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TOP STORIES
Hussein's
Prewar Ties To Al-Qaeda Discounted
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/05/AR2007040502263.html
Captured Iraqi
documents and intelligence interrogations of Saddam Hussein and two former
aides "all confirmed" that Hussein's regime was not directly
cooperating with al-Qaeda before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, according to a
declassified Defense Department report released yesterday. The declassified
version of the report, by acting Inspector General Thomas F. Gimble, also
contains new details about the intelligence community's prewar consensus that
the Iraqi government and al-Qaeda figures had only limited contacts, and about
its judgments that reports of deeper links were based on dubious or unconfirmed
information. The report had been released in summary form in February. The
report's release came on the same day that Vice President Cheney, appearing on
Rush Limbaugh's radio program, repeated his allegation that al-Qaeda was
operating inside Iraq "before we ever launched" the war, under the
direction of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the terrorist killed last June.
RELATED: Pentagon probe fills in blanks on Iraq war groundwork
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-feith6apr06,0,6994322.story?coll=la-home-headlines
RELATED: Hussein-Qaeda
Link ‘Inappropriate,’ Report Says
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/06/washington/06qaeda.html?ref=washington
ICRC
Chief Faults Rights Protection at Guantanamo
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/05/AR2007040501950.html
The president of the
International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday that the United States
has inadequate procedures to protect the human rights of foreign detainees at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and called for a "more robust" system to
determine whether to release hundreds of men who probably will never face trial.
Jakob Kellenberger said he is concerned that the processes set up at Guantanamo to assess whether detainees are enemy combatants and whether they should remain
there indefinitely infringe on the rights of men who have no clear way of
challenging their detentions. Kellenberger said he raised his concerns in
meetings with senior Bush administration officials this week, and found them
open to discussion. "I felt that the present safeguard mechanisms are
really not strong enough," Kellenberger said in an interview with
Washington Post reporters and editors, adding that the detainees should be able
to appeal their detentions in a fashion similar to the use of habeas corpus.
"These people are four or five years deprived of their freedom, and
despite investigations, no crimes came about."
Justice
Department In New Fight Over Papers on Firings
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/05/AR2007040502374.html
The Justice Department
is refusing to release hundreds of pages of additional documents related to the
firings of eight U.S. attorneys, setting up a fresh clash with Capitol Hill in
a controversy that continues to threaten Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales's
hold on his position. The Senate Judiciary Committee, whose investigators have
been allowed to view, but not obtain copies of, the records in question, is
preparing subpoenas for those papers as well as for all e-mails or documents
from the Justice Department and the White House connected to the dismissals of
the prosecutors.
RELATED: Senators demand details from Gonzales
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/04/06/senators_demand_details_from_gonzales/
RELATED: Fired
prosecutor: Special counsel investigating
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0704050634apr06,1,6443176.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Giuliani,
campaigning in S.C., defends abortion stance
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-04-05-giuliani-sc_N.htm
Republican
presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Thursday defended his record favoring
the use of public money for abortions, saying he wouldn't try to undo a Supreme
Court ruling allowing the procedures. "Ultimately I believe it's an
individual right and a woman should make that choice," the former New York mayor said during a Statehouse news conference where he picked up three
endorsements. Support for abortion rights is unpopular with conservatives who
dominate the GOP in South Carolina, an early voting state. "I tell people
what I think. I tell them (to) evaluate me as I am and do not expect them to
agree with me on everything. I don't agree with me on everything,"
Giuliani said. "If that's the most important thing, then I'm comfortable
with the fact you won't vote for me."
RELATED: Giuliani Reaffirms That He Would Not Seek Abortion Changes
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/06/us/politics/06giuliani.html
Today’s complete national news
Colorado
Droughts
cast on Southwest
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5604339
Southwestern droughts
soon will become a permanent feature of life here - not just an occasional
disaster to weather, according to a new study. The Southwestern droughts of the
past several dozen years are totally different from those that will occur as
the planet warms, scientists discovered in a study published today in the
journal Science. "The future changes, they are something we haven't seen
before," said Jian Lu, co-author of the study and a researcher with the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder.
RELATED: Southwest May Get Even Hotter, Drier
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/05/AR2007040501180.html
RELATED: Permanent
drought predicted for Southwest
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-swdrought6apr06,1,1875684.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
Lobbyist
faces ethics investigation
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5604345
It is legal for groups
to run ads about legislation and lawmakers, but the complaints cite a
legislative rule that prohibits lobbyists from attempting to influence
lawmakers "by means of deceit" or threats. Although the bill in
question had not been filed when the calls were made last month, Borodkin said
she tied the phone calls to the homebuilder legislation after talking to her
constituents, who said the calls talked about raising taxes on homes and making
things easier for trial lawyers. If found guilty of violating legislative
rules, [lobbyist William] Mutch could face possible censure or suspension of
lobbying privileges. The last time a lobbyist was investigated for ethics
violations was in 2003 for lobbying on the same issue, construction-defects
legislation.
RELATED: Probe to target lobbyist
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5468370,00.html
RELATED: Ethics
investigation launched
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/06/ethics-investigation-launched/
Concealed
weapons bill advances in Senate
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/06/concealed-weapons-bill-advances-in-senate/
A proposal to continue
a database of the state's concealed weapons permit holders advanced in the
Senate Thursday after a Western Slope Democrat switched her vote to support it.
The database is set to expire July 1. The measure (House Bill 1174) would
extend it for another four years and require the state auditor to study whether
the information is accurate and whether it is helping law enforcement and
public safety. Bill sponsor Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, said the database
will help law enforcement know whether someone with a restraining order has a
concealed weapon. Freshman Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village, first voted
against continuing the database but then changed to a yes vote in a second vote
on the measure. She said she had previously told Bacon she would support it and
switched back to supporting it when she realized the bill would have died
otherwise.
RELATED: Bill would retain concealed-weapons list
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=20922&template=article.html
Health
plans would benefit state's uninsured
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5468298,00.html
Almost all the
low-income uninsured in Colorado would get basic or comprehensive health
coverage under two plans presented Thursday to the state's Blue Ribbon
Commission on Health Care Reform. Whether those proposals become reality
depends greatly on whether the state can afford the costs, whether the feds
deem the plans legal and whether employers and insurers back the plans or fight
them. About one in six Coloradans - some 770,000 people - don't have health
insurance, and that number seems to be growing. Kaiser-Permanente, one of the
largest health insurers in metro Denver, proposes a gradual phase-in of
coverage, starting with children and moving toward covering most uninsured adults.
Today’s complete Colorado news
Today’s complete daily news: http://media.progressnowaction.org/digest/040607.htm
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