeswoman for Levin.
They were joined by a representative from the CIA, according to one U.S. government official. Lawyers from the Justice Department did not attend the hearing, a
spokesman for the department said.
RELATED: Was Khalid Shaikh Mohammed playing to the jury?
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ksm16mar16,1,2013538.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
RELATED: Confession at
Guantánamo by 9/11 Mastermind May Aid Other Qaeda Defendants
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/16/us/16legal.html?ref=washington
Panel Authorizes
Subpoenas for Justice Dept. Officials
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/15/AR2007031500213.html
The Senate Judiciary Committee
today authorized the use of subpoenas to compel the testimony of five Justice
Department officials as part of an investigation into the firing of eight U.S.
attorneys, but the panel put off a vote on subpoenas for top White House aides,
including senior political adviser Karl Rove. Meeting in an executive session,
the 19-member committee voted to authorize the issuing of 11 subpoenas -- five
for Justice Department officials involved in the firings and six for U.S. attorneys who were dismissed last year in the controversial purge. The subpoena
authority gives the panel a fall-back position in case any of the current and
former officials refuse to testify voluntarily or Attorney General Alberto R.
Gonzales reconsiders his pledge to let his subordinates appear before the
committee.
RELATED: Justice Dept. Would Have Kept 'Loyal' Prosecutors
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/14/AR2007031400519.html
RELATED: Cummins fears
corruption investigation led to his firing
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cummins16mar16,1,7503626.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
RELATED: Second GOP
senator suggests Gonzales should go
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-15-gonzales-prosecutors_N.htm
RELATED: President
Turns to an Insider to Negotiate on Dismissals
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/16/washington/16fielding.html?ref=washington
With
Earlier Primary, Calif. Reshapes Race
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/15/AR2007031501061.html
California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger (R) signed legislation yesterday moving the state's presidential
primary to Feb. 5, 2008, a change that could lead to the earliest and biggest
single-day test of candidate strength ever. Half a dozen other large states,
including New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois and New Jersey, are also
considering moving their primaries to the first Tuesday in February, with the
possibility that nearly two dozen contests will be held that day. Together,
those states could account for more than half of the total number of delegates
at stake.
RELATED: California now near head of the voting line
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-primary16mar16,0,6478077.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Today’s complete national news
Colorado
Emergency
contraception measure becomes law
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5421658,00.html
A bill requiring
hospitals to give rape victims information about emergency contraception - a
measure that's been killed four times since 2003 - became law Thursday. "A
lot of people put a lot of effort and energy into this bill," Gov. Bill
Ritter said as he signed it. "It says that if you're a health care
provider in the state and you're confronted with a sexual assault victim, you
must provide her with information about emergency contraception. We believe
this is an important step." The measure was among four bills signed into
law by Ritter.
RELATED: 5TH TIME'S THE CHARM (Roll Call, March 16)
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5421349,00.html
RELATED: Rape victims
must now be told options
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5447858
RELATED: Ritter signs
rape contraception bill
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=20219&template=article.html
Musgrave
opposes open government bills
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070316/NEWS01/70316002/1002
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave
voted against legislation Thursday that would increase public scrutiny over
government contractors, capping a week in which she voted against four of five
open government bills. Musgrave was one of about 100 Republicans who voted
against most of the bills that the news media and government watchdog groups
are pushing. The legislation also is in response to Democrats’ claims that the
Bush administration has operated under a cloak of secrecy and unfairly enriched
favored contractors, like oil services company Halliburton. The Bush
administration opposes the bills and has threatened to veto two of them. All
the bills passed the House with two-thirds veto-proof majorities.
2
ousted from Bush event add name to lawsuit list
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5421318,00.html
Two people ejected
from a presidential appearance in Denver because of a bumper sticker have added
a former White House deputy assistant to the list of individuals they are
suing. Greg Jenkins is being sued because he managed appearances by President
Bush as head of the White House office of advance, and the office had a policy
of ejecting anyone with views perceived as different from the president's
views, said Mark Silverstein, legal director of the Denver branch of the
American Civil Liberties Union. Leslie Weise and Alex Young were removed from
the taxpayer-funded Bush speech in Denver on March 21, 2005, though they had
done nothing disruptive. They were told later by a Secret Service agent who
investigated their removal that they were ousted because they arrived in a car
with a bumper sticker that read, "No more blood for oil." Weise and
Young, backed by the ACLU, are suing for violation of their rights to free
speech, Silverstein said.
RELATED: ACLU sues Bush aides in ejection
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5447399
Plan to
freeze property tax "unresolved"
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5447480
The Democratic
chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee on Thursday sidestepped a panel
vote on her controversial plan to freeze property-tax rates statewide. Sen. Sue
Windels, D-Arvada, said the proposal to lock property-tax rates at current
levels still needed work, so it was "put in the pile of unresolved
issues." The plan - unveiled Tuesday by Windels and Gov. Bill Ritter at a Northglenn elementary school - was billed as a way to shore up the State Education Fund, a
key source of money for public schools. But during testimony Wednesday, Windels
said none of the extra $64 million that school districts would collect under a
tax-rate freeze next year would go into the State Education Fund. Instead, she
said the money would be steered toward funding for all-day kindergarten classes
and other school programs. On Thursday, Windels said she didn't have enough
time to "work for consensus" on the Colorado Children's Amendment of
2007, as it was billed by Ritter.
RELATED: Proposed freeze on property tax decreases delayed
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5420109,00.html
RELATED: Legislator
hopes to tie taxes to grad requirements
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/03/16/3_16_7a_School_finance.html
Today’s complete Colorado news
Today’s complete daily news: http://media.progressnowaction.org/digest/031607.htm
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