Precinct Master

MoveOn.org: Impeachment (If Not Now, When?)

2008-08-06T15:53:00.000-07:00

MoveOn.org: Impeachment

(If Not Now, When?)

Moveon.Org Has A Lot Of Questions To Answer For Its Members If Expects To Keep Its Membership And Support!

And I am one of those members who will not ante up another dollar or make a move to support or join another street action in Washington DC until they do so.

I will not, as of this day, even post an announcement or a request from MoveOn until our questions are answered.

1) What is the organization’s official position on Impeachment?

(If not now, when?) ( are you going to continue burying the issue in confusing survey forms, the dating of which has given rise to the wide spread resurfacing of this issue as they seem to be little more than lazy Performa recycling of previous documents.) I am not prepared to pay for that form of advocacy.

2) Given the fact that the House Committee on the Judiciary has already conducted one hearing on the efforts of Mr. Kucinich and his supporters nationwide; is MoveOn prepared to join the battle and make a real difference.

An unwillingness or failure to do so would say to me that MoveOn is no longer an advocacy organization of the people but a submissive collaborator and wholly owned subsidiary of the Pelosi-Reid Democratic leadership.

3) Has MoveOn bought into the “spin lines” that it’s too late to do anything now, and that there are other things more important at the moment than the restoration of Constitutional Law in this land and Executive Accountability, (like doing anything controversial might endanger the election of Democrats in November regardless of whether they are worthy of election or reelection)?

4) Is MoveOn prepared to explore or support the exploration of the Suskind allegations?

5) Is MoveOn prepared to act on the clear fact that this administration has engaged in Torture, contrary to our own laws and in total arrogance and defiance of The Geneva Conventions?

6) Has MoveOn become a co-opted organization, co-opted by the Democratic Party leadership to the point where it will sit out any issue that the leadership deems to be uncomfortable and represent that position as the will of the membership of MoveOn as determined by survey techniques designed to provide cover for the leadership of the organization while it enjoys the fruits of the members donations?

These questions need and deserve candid “no spin” responses. In Google groups and organizations across America serious questions are being raised as to the value and integrity of MoveOn. When Members raise such questions; something is very wrong; trust has been lost.

I am not pleased to have to raise these matters in such a public forum.

But when you do not answer my email inquiries and I get a telephone run around after having to do some serious searching even to initiate some calls; I have no other choice.

Breast Cancer Legislation Needs Your Voice

2007-07-09T17:47:00.000-07:00

Mastectomy Hospital Bill in Congress.

A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to remove cancerous breast cells/tissue.

If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy, you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards.

Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure.

Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days after surgery.

It takes 5 seconds to do this and is very important... please take the time and do it really quick!

Please send this to everyone in your address book.

If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times.

If you're receiving this, it's because I think you will take the 30 seconds to go to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know who will do the same.

There's a bill called

The Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act

which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy.

It's about eliminating the "drive-through mastectomy" where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support.

Last year over half the House signed on.

PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site below. You need not give more than your name and zip code.

http://www.lifetime tv.com/health/ breast_mastectom y_pledge. html

The two header Ribbons are (11x11”_72dpi; please feel free to copy and use them)

This takes about 2 seconds. PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your friends and family and, on behalf of all women,.

THANK YOU

IMPEACHMENT: IRAQ WAR COST FACTOR AND CASH REGISTER

2007-04-30T10:47:00.000-07:00

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

The Precinct Master: Breaking News: Black Water, Supreme Court Set Back and Developing Political Contests

2007-04-18T19:30:00.000-07:00

WEEKLY SPOTLIGHT

The Nation
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?pid=187372

THE POLITICS OF SUPREME COURT NOMINATIONS

How should Americans react to the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 decision to uphold restrictions on abortion that place new and potentially dangerous limits on access to necessary medical care for women?

American lawyer Eve Gartner, who argued before the court regarding this case, says, "This ruling flies in the face of 30 years of Supreme Court precedent and the best interest of women's health and safety. Today the court took away an important option for doctors who seek to provide the best and safest care to their patients. This ruling tells women that politicians, not doctors, will make their health care decisions for them."

The five justices who voted to uphold the ban were Bush appointees Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as arch-conservatives Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas and the relatively more moderate Anthony Kennedy.

Voting to overturn the act were Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Paul Stevens, David Souter and Stephen Breyer.

If O'Connor were still on the court, would the decision have gone the other way? Almost certainly.

Alito is not leaving anytime soon.

But Stevens, Ginsburg and potentially others might.
The Nation http://www.thenation.com/directory/bios/jeremy_scahill

Jeremy Scahill
Jeremy Scahill, is the author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, published by Nation Books.

He is an award-winning investigative journalist and correspondent for the national radio and TV program Democracy Now!, is a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute.

Bush's Shadow Army
Jeremy Scahill A VideoNation report on the Bush Administration's growing dependence on private security forces such as Blackwater USA and efforts in Congress to rein them in.
April 2, 2007 (web)

Bush's Shadow Army
Jeremy Scahill An investigation into Blackwater USA reveals a frightening picture of a politically connected private army that serves as the administration's Praetorian guard.
April 2, 2007 issue

KBR's $400 Million Iraq Question
Jeremy Scahill & Garrett Ordower Did the Pentagon's biggest Iraq contractor violate military policy by hiring Blackwater and other private military companies?
March 26, 2007 (web)

From Whitewater to Blackwater—
Blackwater Shot Down in Federal Court
Mercenary Jackpot
In the Black(water)
Blood Is Thicker Than Blackwater

2008 Democratic Presidential Primary: Obama Within Two Points of ClintonThe race for the Democratic Presidential nomination is getting closer and Illinois Senator Barack Obama has pulled to within two points of the frontrunner, New York Senator Hillary Clinton.

At the same time, a huge gender gap has arisen within the Democratic Party.

The latest Rasmussen Reports' national poll shows Clinton with 32% support, Obama at 30%, and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards steady in third place with 16%. No other Democrat tops 2%. Last week, Clinton had a five-point lead. Two weeks ago, it was Clinton by seven, and our last release in March found Clinton enjoying a double digit lead.
More..

TOP STORIES

50% Think History Will Judge Iraq Mission as a Failure Thirty-three percent (33%) of American voters believe that history will ultimately judge the U.S. mission in Iraq a success. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 50% of Likely Voters believe the mission will be deemed a failure.
More..

2008 Republican Presidential Primary: Giuliani 33% McCain 19% Thompson 13% Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Senator John McCain both gained support this week in the race for the GOP nomination. Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney held steady and remain the only other Republicans earning double digit support.
More..

Obama Moves to Top of Poll: 33% Would Definitely Vote for Him Obama is up, Giuliani slips to second, Edwards gains ground, and the other candidates remain in pretty much where they were a month ago. Those are the April results from a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey asking if citizens would definitely vote for or against the 2008 contenders.
More..

Election 2008: Richardson Leads Romney 42% to 34%New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who now ranks fourth in his long-shot bid for the Democratic nomination, leads former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R) in a general election match-up, 42% to 34%. Romney is fourth in the polls for the Republican nomination.
More..

Country Financial Security Index: Americans Feel Financial Strain in April Americans grew more pessimistic about their personal level of financial security in April, as the Country Financial Security Index slipped 0.8 points to 69.4, down from 70.2 in February. The decline was tied to greater concerns about finances and debt and to a drop in confidence in the ability to protect assets.
More..

2008 Republican Candidate Updates 2008

Democratic Candidate Updates 2008

Republican Presidential Matchups 2008

2008 Democratic Presidential Matchups

TOP STORIES

2008 Democratic Presidential Primary
Americans Say a Secure Retirement Not Possible for Mid-Income Families
Poll: Giuliani Has Biggest Base of Support, Lowest Base of Opposition
Election 2008: McCain Leads Clinton 48% to 41%
Bush Job Approval
Election 2008: Giuliani 48% Edwards 41%
Poll: 29% of Adults Watched Video Online During Past Week
Poll: 50% Would Definitely Vote Against Gingrich
Poll: 29% Declare Spring Their Favorite Season
2008 Republican Presidential Primary

U.S. attorney worried 'gloves would come off' over criticism of ouster
By Marisa Taylor

McClatchy Newspapers http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/

WASHINGTON _ A high-ranking Justice Department official told one of the U.S. attorneys fired by the Bush administration that if any of them continued to criticize the administration for their ousters, previously undisclosed details about the reasons they were fired might be released, two of the ousted prosecutors told McClatchy Newspapers.

While the U.S. attorney who got the call regarded the tone of the conversation as congenial, not intimidating, the prosecutor nonetheless passed the message on to five other fired U.S. attorneys. One of them interpreted the reported comments by Michael Elston, the chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, as a threat.

Justice Department officials denied that the conversation with the U.S. attorney ever took place, and Elston said he called several of the fired U.S. attorneys but never made any such comments.

“I had no conversation in which I discussed with any U.S. attorney what they should or should not say to the media regarding their removal,” Elston said.

The two prosecutors who described the call demanded anonymity because, they said, they didn’t want to antagonize the Justice Department further.

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse criticized McClatchy for running the story. “It is unfortunate that the press would choose to run an allegation from an anonymous source from a conversation that never took place,” he said.

Six of the eight ousted U.S. attorneys have been subpoenaed to testify Tuesday before the House of Representatives. Four will appear voluntarily before the Senate after a liberal public-interest group Monday asked for the Senate ethics committee to investigate Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., for calling the U.S. attorney in New Mexico, who was later fired, during a corruption investigation of at least one Democrat.

According to one of the fired U.S. attorneys, Elston made the comments during a telephone conversation after Democrats began questioning whether the administration was attempting to purge more independent-minded Republican appointees in order to replace them with more partisan candidates.

According to the former U.S. attorney, Elston made a “pointed comment that indicated that somehow anyone who talked might become more embarrassed if the story continued on.”

“The inference was that they were holding themselves back from saying more about why people were fired _ that it was likely the department was going to step up the defense of their actions,” the fired prosecutor said. “It could have been construed as friendly advice or a casual prediction. But I think it was expected that everyone would be told about the call.”

When conveying the message to the others, the prosecutor tried to make it clear that the meaning of the conversation shouldn’t be over dramatized.

But another former U.S. attorney, who wasn’t a party to the Justice Department conversation, interpreted the comments as a threat, especially since it came when congressional Democrats were contacting the attorneys about possibly testifying before Congress.

“I took it to mean that negative, personal information would be released,” the prosecutor said. “That if we made public comments or if we were to testify in Congress, that the gloves would come off and the Department of Justice would make us regret that we were talking.”

The controversy over the firings of the eight U.S. attorneys has continued for weeks, but it was reignited last week when U.S. Attorney David Iglesias told McClatchy Newspapers that he believed that two members of Congress called him in mid-October to pressure him to complete the investigation before the November elections. Iglesias, who stepped down last week, added that he believed he was fired because he didn’t speed up the case.

Domenici, who originally had recommended Iglesias for the post, apologized for making the call in a statement Sunday, but he said that he never pressured or threatened Iglesias about the case.

McClatchy Newspapers reported previously that Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., also called Iglesias about the investigation. The Washington Post reported in its online edition Monday that Wilson acknowledged contacting Iglesias, but denied pressuring him.

Domenici also acknowledged in his statement that he asked the Justice Department to replace Iglesias, but he said that he made the request before he called about the corruption probe.

Justice Department officials confirmed that Domenici called Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in September 2005 and January and April of 2006.

During those calls, Domenici expressed general concerns about Iglesias’ performance and questioned whether he was "up to the job," Roehrkasse said. During the first week of October 2006, Domenici made a similar and “very brief call” about Iglesias to McNulty, the deputy attorney general. At no time in these calls did the senator mention the public corruption case, Roehrkasse said.

The left-leaning Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked the Senate Select Committee on Ethics to investigate whether Domenici violated ethics law. Lawmakers are prohibited from attempting to influence Justice Department investigations. Members of the ethics committee released a statement saying they couldn’t comment on an ongoing matter.

Also on Monday, Michael Battle, the Justice Department official who oversees the U.S. attorney’s offices, resigned. In January, Battle sent an e-mail to all U.S. attorneys announcing that he'd be leaving and sent a more detailed e-mail to his immediate staff in February with his departure date, a Justice Department official said.

On Dec. 7, Battle told most of the U.S. attorneys that they were to be fired. Former prosecutors said that Battle told many of them he didn’t know why they were fired, but the orders came from “on high.”

IMPEACHMENT: And Ending The War: Candidates Get No Further Support From The Voter Rage Group: Tools For Leadership Contact

2007-04-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

The “LEADERS” of this nation have turned have turned their backs on the American people and have ignored the message we sent in the November 2007 elections.

The Republicans continue to insist upon following a failed and seriously flawed President into the chasm of murder and slaughter in Iraq.

The Democrats have on beltway blinders, calculating their every word and action in what they perceive as a massive victory in 2008.

Both parties have abandoned every wish of the people. The money to finance 2008 should stop.

They should be made to understand that the 435 members of The House of Representatives to be elected/reelected in November of 2008 will find no favor among us if they are not among the number who have had the courage and integrity to stand up for the end of a failed and illegal war.

They should be made to understand that the 435 members of The House of Representatives to be elected/reelected in November of 2008 will find no favor among us if they are not among the number who have had the courage and integrity to stand up for the Impeachment of the worst President in our History, a man and an administration that has run so far amuck that the fabric of our Democracy is in peril and their actions are clearly criminal, not just incompetent and disagreeable. They must be held accountable!

The entire membership of The House and 35, possibly plus, Senate seats will be on the electoral chopping block, and yes the Gold Ring Prize, The Presidency.

I will not support anyone in any way who does not from this day forward come forth advocating immediate withdrawal from Iraq and actively seeking to end the Bush Administration, in at least IMPEACHMENT!

The words, Indict, Impeach, and Imprison are no longer hollow; they represent a reality that must be acted upon.

To inform you as completely as possible of the state of the 2008 elections possibilities as they are known at the moment, this post is offered with all links necessary to reach out and impact the leaders of this country: National, State and local.

Remember; Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill said: “All politics is local.” That is a political truism. You represent those wonderful words: “We The People” and you are that “Local” voice.

Exercise that voice. I implore you to speak out and act up. George W. Bush is “The Decider” only so long as we let him make decisions.

The time for that to end is now.

We are expected to be law abiding responsible citizens, and I expect our Congress to be law abiding and faithful to their oaths of office. If they are not, each and every one of them who engages in spin fashioned excuses and evasion of duty, should be removed from office and never benefit from another dollar in contribution, a yard sign of support, or our vote.

Let them know that all the trappings of campaigning and fund raising are not going to mean anything this time. We are involved in VOTER RAGE, and while they play the political game we are going to vote for only those candidates who are listening and responsive, only those candidates who exhibit in word and actions, courage and integrity.

The rest of them had jobs before they came to Washington, State Houses of Council table; they can go back to them and rejoin the real world that you and I live in and try to keep decent for those as yet unborn.

Read on to inform and arm yourself and then please take a few minutes to ACT!!!

http://www.backwardsbush.com

U.S. Senators – Search for your senators by name, state, or congressional class; and visit their websites, send them an email or locate their mailing address.

U.S. Representatives – Find contact information for your U.S. representative by typing in your zip code, send them an email or locate their mailing address.

State Governors – Select your state to access e-mail, telephone, and postal contact information for your governor, send him/her an email or locate their mailing address so that you can encourage that your state officially join the ranks of those against the continuation of the war, and those prepared to exercise the Constitutional Right to move for the Impeachment of The President and Vice President of The United States of America.

State Legislators – Search for state legislators and topical legislative information, by U.S. states and territories, so that you can encourage that your state officially join the ranks of those against the continuation of the war, and those prepared to exercise the Constitutional Right to move for the Impeachment of The President and Vice President of The United States of America.

City Mayors – Search for local Mayors so that you can encourage local Mayors and City Governance bodies to take action against the continuation of the war, and those prepared to exercise the Constitutional Right to move for the Impeachment of The President and Vice President of The United States of America.

Contact Anti War and Pro Impeachment Organizations – Search for updated news, coming public events and aid, advise and resources to make the voice of “We The People” heard, loud and clear. 773,000 entries, 100 screen pages.

Senate 2008 Guru

2 Races
2.1 Retiring Senators
2.1.1 Wayne Allard (R) of Colorado

In Colorado, incumbent Republican Wayne Allard limited himself to two terms. On January 15, 2007, Allard formally announced he would not seek re-election.[3]

Republicans: Former U.S. Representatives Bob Schaffer is a likely candidate. Also considering running is former Representative Bob Beauprez, who lost in the 2006 gubernatorial election to Bill Ritter. Retired Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway and former governor Bill Owens have both ruled out a run.[4][5] On March 21, 2007 McInnis dropped out of the race. The strongest remaining Republican in consideration is widely held to be state Attorney General John Suthers

Democrats: The Democratic nominee will almost certainly be U.S. Representative Mark Udall, who has announced that he will seek the seat and is unlikely to draw significant primary opposition.[6]

2.2 Possible retiring Senators

2.2.1 Joe Biden (D) of Delaware biden.senate.gov/contact/emailjoe.cfm

2.2.2 Larry Craig (R) of Idaho

2.2.3 Chuck Hagel (R) of Nebraska

2.2.4 John Warner (R) of Virginia

2.3 Democratic incumbent races

2.3.1 Max Baucus of Montana baucus.senate.gov/contact/emailForm.cfm?subj=issue

2.3.2 Dick Durbin of Illinois

durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Obama, Barack- (D - IL)-Class III
713 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2854
Web Form: obama.senate.gov/contact

2.3.3 Tom Harkin of Iowa harkin.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm

2.3.4 Tim Johnson of South Dakota johnson.senate.gov/emailform.cfm

2.3.5 John Kerry of Massachusetts kerry.senate.gov/v3/contact/email.html

2.3.6 Mary Landrieu of Louisiana landrieu.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

2.3.7 Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey lautenberg.senate.gov/contact

2.3.8 Carl Levin of Michigan levin.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

2.3.9 Mark Pryor of Arkansas pryor.senate.gov/contact/

2.3.10 Jack Reed of Rhode Island reed.senate.gov/contact/contact-share.cfm

2.3.11 Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia Rockefeller.senate.gov/services/email.cfm

2.4 Republican incumbent races
2.4.1 Lamar Alexander of Tennessee
2.4.2 Saxby Chambliss of Georgia
2.4.3 Thad Cochran of Mississippi
2.4.4 Norm Coleman of Minnesota
2.4.5 Susan Collins of Maine
2.4.6 John Cornyn of Texas
2.4.7 Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina
2.4.8 Pete Domenici of New Mexico
2.4.9 Michael Enzi of Wyoming
2.4.10 Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
2.4.11 Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma
2.4.12 Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
2.4.13 Pat Roberts of Kansas
2.4.14 Jeff Sessions of Alabama
2.4.15 Gordon Smith of Oregon
2.4.16 Ted Stevens of Alaska
2.4.17 John Sununu of New Hampshire

3 Senate contests in 2008

Democratic Party Links

Democratic National Committee

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

Democratic Senatorial Candidates

Alabama: Agriculture and Industry Commissioner Ron Sparks (considering) State Senator Vivian Figures (considering)
Alaska: unknown

Arkansas: Senator Mark Pryor

Colorado: Congressman Mark Udall

Delaware: Senator Joe Biden

Georgia: unknown

Idaho: Former Congressman Larry La Rocco

Illinois: Senator Richard Durbin
Rumor About a Durbin Challenger

Iowa: Senator Tom Harkin

Kansas: unknown

Kentucky: unknown

Louisiana: Senator Mary Landrieu

Maine: Congressman Tom Allen (considering)

Massachusetts: Senator John Kerry

Michigan: Senator Carl Levin

Minnesota: Commentator Al FrankenAttorney Mike CiresiState Representative John Lesch (considering)

Mississippi: unknown

Montanta: Senator Max Baucus

Nebraska: Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey (considering)

New Hampshire: Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand Activist Katrina Swett Professor/former astronaut Jay Buckey (considering)

New Jersey: Senator Frank Lautenberg

New Mexico: unknown

North Carolina: unknown

Oklahoma: unknown

Oregon: Congressman Peter DeFazio (considering) Activist Steve Novick (considering)

Rhode Island: Senator Jack Reed

South Carolina: unknown

South Dakota: Senator Tim Johnson

Tennessee: unknown

Texas: unknown

Virginia: unknown

West Virginia: Senator Jay Rockefeller

Wyoming: unknown

Links

Cook Political Report Senate Race Ratings (2/21/07)

National Journal 2008 Senate Race Rankings (2/12/07)

Rothenberg Political Report Senate Race Ratings (1/12/07)

Survey USA Senator Approval Ratings (11/22/06)

2008 Senate Race Tracker Wiki

Pollster.com

Project Vote Smart

Senator Chuck Schumer's Positively American

Americans United for Change

Empowering Veterans

2.3 Democratic incumbent races

2.3.1 Max Baucus of Montana

2.3.2 Dick Durbin of Illinois

2.3.3 Tom Harkin of Iowa

2.3.4 Tim Johnson of South Dakota

2.3.5 John Kerry of Massachusetts

2.3.6 Mary Landrieu of Louisiana

2.3.7 Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey

2.3.8 Carl Levin of Michigan

2.3.9 Mark Pryor of Arkansas

2.3.10 Jack Reed of Rhode Island

2.3.11 Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia

Republican incumbent races

2.4.1 Lamar Alexander of Tennessee

2.4.2 Saxby Chambliss of Georgia

2.4.3 Thad Cochran of Mississippi

2.4.4 Norm Coleman of Minnesota

2.4.5 Susan Collins of Maine

2.4.6 John Cornyn of Texas

2.4.7 Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina

2.4.8 Pete Domenici of New Mexico

2.4.9 Michael Enzi of Wyoming

2.4.10 Lindsey Graham of South Carolina

2.4.11 Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma

2.4.12 Mitch McConnell of Kentucky

2.4.13 Pat Roberts of Kansas

2.4.14 Jeff Sessions of Alabama

2.4.15 Gordon Smith of Oregon

2.4.16 Ted Stevens of Alaska

2.4.17 John Sununu of New Hampshire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_election%2C_2008

Elections for the United States Senate will be held on November 4, 2008, with 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate being contested.

Since Senators are elected for six-year terms, those elected will serve from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2015. They will join Senate Class II, which traces its roots back to the Senators who served four-year terms from March 4, 1789 until March 2, 1793. Current Class II Senators, who were elected in 2002, will seek re-election or retire in 2008.

The U.S. presidential election, 2008, U.S. gubernatorial elections, 2008 and U.S. House election, 2008 will occur on the same date, as well as many state and local elections.

The composition of the Senate going into the 2008 election will include 49 Republicans and 49 Democrats (plus two independents, Bernie Sanders (VT) and Joe Lieberman (CT), who will caucus with Democrats). Of the seats up for election in 2008, 21 are held by Republicans and 12 by Democrats.

There may be additional changes of incumbents to the list below if Senators die or resign. If Senators in other classes die or resign between 2006 and 2008, there may be additional special elections in 2008.

The dates between which the death or resignation of a Senator would lead to a special election in 2008 vary from state to state.

Currently, as of February 2007, Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) is recovering from a Cerebral arteriovenous malformation, and Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY) is undergoing cancer treatment, and there has been public speculation as to whether these two senators will remain in office.

1 Predictions
1.1 The Hotline
1.2 CQPolitics
2 Races
2.1 Retiring Senators
2.1.1 Wayne Allard (R) of Colorado
2.2 Possible retiring Senators
2.2.1 Joe Biden (D) of Delaware
2.2.2 Larry Craig (R) of Idaho
2.2.3 Chuck Hagel (R) of Nebraska
2.2.4 John Warner (R) of Virginia
2.3 Democratic incumbent races
2.3.1 Max Baucus of Montana
2.3.2 Dick Durbin of Illinois
2.3.3 Tom Harkin of Iowa
2.3.4 Tim Johnson of South Dakota
2.3.5 John Kerry of Massachusetts
2.3.6 Mary Landrieu of Louisiana
2.3.7 Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey
2.3.8 Carl Levin of Michigan
2.3.9 Mark Pryor of Arkansas
2.3.10 Jack Reed of Rhode Island
2.3.11 Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia
2.4 Republican incumbent races
2.4.1 Lamar Alexander of Tennessee
2.4.2 Saxby Chambliss of Georgia
2.4.3 Thad Cochran of Mississippi
2.4.4 Norm Coleman of Minnesota
2.4.5 Susan Collins of Maine
2.4.6 John Cornyn of Texas
2.4.7 Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina
2.4.8 Pete Domenici of New Mexico
2.4.9 Michael Enzi of Wyoming
2.4.10 Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
2.4.11 Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma
2.4.12 Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
2.4.13 Pat Roberts of Kansas
2.4.14 Jeff Sessions of Alabama
2.4.15 Gordon Smith of Oregon
2.4.16 Ted Stevens of Alaska
2.4.17 John Sununu of New Hampshire
3 Senate contests in 2008
4 External links
5 References
6 See also

Predictions

Democrats possess the field advantage in 2008. They need only to defend twelve seats, while Republicans must defend twenty-one. Of the twenty-one Republicans however, only four are in states won by Senator John Kerry in the 2004 election (OR, ME, MN, and NH). Six of the twelve Democrats on the other hand are in states won by President George W. Bush (AR, IA, LA, MT, SD, and WV).

The Hotline

In February 2007, The Hotline's Chuck Todd named Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Norm Coleman (R-MN), John Sununu (R-NH), Susan Collins (R-ME), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Max Baucus (D-MT), and Tom Harkin (D-IA) as the nine most vulnerable Senate incumbents from most to least vulnerable.[1]

CQPolitics

CQPolitics.com produced their first analysis of the 2008 Senate race on January 26, 2007.[2] They rank the contests accordingly:

Eight Republican seats (AK, ID, KS, KY, MS, NE, NM and WY) are considered Safe Republican, meaning the races are not expected to be competitive.

Seven Republican seats (AL, GA, OK, SC, TN, TX and VA) are considered Republican Favored, meaning the races are not currently competitive but could conceivably become so under the right circumstances.

Five Republican seats currently held by Susan Collins (ME), Norm Coleman (MN), John E. Sununu (NH), Elizabeth Dole (NC) and Gordon H. Smith (OR) are considered Leans Republican, meaning the race is competitive but the Republican has a distinct advantage.

Two seats, currently held by retiring Republican Wayne Allard (CO) and Democrat Tim Johnson (SD), are rated No Clear Favorite, meaning no party has a distinct advantage.

One Democratic seat currently held by Mary Landrieu (LA) is considered Leans Democratic.

Four Democratic seats (AR, IA, MT and NJ) are considered Democrat Favored.

Six Democratic seats (DE, IL, MA, MI, RI and WV) are considered Safe Democratic.

Races

Retiring Senators

Only one senator, Wayne Allard of Colorado, has announced his retirement, and only two have not announced their re-election plans: Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and John Warner of Virginia. Senator Joe Biden of Delaware will run for re-election if his bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination is unsuccessful. Other senators who have announced their candidacies for re-election may voluntarily or involuntarily cancel their plans.

Wayne Allard (R) of Colorado
Main article: Colorado United States Senate election, 2008

In Colorado, incumbent Republican Wayne Allard limited himself to two terms. On January 15, 2007, Allard formally announced he would not seek re-election.[3]

Republicans: Former U.S. Representatives Bob Schaffer is a likely candidate. Also considering running is former Representative Bob Beauprez, who lost in the 2006 gubernatorial election to Bill Ritter. Retired Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway and former governor Bill Owens have both ruled out a run.[4][5] On March 21, 2007 McInnis dropped out of the race. The strongest remaining Republican in consideration is widely held to be state Attorney General John Suthers

Democrats: The Democratic nominee will almost certainly be U.S. Representative Mark Udall, who has announced that he will seek the seat and is unlikely to draw significant primary opposition.[6]

Possible retiring Senators

Joe Biden (D) of Delaware

Main article: Delaware United States Senate election, 2008

Incumbent Democratic Senator Joe Biden has announced he is running for President.[7] Biden may run for both the Presidency and the Senate simultaneously, but may choose to retire from the Senate to focus exclusively on the Presidency. Should he retire, the 2008 race would feature the first open Delaware seat since 1970, should he not run for re-election, State Treasurer Jack Markell (D) or Attorney General Beau Biden, Sen. Biden's son, may run.

Republican U.S. Representative Michael Castle is a potential Republican candidate.

Larry Craig (R) of Idaho

Main article: Idaho United States Senate election, 2008

In Idaho, Larry Craig has not indicated if he will run for a fourth term. Former Canyon County commissioner Robert Vasquez, a border security supporter who lost a crowded GOP primary for Congress in 2006 won by current Rep. Bill Sali, is an announced candidate on the Republican side whether Craig runs or not.

Lieutenant Governor Jim Risch has also been mentioned as possible Republican candidate, especially if Craig chooses not to seek reelection.

On the Democratic side, former Congressman Larry LaRocco announced his candidacy in April 2007.

Larry Grant, who had also been mentioned as a possible Democratic contender, will most likely rematch against Sali instead, leaving LaRocco as the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination[8]. Craig, who will be 63 in 2008 and who has never faced a serious electoral challenge from either party in over 25 years in Congress, would be heavily favored to win a reelection campaign.

The seat would remain favored Republican even if Craig retires, as no Democrat has won a Senate race in Idaho since Frank Church in 1974.

Chuck Hagel (R) of Nebraska

Main article: Nebraska United States Senate election, 2008
In Nebraska, incumbent Republican Chuck Hagel may retire, regardless of whether he runs for President.[9] Hagel would likely be reelected for a third term should he decide to run. On the Democratic side, three influential Senators have encouraged two-term Omaha mayor Mike Fahey to consider a bid for the seat should Hagel decide to retire. Those Senators include Harry Reid (Majority Leader), Charles Schumer (DSCC Chair), and Ben Nelson (of Nebraska).[10]

John Warner (R) of Virginia

Main article: Virginia United States Senate election, 2008

In Virginia, John Warner has announced that he will run for a sixth term in 2008, at which point he will be 82 years old. However, highly popular former Governor Mark Warner, who won 47% of the vote in a challenge to Warner in 1996 as a little-known political neophyte, may run.[11]

Democratic incumbent races

Max Baucus of Montana

Main article: Montana United States Senate election, 2008

Max Baucus is a popular Democrat in Montana, serving in a state that has long been fairly Republican but also is receptive to Democrats. President George W. Bush won Montana by more than 20 points in both 2000 and 2004, but Montana also has a popular Democratic governor and a newly-elected Democratic junior senator.

Senator Baucus is unlikely to face a significant challenge, unless Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg runs, which would be a rematch of the 1996 contest. Rehberg has not made any formal announcement that he plans to do so, and, should he desire a promotion to the Senate, is more likely to wait until 2012, when freshman Senator Jon Tester will come up for re-election.

Dick Durbin of Illinois

Main article: Illinois United States Senate election, 2008

Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin remains favored in Illinois. He seeks to be reelected in a state that has steadily become more Democratic since 1992.

Tom Harkin of Iowa

Main article: Iowa United States Senate election, 2008

Tom Harkin says he is "doing everything" he can to run for re-election including raising money and putting together a campaign organization.[12]

Harkin received 54% of the vote in 2002 against former Republican Congressman Greg Ganske. In 2006, the Democrats gained two US House seats and won both State Houses as well as retaining the Iowa Governor's Mansion.

Tim Johnson of South Dakota

Main article: South Dakota United States Senate election, 2008

In South Dakota, the seat of Tim Johnson could be a top GOP target in 2008, considering Johnson's narrow 524-vote victory in 2002 over then-Congressman John Thune, as well as his recent health problems. (Johnson underwent surgery in December 2006 for a Cerebral arteriovenous malformation.)

According to a November 2006 SurveyUSA poll, Johnson has an approval rating of 70%, with just 26% disapproving of his performance.[13] Republican Governor Mike Rounds would have the power to appoint a replacement should Johnson vacate his seat prematurely.

[edit] John Kerry of Massachusetts

Main article: Massachusetts United States Senate election, 2008

John Kerry will seek another Senate term in Massachusetts.[14] A December 2006 SurveyUSA poll put Kerry's approval rating at only 43%, with 53% disapproving. [15]

Republican author and conservative activist Jerome Corsi, known for his public criticism of Kerry, has stated that he will run for the seat in 2008.[16]

Mary Landrieu of Louisiana

Main article: Louisiana United States Senate election, 2008

Mary Landrieu was elected in 1996 following a recount, and re-elected in 2002 following a runoff. Landrieu must now endure the loss of many reliable Democratic voters since Hurricane Katrina dispersed many African-Americans from New Orleans. Louisiana elected David Vitter to the Senate in 2004, the state's first Republican Senator since Reconstruction. Lousiana's electoral votes also went to George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004.

Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey

Main article: New Jersey United States Senate election, 2008

Frank Lautenberg has indicated that he will seek reelection in 2008 at the age of 84, though other Democratic politicians have also shown interest in running in New Jersey, such as Congressmen Rush Holt and Rob Andrews. It is unclear if any of these Democrats will actually challenge Lautenberg, who has the lowest approval rating of any Democrat running for re-election.[17]

Republicans have a field of potential candidates such as Assemblymen Bill Baroni and Michael J. Doherty. 2006 Republican candidate Tom Kean, Jr., may decide to run again. Republican Assemblyman Bill Baroni might run against Lautenberg. Baroni is a 34-year-old law professor who was the only Republican to defeat a Democratic incumbent in 2003 and won re-election in 2005.[18]

Republican Assemblyman Michael J. Doherty is also weighing a run against Lautenberg. Doherty is a lawyer and West Point graduate who has been in the Assembly since 2001.[19]

A November 2006 SurveyUSA poll on Senator Lautenberg shows an approval rating of 39% with 45% disapproval,[20] although similar lopsided disapproval ratings did not impair the election of his colleague Senator Robert Menendez.

Carl Levin of Michigan

Main article: Michigan United States Senate election, 2008

Carl Levin has announced he will seek re-election in Michigan.[21] He will be 74 in 2008.

Mark Pryor of Arkansas

Main article: Arkansas United States Senate election, 2008

Mark Pryor might be targeted in his first race as an incumbent. Pryor was the only Democrat to defeat an incumbent Republican Senator in the otherwise GOP-dominant 2002 election. While George W. Bush won in Arkansas in both 2000 and 2004, he won it by a smaller margin than most of the other Southern states, and the home of the Clinton family has Democratic Representatives for three out of its four House seats along with Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln.

Jack Reed of Rhode Island

Main article: Rhode Island United States Senate election, 2008

In Rhode Island, Jack Reed is fairly popular, with a November 2006 approval rating of 66% according to SurveyUSA.[22] National Journal has declared that "Reed is probably the safest incumbent of the (2008) cycle."[1]

Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia

Main article: West Virginia United States Senate election, 2008

Jay Rockefeller, a great-grandson of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller and the only current politician out of the Rockefeller family, will seek reelection in West Virginia. Even though West Virginia is a traditionally Democratic state, in which the party had a 50-32% edge in party affiliation over the Republicans in the 2004 elections, the state party is more conservative than the national party, giving 30% of its votes to President George W. Bush in that election to allow him to win then and in 2000.[23].

Republican incumbent races

Lamar Alexander of Tennessee

Main article: Tennessee United States Senate election, 2008

Even though Lamar Alexander has strong prospects for a 2008 re-election bid, Tennessee, like most other southern states, still has a strong bevy of Democratic candidates. For the Democrats, a leading candidate in 2008 could be former Representative and 2006 U.S. Senate nominee Harold Ford, who ran a surprisingly strong campaign in Tennessee in 2006. In December 2006, Ford said that he was planning to run for Alexander's seat, but in January 2007 he said that he then had no such plan.[24][25]

Saxby Chambliss of Georgia

Main article: Georgia United States Senate election, 2008

In 2002, Georgian Saxby Chambliss defeated Democrat Max Cleland, a disabled Vietnam Veteran. Chambliss will seek reelection in 2008.

Vernon Jones, the CEO of Dekalb County has indicated an interest in running and is canvassing the state to determine voters' concerns. Jones is African-American and is a conservative Democrat who voted for George Bush in 2004.[26]

Jim Marshall is under pressure to not run, as some Democrats are worried he would lose his House seat representing Georgia's 8th congressional district.[27]

There is some speculation that former Secretary of State Cathy Cox, a Democrat, who unsuccessfully sought her party's nomination for governor in 2006, may jump into the race.

Another potential candidate is wealthy Macon-based trial attorney Jim Butler, who some Democrats have dubbed "the next John Edwards".
Thad Cochran of Mississippi

Main article: Mississippi United States Senate election, 2008

In Mississippi, incumbent Republican Thad Cochran has decided to run for reelection.[28] He is not likely to face serious opposition.
Norm Coleman of Minnesota

Main article: Minnesota United States Senate election, 2008

Norm Coleman won a tight contest in 2002 against former Democratic Vice-President Walter Mondale after the incumbent Senator, Democrat Paul Wellstone, died in an October plane crash. Minnesota politics, which had been getting less Democratic for a decade, showed signs of returning to its Democratic roots in 2004 after major gains in the state legislature and support for John Kerry by one point more than Al Gore had in 2000.

In 2006, relatively popular Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty barely won re-election, Democrat Amy Klobuchar handily beat retiring Republican Representative Mark Kennedy in a Senate race, and the Democrats took large majorities in the Minnesota State House, gaining 19 additional seats, and made further gains in the state senate. Six term Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht was also defeated that year.

Comedian and former radio talk show host Al Franken confirmed on the final broadcast of his radio show Air America, February 14, 2007, that he will run for the Senate seat in 2008.[29] He had publicly speculated about running for some time and in 2005, he established the Midwest Values PAC to lay the groundwork for that campaign.

The 2008 Republican National Convention is being held in the capital city of St. Paul, where Coleman was once Mayor (elected in 1993 as a moderate-to-conservative DFLer and re-elected in 1997 as a Republican).

According to a January 2007 SurveyUSA poll, Coleman has an approval rating of 55%, with 36% disapproving of his performance.[30] However, a late March SurveyUSA poll has his approvals sinking to 47 percent with 43 percent dissaproving. Franken is reporting that he has raised 1.3 million dollars in the first quarter of 2007.

Susan Collins of Maine

Main article: Maine United States Senate election, 2008

In Maine, Susan Collins has informed the Lewiston Sun Journal that she intends to seek another term.[31] Collins remains very popular, with a 73% job approval rating in November 2006, and is likely to start as a strong favorite.[32] Also in Collins' favor is the landslide re-election of Maine's senior senator, Republican Olympia Snowe, who had the largest margin of victory of any Senate candidate (besides the largely unopposed Indiana Republican Dick Lugar) in the 2006 election cycle. Collins was re-elected with 58% of the vote in 2002 over state senator Chellie Pingree.

Democratic Congressman Tom Allen recently expressed some interest in running and has been building the apparatus necessary to wage a senate campaign.[33]

John Cornyn of Texas

Main article: Texas United States Senate election, 2008

John Cornyn has a 45% job approval rating as of November 2006.[34] Texas has not elected a Democrat in a statewide election since 1994. The strongest Democrats whose names are mentioned as possible challengers to Cornyn are Houston mayor Bill White and Hispanic conservative Democrat Henry Cuellar. Democratic internet activists have recently become highly excited about the potential candidacy of State Representative and military veteran Rick Noriega.

Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina

Main article: North Carolina United States Senate election, 2008

In North Carolina, there had been rumors that Elizabeth Dole would retire from the Senate and run for Governor, but she said in 2006 that she intends to run for re-election.[35] If she does, she will probably be an initial favorite unless she faces Democratic Governor Mike Easley, who will not be running for re-election because of term limits.

A Dole-Easley race would be highly competitive, but Easley has indicated that he is not interested in serving in any legislature. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has attempted to recruit Easley for the 2008 race. A recent poll showed Easley defeating Dole, 44% to 41%.[36] There are other Democrats whose names are being mentioned, such as Congressman Brad Miller and state Attorney General Roy Cooper.

Pete Domenici of New Mexico

Main article: New Mexico United States Senate election, 2008

Incumbent Republican Pete Domenici has declared that he will seek reelection in New Mexico. Rumors of a possible retirement have persisted due to Domenici's lack of fundraising activity, but his February campaign announcement included a fundraising schedule and confidence in his ability to raise appropriate funds.[37]

Domenici would be normally expected to win re-election easily, having won his current term with the support of two out of three New Mexico voters; however, his involvement in a scandal regarding the firing of U.S. attorneys could put this race in play.

Michael Enzi of Wyoming

Main article: Wyoming United States Senate election, 2008

Mike Enzi is likely to be re-elected without significant opposition in strongly Republican Wyoming, barring some unforeseen development.
Lindsey Graham of South Carolina

Main article: South Carolina United States Senate election, 2008

Lindsey Graham, as a reasonably popular Republican incumbent in strongly conservative South Carolina, is unlikely to be vulnerable to a Democratic challenge, though he is expected to face opposition in the Republican primary.

Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma

Main article: Oklahoma United States Senate election, 2008

In Oklahoma, Jim Inhofe has been quiet about his plans for 2008. A November 2006 SurveyUSA poll put Inhofe's approval rating at 46 percent, with 41 percent disapproving of his performance.[38]

Mitch McConnell of Kentucky

Main article: Kentucky United States Senate election, 2008

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will be a target for Democrats, who have a number of potential candidates to challenge him in Kentucky.

Pat Roberts of Kansas

Main article: Kansas United States Senate election, 2008

Pat Roberts has indicated that he will seek reelection. Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932.

Jeff Sessions of Alabama

Main article: Alabama United States Senate election, 2008

In Alabama, Jeff Sessions has a strong chance of being re-elected. On January 10th, 2007, Congressman Artur Davis announced that he will not run for the seat.[39]

Despite going heavily for George W. Bush in 2004, Alabama still has a strong Democratic presence; Democrats still control a majority of both houses in the Alabama Legislature. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee recently said that Ron Sparks and Vivian Davis Figures are considering running for the seat.

Sparks is currently serving his second term as Alabama's Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries and Figures is a state senator from the Mobile area. Markos Moulitsas, creator of Daily Kos, wrote favorably of Sparks after a favorable profile of him was posted on the Swing State Project.

Gordon Smith of Oregon

Main article: Oregon United States Senate election, 2008

Gordon Smith is likely to run for a third term in Oregon, and may be vulnerable. Oregon businessman Ty Pettit is so far the only announced candidate for the Democratic nomination. Possible Democratic contenders include Congressmen Earl Blumenauer and Peter DeFazio and state Senator Ben Westlund. A poll shows DeFazio beating Smith 42-38.

Ted Stevens of Alaska
Main article: Alaska United States Senate election, 2008

In Alaska, Ted Stevens will be 85 years old in 2008, but he has indicated that he will seek reelection.

John Sununu of New Hampshire

Main article: New Hampshire United States Senate election, 2008

John Sununu represents swing state New Hampshire, which traditionally leans Republican, but which John Kerry from neighboring Massachusetts narrowly won in the 2004 Presidential election and which saw major Democratic gains in the 2006 elections. Democrats took both of the previously Republican-held House seats, the gubernatorial race by a record margin, and majorities in the State House and Senate.

A spokesman for popular Democratic Governor John Lynch said Lynch would not run for Sununu's seat in 2008.[40] Portsmouth' Mayor Steve Marchand (D) has announced his candidacy[41] and Katrina Swett (D), who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2002 and whose husband Richard Swett once served in Congress, has also announced.[42]

State-Incumbent-Status-Possible opposing candidates-2002 Election Results[43]

Alabama-Jeff Sessions (R)-Running for Re-election-Ron Sparks (D)-Jeff Sessions (R) 59%; Susan Parker (D) 40%; Other 1%

Alaska-Ted Stevens (R)-Running for Re-election-Mark Begich (D)-Ted Stevens (R) 78% ; Frank J. Vondersaar (D) 11%; Jim Sykes (G) 8%; Other 3%

Arkansas-Mark Pryor (D)-Running for Re-election--Tim Hutchinson (R) 46%; Mark Pryor (D) 54%

Colorado-Wayne Allard (R)-Retiring-Bob Beauprez (R)Gale Norton (R)Bentley Rayburn (R)Bob Schaffer (R)John Suthers (R)
Tom Strickland (D)Mark Udall (D)-Wayne Allard (R) 51%; Tom Strickland (D) 46%; Other 3%

Delaware-Joe Biden (D)-Running for President-Michael Castle (R)-Joe Biden (D) 58%; Raymond J. Clatworthy (R) 41%; Other 1%

Georgia-Saxby Chambliss (R)-Running for Re-election-Vernon Jones (D)-Max Cleland (D) 46%; Saxby Chambliss (R) 53%; Other 1%

Idaho-Larry Craig (R)--Robert Vasquez (R)
Larry Grant (D)Larry LaRocco (D)-Larry Craig (R) 65%; Alan Blinken (D) 33%; Other 2%

Illinois-Dick Durbin (D)-Running for Re-election-Bill Brady (R)Steve Greenberg (R)Andy Martin (R)Jim Oberweis (R)Kevin O'Hara (R)Kathy Salvi (R)-Dick Durbin (D) 60%; Jim Durkin (R) 38%; Other 2%

Iowa-Tom Harkin (D)-Running for Re-election-Steve King (R)Tom Latham (R)-Tom Harkin (D) 54%; Greg Ganske (R) 44%; Other 2%

Kansas-Pat Roberts (R)-Running for Re-election--Pat Roberts (R) 83%; Steven A. Rosile (L) 9%; George Cook (Reform) 8%

Kentucky-Mitch McConnell (R)-Running for Re-election-Phyllis George (D)-Mitch McConnell (R) 65%; Lois Combs Weinberg (D) 35%

Louisiana-Mary Landrieu (D)-Running for Re-election--Mary Landrieu (D) 52%; Suzanne Haik Terrell (R) 48%

Maine-Susan Collins (R)-Running for Re-election-Tom Allen (D)Chellie Pingree (D)-Susan Collins (R) 58%; Chellie Pingree (D) 42%

Massachusetts-John Kerry (D)-Running for Re-election-Jerome Corsi (R)-John Kerry (D) 80%; Michael E. Cloud (L) 18%; Others 2%

Michigan-Carl Levin (D)-Running for Re-election-Michelle Engler (R)-Carl Levin (D) 60%; Andrew Raczkowski (R) 38%; Other 2%

Minnesota-Norm Coleman (R)-Running for Re-election-Mike Ciresi (D)Judi Dutcher (D)Al Franken (D)Dean Johnson (D)Becky Lourey (D)Betty McCollum (D)R. T. Rybak (D)Patty Wetterling (D)-Norm Coleman (R) 50%; Walter Mondale (D) 47%; Other 4%

Mississippi-Thad Cochran (R)--Mike Moore (D)Gene Taylor (D)-Thad Cochran (R) 85%; Shawn O'Hara (Reform) 15%

Montana-Max Baucus (D)-Running for Re-election-Marc Racicot (R)Denny Rehberg (R)-Max Baucus (D) 63%; Mike Taylor (R) 32%; Other 5%

Nebraska-Chuck Hagel (R)--Mike Fahey (D)Scott Kleeb (D)-Chuck Hagel (R) 83%; Charlie A. Matulka (D) 15%; Other 2%

New Hampshire-John Sununu (R)-Running for Re-election-Jay Buckey (D)Steve Marchand (D)Jeanne Shaheen (D)Katrina Swett (D)-John Sununu (R) 51%; Jeanne Shaheen (D) 46%; Other 3%

New Jersey-Frank Lautenberg (D)-Running for Re-election--Frank Lautenberg (D) 54%; Douglas R. Forrester (R) 44%; Other 2%

New Mexico-Pete Domenici (R)-Running for Re-election-Tom Udall (D)-Pete Domenici (R) 65%; Gloria Tristani (D) 35%

North Carolina-Elizabeth Dole (R)-Running for Re-election-Roy Cooper (D)Mike Easley (D)-Elizabeth Dole (R) 54%; Erskine Bowles (D) 45%; Other 1%

Oklahoma-Jim Inhofe (R)-Running for Re-election-Brad Carson (D)-Jim Inhofe (R) 57%; David Walters (D) 36%; James Germalic Independent 6%; Other 1%

Oregon-Gordon Smith (R)-Running for Re-election-Bill Sizemore (R)
Earl Blumenauer (D)Ben Westlund (D)Peter DeFazio (D)-Gordon Smith (R) 56%; Bill Bradbury (D) 40%; Other 4%

Rhode Island-Jack Reed (D)-Running for Re-election--Jack Reed (D) 78%; Robert G. Tingle (R) 22%

South Carolina-Lindsey Graham (R)-Running for Re-election--Lindsey Graham (R) 54%; Alex Sanders (D) 44%; Other 2%

South Dakota-Tim Johnson (D)--Mike Rounds (R)-Tim Johnson (D) 50%; John R. Thune (R) 49%; Other 1%

Tennessee-Lamar Alexander (R)-Running for Re-election--Lamar Alexander (R) 54%; Bob Clement (D) 44%; Other 2%

Texas-John Cornyn (R)-Running for Re-election-Rick Noriega (D)-John Cornyn (R) 55%; Ron Kirk (D) 43%; Other 2%

Virginia-John Warner (R)--Tom Davis (R)
Don Beyer (D)R. Creigh Deeds (D)Claudia Kennedy (D)Brian Moran (D)Mark Warner (D)-John Warner (R) 83%; Nancy Spannaus (Independent) 10%; Jacob G. Hornberger, Jr. (Independent) 7%

West Virginia-Jay Rockefeller (D)-Running for Re-election--Jay Rockefeller (D) 63%; Jay Wolfe (R) 37%

Wyoming-Mike Enzi (R)-Running for Re-election--Mike Enzi (R) 73%; Joyce Jansa Corcoran (D) 27%

State-Incumbent-Status-Opposing candidates-2002 Election Results
External links

Cook Political Report 2008 Senate Race Ratings

CQ Politics Senate Analysis

References

^ Todd, Chuck. "Campaign Race Rankings: 2008 Senate Races", National Journal, National Journal, 2006-02-12. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.

^ CQ Staff (2007-01-26). Ratings Chart: 2008 Senate Races. Congressional Quarterly Inc.. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

^ Cillizza, Chris. "Sen. Allard Says He Will Retire in 2008", The Washington Post, January 16, 2007. Retrieved on February 6, 2007.

^ "Allard won’t run again in 2008", Cañon City Daily Record, Associated Press, 2007-01-16. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

^ "Elway nixes '08 Senate run", Rocky Mountain News, 2007-01-17. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

^ Sealover, Ed. "Shift puts key state issues in question", Colorado Springs Gazette, November 8, 2006. Retrieved on November 11, 2006.

^ Associated Press. "McCain considers running for US presidency in 2008; Biden plans run; Feingold steps out", International Herald Tribune, November 13, 2006. Retrieved on November 15, 2006.

^ LaRocco to run for Senate; Craig mum on future Accessed 6 April 2007

^ Kaiser, Robert G.. "The Political Veteran", Washington Post, November 15, 2004. Retrieved on November 15, 2006.

^ Kotok, C. David. "D.C. chat has Fahey considering Senate bid", Omaha World-Herald, February 11, 2007. Retrieved on February 11, 2007.

^ Cillizza, Chris, Michael D. Shear. "Va.'s Two Warners May Be Headed for Rematch", The Washington Post, February 28, 2007. Retrieved on March 1, 2007.

^ Norman, Jane. "Harkin points toward re-election bid", The Des Moines Register, 2007-01-18. Retrieved on February 6, 2007.

^ Results of SurveyUSA News Poll #11163. SurveyUSA (November 2006). Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

^ Klein, Rick. "Kerry won't run for president in '08", The Boston Globe, 2007-01-24. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

^ Results of SurveyUSA News Poll #11479. SurveyUSA (2006-12-20). Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

^ Finer, Jonathan. "Another Crack at Kerry", Washington Post, January 28, 2005. Retrieved on November 16, 2006.

^ Results of SurveyUSA News Poll #11152. SurveyUSA (November 2006). Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

^ Bevensee, Rich, Jenifer Braun, Judy DeHaven, Brian Donohue, Kitta MacPherson, Tom Moran and Michael Sommers. "People to watch in 2007: Bill Baroni", The Star-Ledger, 2007-01-07, pp. 4-5. Retrieved on January 24, 2007.

^ Burton, Cynthia. "Lautenberg bulks up funds for '08 run", The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2007-02-06. Retrieved on February 6, 2007.

^ Results of SurveyUSA News Poll #11152. SurveyUSA (November 2006). Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

^ "Levin to seek another Senate term in '08", Associated Press, MSNBC.com, December 4, 2006. Retrieved on February 6, 2006.

^ Results of SurveyUSA News Poll #11161. SurveyUSA (2006-11-22). Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

^ Election 2004 West Virginia Exit Poll. CNN.com (2004-11-02). Retrieved on February 6, 2007.

^ Richard Locker, Another Senate seat might tempt Ford, The Commercial Appeal, December 11, 2006

^ "Ford says he has no plans of a Senate bid against Alexander", WMCTV.com, Associated Press, 2007-01-23. Retrieved on February 6, 2007.

^ Tagami, Ty. "DeKalb CEO fund-raiser may test Senate campaign waters", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2007-02-13. Retrieved on February 13, 2007.

^ Grim, Ryan. "Headline: In 'Open' Season, Candidates Are Blossoming", The Politico, 2007-02-12. Retrieved on February 13, 2007.

^ "Cochran raising money for anticipated bid for 6th term", Associated Press, February 21, 2007. Retrieved on February 23, 2007.

^ Smith, Dane. "Franken jumps into Senate race", Minneapolis Star Tribune, February 14, 2007. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.

^ Results of SurveyUSA News Poll #11626. SurveyUSA (2007-01-24). Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

^ Farmer, David. "Collins to seek 3rd term", Sun Journal, 2006-10-13. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

^ Results of SurveyUSA News Poll #11141. SurveyUSA (2006-11-22). Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

^ Duran, Nicole. "Allen Ponders 2008 Senate Race", Roll Call, December 12, 2006. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.

^ Results of SurveyUSA News Poll #11165. SurveyUSA (2006-11-22). Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

^ Christensen, Rob. "Mary Easley has active public life, but she's no Hillary Clinton", The News & Observer, 2006-06-12. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

^ Dan Kane, Rob Christensen and J. Andrew Curliss. "Poll puts Easley over Dole", The News & Observer, 2007-01-25. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

^ Talhelm, Jennifer. "Domenici: 'I am running' in 2008", The Santa Fe New Mexican, 2007-02-13. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.

^ Results of SurveyUSA News Poll #11158. SurveyUSA (2006-11-22). Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

^ Associated Press. "Davis Won't Challenge Stevens", WTOK, January 9, 2007. Retrieved on January 10, 2007.

^ Pindell, James. "Shaheen doesn’t rule out US Senate re-match", The Boston Globe, 2006-01-17. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

^ Haberman, Shir. "Marchand says he'll run for Senate", The Portsmouth Herald, 2007-01-11. Retrieved on February 6, 2007.

^ Moskowitz, Eric. "Swett plans campaign for U.S. Senate", Concord Monitor, 2007-01-19. Retrieved on February 6, 2007.

^ Federal Elections: 2002 U.S. Senate Results. Federal Election Commission. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.

United States House elections, 2008

United States presidential election, 2008

United States gubernatorial elections, 2008

Contents

1 Major parties
2 Election summaries
2.1 Retiring Democratic governors
2.1.1 Ruth Ann Minner (Delaware)
2.1.2 Mike Easley (North Carolina)
2.2 Democratic incumbents
2.2.1 Togiola Tulafono (American Samoa)
2.2.2 Brian Schweitzer (Montana)
2.2.3 John Lynch (New Hampshire)
2.2.4 Aníbal Acevedo Vilá (Puerto Rico)
2.2.5 Christine Gregoire (Washington)
2.2.6 Joe Manchin (West Virginia)
2.3 Republican incumbents
2.3.1 Mitch Daniels (Indiana)
2.3.2 Matt Blunt (Missouri)
2.3.3 John Hoeven (North Dakota)
2.3.4 Jon Huntsman, Jr. (Utah)
2.3.5 Jim Douglas (Vermont)
3 See also
4 References

Major parties

As of January 2007, there are 22 Republican governors and 28 Democratic governors. The number may change after the 2007 races in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Election summaries

Two governors are prohibited from seeking re-election in 2008, and a third, while eligible, is thought likely to retire. Further open seats are possible if any of the governors listed below dies, resigns, elects to retire, or is denied re-nomination in their party's primary.

Retiring Democratic governors

Ruth Ann Minner (Delaware)

Main article: Delaware gubernatorial election, 2008 Ruth Ann Minner will be term limited in 2008. By 2008, Democrats will have controlled the Delaware governorship for 16 years. Leading Democratic contenders include Lieutenant Governor John Carney and State Treasurer Jack Markell.

Mike Easley (North Carolina)

Main article: North Carolina gubernatorial election, 2008

Mike Easley will be term limited in 2008. By 2008, Democrats will have controlled the North Carolina governorship for 16 years. Democratic Lieutenant Governor Beverly Perdue is currently considered the frontrunner to succeed Easley.

Democratic incumbents

Togiola Tulafono (American Samoa)

Main article: American Samoa gubernatorial election, 2008

American Samoa's Togiola Tulafono is up for reelection in 2008. He won his first term 55.7% to 44.3% in the 2004 run-off.

Brian Schweitzer (Montana)

Main article: Montana gubernatorial election, 2008

Brian Schweitzer of Montana is favored to win re-election.

John Lynch (New Hampshire)

Main article: New Hampshire gubernatorial election, 2008

In New Hampshire, John Lynch is favored to win re-election. There is speculation after Charlie Bass lost his seat in the House of Representatives in 2007 that he will run for Governor in 2008. Bass has yet to decide but could provide a formidable challenge to Lynch.
Aníbal Acevedo Vilá (Puerto Rico)

Main article: Puerto Rico gubernatorial election, 2008

Aníbal Acevedo Vilá of Puerto Rico is up for a second term in 2008. Republican at-large Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño, who announced in December 2006 that he would not again seek reelection to his current post, is running against him.

Christine Gregoire (Washington)

Main article: Washington gubernatorial election, 2008

Christine Gregoire is perhaps best known for having won Washington's 2004 gubernatorial election by 133 votes in the third official count, after having lost the initial count by 261 votes and the first recount by 24 votes. Her 2004 opponent, former Washington State Senator Dino Rossi, is presumed to be her Republican opponent, but his candidacy has not been confirmed. By 2008, Democrats will have controlled the Washington governorship for 24 years.
Joe Manchin (West Virginia)

Main article: West Virginia gubernatorial election, 2008

Joe Manchin is favored to win re-election in West Virginia.

Republican incumbents

Mitch Daniels (Indiana)

Main article: Indiana gubernatorial election, 2008
Mitch Daniels may be vulnerable. While Indiana has not voted Democratic for President since 1964, Daniels is the first Republican elected governor in 20 years. His approval rating has not risen above 50% since 2005, and has been especially low in the wake of his prominent June 2006 deal to privatize the Indiana Toll Road by selling 75 year operation rights to a foreign consortium.

Some speculators believe that because Daniels was not on the ticket in 2006, public outrage over the sale of the toll road contributed to the 2006 defeats of three Republican congressmen in Indiana, Chris Chocola, John Hostettler, and Mike Sodrel. Daniels is currently facing a lawsuit from outraged truckers and commuters who claim that the decision to privatize the road went over the heads of the people, and the issue as a whole has made him very unpopular in Indiana.

Democrat Tim Roemer, a former congressman and member of the 9/11 Commission, would be among the strongest challengers to Daniels for the Governorship.

Democratic Congressman Baron Hill has been mentioned as a possible strong challenger to Daniels.[1]

Former Congresswoman and undersecretary of Agriculture Jill Long Thompson has also been mentioned as a possible challenger.

State Senate Minority Leader Richard Young and Indianapolis businessman Jim Schellinger announced their separate candidacies for Governor in early 2007.

Matt Blunt (Missouri)

Main article: Missouri gubernatorial election, 2008

Matt Blunt may be the most vulnerable incumbent governor seeking re-election. Blunt's approval rating is the nation's second-lowest after Governor Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky. Blunt's Democratic opponent will likely be four-term Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon.

John Hoeven (North Dakota)

Main article: North Dakota gubernatorial election, 2008

John Hoeven is not term-limited in 2008, and may run for reelection. Most governors in the state of North Dakota have chosen not to seek a third term and instead retired.

Jon Huntsman, Jr. (Utah)

Main article: Utah gubernatorial election, 2008
Jon Huntsman, Jr. is favored to win re-election in Utah. By 2008, Republicans will have controlled the Utah governorship for 24 years.

Jim Douglas (Vermont)

Main article: Vermont gubernatorial election, 2008

Jim Douglas is favored to win re-election should he seek it. By 2008, he will have been governor of Vermont for 6 years, or 3 terms.

Proactive Democrats, Obstructionist Republicans

The Senate GOP's strategy continues to be: avoid debating Iraq policy. That will go over very well in Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Maine, Oregon, Virginia, North Carolina...

Tennessee: DKos diarist Sidof79 offers an insightful rundown of possible Democratic candidates to challenge Lamar Alexander. I didn't realize Tim McGraw was such an outspoken critic of George W. Bush.

North Carolina: Another great DKos diary, from Blue South, sees Elizabeth Dole still well under 50% approval, and garnering only 45% in a hypothetical match-up against Rep. Bob Etheridge. Very troubling numbers for the Dole camp. I'm still holding out hope that Mike Easley will challenge Dole once he decides that he's not in the thick of the Veepstakes, as polling already has him beating Dole.

Minnesota: Al Franken will push for universal health coverage. Once Minnesotans see Franken and Ciresi and other potential Democratic candidates out there discussing issues, then the ball will really start rolling.

The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza has come out with his latest look at the Senate playing field. Cillizza is excited to see how a Franken candidacy shapes the dynamics of the MN race. Also, he sees the potential for CO SoS Mike Coffman entering a GOP primary for the super-conservative wing if Bob Schaffer doesn't get in to challenge Scott McInnis for the GOP nomination. Cillizza notes a push for GOP Rep. Richard Baker to challenge Mary Landrieu in Louisiana. He also seems as annoyed as I am that Thad Cochran is delaying his re-election vs. retirement decision.

National Blog Roll

The Accountability Project

All Spin Zone

AmericaBlog

Atrios

Blue Sunbelt

Booman Tribune

Capitol Talk

The Carpetbagger Report

Cliff Schecter

CQPolitics

Crooks and Liars

Daily Kos

Digby

Election Day 2008

Firedoglake

The Fix (Washington Post)

From the Roots (DSCC Blog)

Gun Toting Liberal

Hotline Blogometer

Hotline On Call

The Huffington Post

Kicking Ass (DNC Blog)

Left in the West

MyDD

The Next Hurrah

NJDC Blog

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Proud Liberal

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Swing State Project

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Think Progress

Wonkette

STATE BLOG ROLL

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Blue Mass Group (MA)

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Turn Maine Blue (ME)

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CANDIDATE-SPECIFIC BLOGS

Collins Watch (ME)

Ditch Mitch KY (KY)

Draft DeFazio for Senator from Oregon! (OR)

Draft Rick Noriega for U.S. Senate (TX)

Sack Sessions (AL)

Sununu Hampshire (NH)

Tom Allen for Senate (Unofficial) (ME)

Note: This is a privately run blog, not connected to any political campaign, candidate, committee or organization.

Contact the Senate 2008 Guru at senate2008guru at yahoo dot com.

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." -Native American proverb

COST OF THE WAR IN IRAQ

See the cost in your community To see more details, click here.

IMPEACHMENT: National Impeachment Day; Join The Movement and ACT NOW!

2007-04-12T05:22:00.000-07:00

Participating Groups:

NATIONAL IMPEACHMENT DAY

SPELL IT OUT!

I.M.P.E.A.C.H!

info@a28.org

After Downing Street
Americans for Constitutional Integrity
Allentown Armory Activists
Backbone Campaign
Beachblogger.net
BloodForOil.org
Bodies Count
Bostonians for the Overthrow of King George!
Center for Constitutional Rights
Citizens for Peace and Justice (Medford)
Citizens Impeachment Commission
Clallam County Peace Coalition
Clothing of the American Mind
CODE PINK Women for Peace
Constitution Summer
Consumers for Peace
Democracy in Action (DIA)
Democrats.com
Democracy Rising
Desert Greens, Green Party of Utah
The Gazebo Group
Gold Star Families for Peace
Grassroots Impeachment Movement
Green Party of the United States
Hip Hop Caucus
Impeach Bush-Cheney.com
Impeach for Peace
ImpeachInk
Impeach the President
Independent Progressive Politics Network
Justice Through Music
Liberty Tree Foundation for Democratic Revolution
Maine Campaign to Impeach
March of the People
Military Free Zone
National Lawyers Guild
Need to Know
North Carolina Green Party
North Jersey Impeach Group
Op-Critical
Patriotic Response to Renegade Govt
Pats in the Flats
Patriots for Peace and Accountability
Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County
People for Peace and Justice of Utah
Progressive Democrats of America
Public Resistance
Rescue Our Democracy
Rude Mechanical Orchestra
St. Pete for Peace
Takoma Park Impeach Bush Group
Tampas Back Door For Impeachment of George Bush et al.
TomSongs Music and Film
Velvet Revolution
We Are Not Buying It
World Can't Wait

Add Your Group

Supporting Groups

Applegate Citizens For Political Change
Atlanta Progressive News
AustinMama.com
EightySixFortyThree.com
Freewayblogger.com
ImpeachBush.tv
Jerry Pippin Productions
Ministry of Love
NJ Media Corps
Peace Action of San Mateo County
Pledgetoimpeach.org
Polianna
Progressive Blend Radio
Raleigh Impeach Bush Cheney Meetup Group
Save the Bill of Rights Commission
Throw The Book Book At Bush
Veterans C.A.R.E./Los Angeles
Veterans for 9/11 Truth Voters Evolt!

Add Your Group

IMPEACH! Spell It Out April 28, 2007.

George Bush and Dick Cheney have lied the nation into a war of aggression, are spying in open violation of the law, and have sanctioned the use of torture. These are high crimes and misdemeanors that demand accountability through the Constitutional mechanism of impeachment. Since Congress doesn't seem to get it, we're calling on all Americans who stand for truth, freedom, and justice to join us on April 28 and spell it out for them: IMPEACH!

Let's put the word IMPEACH! everywhere on April 28. If you're in Miami you'll be able to voice your opinion directly to George Bush himself. If you're in San Diego you can tell Nancy Pelosi to put impeachment back on the table. And if you're in Cleveland you can give your support to Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who is considering starting the impeachment process. Here are just some of the actions people are planning. Please sign up for one of them...or start one yourself! If you don't see your community listed and want to find people in your area to team up with, post a message in the new ImpeachSpace Forum.

CALIFORNIA

Indio
Going to the Coachella music festival? E-mail ennisfree@aol.com to talk about planning A28 actions.

Los Angeles
A lot of people are talking about doing something in L.A. but we're still waiting for the big action. In the meantime, some folks are interested in hiring an ImpeachPlane to take the message to the skies. For $940 we have a pilot who will fly a giant "IMPEACH!" banner for three hours along the shore between Malibu and Dana Point. Want to see it happen? Chip in!

Long Beach
Michael is looking for people to help him spell the word “IMPEACH” out of the debris found on the beach on and around Belmont Shores in Long Beach. Drift wood, and the huge amount of debris found in Long Beach should do the job nicely. Click here for more info or to sign up.

Sacramento
Pedro has started making posters, banners and fliers to put up all over Sacramento, and is looking for people to help him get the word out. He is working on organizing a rally on A28 in front of the main entrace to the Sacramento State Capitol Building. For more info and to help out, e-mail pedromendoza7637@sbcglobal.net.

San Diego
The California Democratic Convention will be taking place in San Diego the weekend of April 28.

We intend to be there to tell Nancy Pelosi that it's time to put impeachment back "on the table."

Peter of BeachBlogger is planning a Beach Impeach human mural which you can sign up for here. There will also be an impeachment rally held across the street from the Convention Center from 4:00-6:30 PM on Saturday. Click here for more info. If you are a delegate to the Convention please check at the PDA table for information about actions inside the Convention. We will also be bringing an impeachment resolution to the convention.

San Francisco
Brad, who organized the original Beach Impeach human mural with a thousand people (click to watch the awesome video), will be doing it again on April 28--and this time he plans to make it twice as big! You can sign up here.

Code Pink will then lead a march from the beach to Nancy Pelosi's house. The rally outside her house will feature several prominent speakers and a giant Gandhi puppet.

COLORADO
Fort Collins
The "Stick a Fork in W" team will be gathering at the corner of College and Mulberry from 1:00-3:00 to release helium balloons with IMPEACH cards attached to them. They're looking for people to help out with preparations and supplies. Click here for more info and to volunteer to help out.

WASHINGTON, D.C.
George is organizing a large human mural to take place at the foot of the Washington Monument, to be photographed from the top. Other activities are planned for the day including street performances and a participatory arts/prose event known as a “town hall wall”. E-mail dc@a28.org

GEORGIA
Atlanta
Mary writes "We are a small group of Alantans who will be wearing T shirts with letters spelling out IMPEACH and walking together through Piedmont Park forming a kind of human billboard. Some of us will be focused on engaging in converstion with interested parties and handing out literature (addresses for online impeachment initiatives, reasons to impeach, and quotes from conservatives supporting impeachment). We will be happy to welcome anyone who would like to join us." E-mail marypathaffey@yahoo.com.

Other local residents have expressed interest in flying the impeachment banner in the skies of Atlanta. For $780 we can get a plane to fly a giant "IMPEACH!" banner all over the city for two hours on April 28. Want to see it happen? Chip in!

MIAMI, FL
Unfortunately for Dubya, he's not going to be clearing brush on the ranch on April 28. Nope, he's actually going to be out in public. It just so happens on the day of nationwide impeachment protests Bush is scheduled to give the commencement address at Miami Dade Community College. Doh! We're preparing a special welcome committee for him. St. Pete for Peace will be providing transportation from St. Petersburg to Miami. E-mail miami@a28.org.

ILLINOIS
Chicago
World Can't Wait and Progressive Democrats of America are organizing an action in Chicago, details TBA. They are looking for volunteers to help with flyering, setting up, and more. Contact chicago@worldcantwait.org for more info.

LOUISIANA
New Orleans
The festivities will kick off with a special impeachment Critical Mass bike ride on Friday, April 27. Meet at Jackson Square at 7:00 PM. E-mail nola_criticalmass@yahoo.com. And if you're going to Jazzfest, join Tracy and her team of Second Liners in flying the impeachment flag. E-mail peekaboorouge@yahoo.com.

We'd also like to fly a special ImpeachPlane over New Orleans. For $990 we can fly it over New Orleans for two hours, towing a giant "IMPEACH!" banner, and flying over the New Orleans Jazz Fest which is happening that weekend. Want to see it happen? Chip in!

MAINE
Deer Isle
MaineImpeach.org iscollecting 10,000 signatures to present to the State Legislature and Congressional delegation to urge them to get impeachment back on the table. So far they have exceeded 5,000 signatures, many from our online petition, but also on the streets. On A28 they plan a massive "Feet on the Street" signature collection day and will advertise the day in major papers. E-mail nangalland@fairpoint.net.

BOSTON, MA
Impeach for Peace/Boston Chapter, Bostonians for the Overthrow of King George, Veterans for Peace, and others will be staging an impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney at the historic assembly place, Faneuil Hall. A town crier will read the charges and everybody will declare our Citizens Impeachment! Special guest speakers will include David Swanson and Dan DeWalt. Sign up here.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN
Impeach for Peace will be spelling out “IMPEACH” with canoes on a local lake (TBA) and with large bedsheets underlit by flashlights in a local park (and under a major flight path). Sign up here. They will be taking photos from the rooftops of buildings, but would love to meet an aerial photographer in the area who could help out.

NEBRASKSA
Omaha
Bonnie writes "If you are interested, and can round up 2-3 people along with yourself (come on, people --- it's past time for the "metropolis" of Omaha to get this on) then make a commitment & help us get organized for an impeachment happening. Come and SPELL IT OUT!!! Wear something BLUE on top --- Omaha is a "blue" holdout from the rest of the state, no?!?! It's time to outdo Lincolnites in this process." E-mail mercerbonnie@hotmail.com for more info.

NEW YORK
Chautauqua
E-mail Sue for more information.

Kingston
E-mail Annie for more information

New York City
There will be lots of good stuff happening in New York. Mimi, a military mom, and Amillie will be doing a Beach Impeach on the boardwalk from 1:00-2:30 PM. Military mother Elaine will be organizing major actions in Central Park and on Staten Island. Amos will be flying a plane around NYC trailing a banner reading "IMPEACH!" Jen and the Rude Mechanical Orchestra will be hosting a raucous letter-writing/marching band party in Tompkins Square Park starting from 1:00-400 PM. E-mail nyc@a28.org.

For more info about the Tompkins Sq. Park action, and to sign up to help out, please click here.

A team of mysterious guerrilla artists has also offered to create an unprecedented impeachment light show projecting images onto different buildings around New York City. The projector they use is the most powerful kind in the world (100,000 lumens) and is available for purchase only from the Chinese military. It takes an entire team of technicians to pull this off, as well as a highly specialized slide-making process due to the intense heat generated by the projector. We need to raise $2,400 to cover their costs and to make a truly spectacular statement. Can you help chip in?

More photos

GREENSBORO, NC
Bob of the NC 05 Impeachment Committee is organizing an impeachment protest at the intersection at Elm and Market in Greensboro. For more information click here.

CLEVELAND, OH
From 5:00-6:00PM, MJ and the "Impeach the Liars" crew will be spelling it out with large letters and, if enough folks come, with their bodies in the grass at Lincoln Park (in Tremont at W. 14th and Starkweather). They are looking for help with brainstorming about creative ideas for open mic, street theatre, making IMPEACH cookies to pass out, and more. They will then gallivant over to Pat's in the Flats, which is hosting an Impeachment Party from 7:00 PM to midnight featuring a great lineup of bands and special guest star Rep. Dennis Kucinich! Kucinich is actively considering starting the impeachment process against Bush and Cheney but wants to know whether America wants it. All Americans should tell him yes online and then let's be sure to also pack the house at Pat's to tell him YES in person! E-mail MJ at mjm@notinourname.net about the Lincoln Park activities and pat@caprica.com about the party.

PENNSYLVANIA
Allentown
The Allentown Armory Activists will be holding a peace-nic on the A28 from 12 to 5 p.m. then there will be an impeachment rally from 5 to 6. They will spell out Impeach along a busy intersection and raise a peace sign and IMPEACH banner into the air with balloons. E-mail Micomputa1291@aol.com.

Bryn Mawr
Bryn Mawr Citizens for Impeachment will be holding a rally in downtown Bryn Mawr, main intersection, with lots of big signs, maybe some with the individual letters of IMPEACH, and will parade in front of cars waiting for the light. E-mail tjdugdale@comcast.net.

Reading
Democracy in Action (DIA) is planning a "progressive rally" where participants will spend an hour at each of three locations. They will carry big individual letters spelling out "IMPEACH!"--each collaged with pictures of Bush, Cheney, Abu Ghraib prisoners, etc. and big banners. They are hoping to culminate with an impeach gathering at a local pub. This will all be preceded by a week of flyering, letter writing, phone calling, and more. E-mail dia4u@ptd.net.

RHODE ISLAND
Westerly
The South County chapter of Rhode Island Progressive Democrats of America will be holding an impeachment rally from 9AM to 2PM at the traffic triangle in downtown Westerly, in front of the library. They are looking for people to help with more signs right now. E-mail benzmarie@cox.com.

TEXAS
Austin
This action will start the evening before, with flyering all over town. Then on April 28 there will be a picnic in Zilker Park where we will wear our favorite anti-war/anti-Bush t-shirts, make protest signs and meet plenty of like minded Austin families!! We will spell out the word IMPEACH with our bodies. Click here for more info and to help out.

Dallas
Volunteers with DallasRally.com will be making “M Peaches” for distribution in downtown Dallas on the night of April 28. We will be in Oak Lawn, Deep Ellum and Greenville, blasting anti-war music and handing out our peaches. Early in the morning, we’ll be freeway blogging all around the metro-area. Volunteers are needed, and the overpasses that will be blogged have not yet been decided. We will need between 5-25 volunteers to make this action effective. For more info, or to sign up to help out, click here.

VERMONT
Burlington
Bridget writes "We are proposing an art project to the Parks and Rec. Dept in Burlington, VT for City Hall on April 28th- once we have the ok, I will be getting folks to put up posters about the event, pool their resources for supplies, get the word out and make themselves available on the 28th to help create giant "toy" blocks with artwork on the side which will spell out "Impeach!" As a mother and a student, I would greatly appreciate any help fellow Vermonters can give to this project. I can be reached at Bridgetbee@gmail.com." Sign up to help her out here.

WASHINGTON
Bellingham
Barbara is organizing a protest at Maritime Heritage Park. You can sign up here.

Federal Way
Federal Way Matters is organizing an impeachment protest at the intersection of South 320th Street and Pacific Hwy South. E-mail bfopnow@gmail.com.

Seattle
World Can't Wait Seattle will position groups of people on overpasses throughout the Seattle area (on the I-5 and Highway 99) from 1pm - 4pm holding up "Impeach" signs! They will also be releasing helium balloons into people's hands with cards attached that say "IMPEACH" on them. E-mail seattle@worldcantwait.org.

ROME, ITALY
In a city known for great backdrops, U.S. Citizens for Peace & Justice, Rome plans to spell-it-out and send the message to Congress from across the Atlantic. E-mail impeach@peaceandjustice.it.

Anybody can start an A28 action. It can be as small as writing it on the sidewalk in chalk or as large as organizing 2,000 people on a beach to make a human mural. Be creative! Some of the ways that people are talking about spelling it out include: signs, gigantic lasers, toy soldiers, stencils, LED throwies, freewayblogging, banner drops, light projections, t-shirts, rocks, skydivers, skywriters, peaches, christmas lights, flags and balloons. If you're ready to get an action going in your community, please sign up here.

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Precinct Master: Public Service Post: Pet Food Recall FDA (Plus) Update Link

2007-04-06T07:25:00.000-07:00

FDA HOME PAGE

FDA NEWS PET FOOD RECALL {Check This Link For Updates}

TOPICS ON THIS PAGE

Introduction
News Updates
What Pet Foods Have Been Recalled?
Other Companies Voluntarily Withdrawing Products
How Do I Report a Pet Food Complaint?

INTRODUCTION

On March 16, Menu Foods, Inc. recalled dog and cat foods produced at two of its facilities between Dec. 3, 2006, and March 6, 2007, and sold under a number of different brand names. Several other companies also have voluntarily withdrawn products from the market. See the links below for complete listings.

Frequently Asked Questions About Menu Foods Pet Food Recall

NEWS UPDATES

Sunshine Mills, Inc. Issues Voluntary Nationwide Recall of Certain Branded and Private Label Branded Dog Biscuits (April 5, 2007)

ChemNutra Announces Nationwide Wheat Gluten Recall (April 3, 2007)

WHAT PET FOODS HAVE BEEN RECALLED?

MENU FOODS RECALLED PRODUCTS

* DOG FOOD RECALLS

* CAT FOOD RECALLS

Menu Foods Initiates Market Withdrawal of All Varieties of Recalled Wet Pet Food to Ensure Consumer Protection (March 24, 2007)

OTHER COMPANIES VOLUNTARILY WITHDRAWING PRODUCTS

Sunshine Mills, Inc. Issues Voluntary Nationwide Recall of Certain Branded and Private Label Branded Dog Biscuits (April 5, 2007)

ChemNutra Announces Nationwide Wheat Gluten Recall (April 3, 2007)

DEL MONTE PET PRODUCTS
Del Monte Pet Products Voluntarily Withdraws Specific Product Codes of Pet Treats and Wet Dog Food Products (March 31, 2007)

HILLS PET NUTRITION

Prescription Diet m/d Feline Dry Food (FDA Press Release, March 30, 2007)
Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. Select Science Diet Savory Cuts Cat Food (March 17, 2007)

NESTLÉ PURINA PETCARE COMPANY
Alpo® Brand Prime Cuts In Gravy Canned Dog Food (March 30, 2007)
Mighty Dog® 5.3 Ounce Pouch Products (March 16, 2007)

HOW DO I REPORT A PET FOOD COMPLAINT?
Please contact your Consumer Complaint Coordinator

PAGE LAST UPDATED APRIL 5, 2007

THE AMERICAN VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION:

PET FOOD RECALL: VETERINARIANS ADVISE OWNERS ON DOG & CAT FOOD RECALL

Pet Food Recall FAQ's Recap -

Pet owners still have questions on the recall of dog and cat food and even pet treats that has worried animal lovers. The American Veterinary Medical Association has prepared a good list of frequently asked questions as consumers have swamped veterinarians' offices and phone lines with concern.

Q. What foods have been recalled?

A. For a complete listing of dog foods and cat foods affected by the recall, please go to http://www.menufoods.com/recall/For information regarding the voluntary withdrawal of Hills Pet Nutrition Prescription Diet™ m/d™ Feline Dry Food, please go to http://www.hillspet.com/

For information regarding the voluntary withdrawal of Del Monte Pet Products pet treats and wet dog food products, please go to http://www.delmonte.com/petfoodrecall.html

For information regarding the voluntary withdrawal of Alpo Prime Cuts in Gravy and Mighty Dog pouch products recalls, please go to http://www.purina.com/

Q. Why have so many different brands been recalled?

A. Menu Foods contracts with a wide variety of pet food companies to produce their specialized products. Although these foods are produced in the same facility, they are made using ingredients specified by the individual pet food companies. The foods themselves are not identical despite being produced by one manufacturer.

The contaminated lot of wheat gluten was supplied to Menu Foods, one supplier of dry food (see above), and a separate manufacturer of certain dog treats and wet dog foods. Therefore, only foods and treats that were manufactured with the affected wheat gluten source have been recalled.

Q. The initial recall list was only for canned or pouched foods. What about

the dry food and treats I feed my pet(s)?

A. Menu foods processes the "cuts and gravy" type pet foods at the processing plants in Kansas and New Jersey. Dry foods are manufactured using different processes and at different facilities.

To date, only one brand of dry food has been recalled (see above). This product was voluntarily recalled by the manufacturer after it was determined that a portion of the contaminated lot of wheat gluten was used to manufacture this type of food.

Q. What should I do if I have the recalled pet food in my house?

A. Do not feed the food or treats to your pet. If the product is unopened, you may return it to the store from which you purchased the food or treats. f the product is opened, dispose of the remaining food or treats so that your pet cannot get to it. If your animal appears normal, consult with your veterinarian and/or monitor your animal closely for signs of illness.

If your animal shows any signs of illness and has been fed one or more of the recalled foods or treats, have your animal evaluated by a veterinarian. Store any opened food or treats away from the reach of animals, and contact your state Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Consumer Complaint Coordinator.

For a state-by-state list of Coordinators, go here . Please include as much information as possible, including the specific product name, lot numbers, veterinarian's report and diagnosis, etc.

Q. Does the problem affect dogs and cats equally?

A. To date, it appears that cats are more commonly affected than dogs, and small dogs may be more affected than larger dogs. This may be because cats and smaller dogs are more sensitive to the causative substance, or it because they are more likely to be fed the types of food involved in the recall.

Q. My pet has eaten the food that has been recalled. How do I know my pet is sick?

A. Signs of illness include loss of appetite, lethargy, depression, vomiting, diarrhea, sudden changes in water consumption, or changes in the frequency or amount of urination. These signs may also occur with other illnesses. Any animal showing these signs should be examined by a veterinarian, even if the animal has not eaten any of the recalled pet food.

Q. My pet is showing signs of illness. What do I do?

A. Have your pet examined by a veterinarian as soon as possible.

Q. What will my veterinarian do?

A. Your veterinarian will examine your pet, and will most likely take blood samples and collect a urine sample to test for kidney disease or other problems. Other diagnostic procedures, such as radiographs (x-rays) or ultrasound examinations, may be recommended to eliminate other causes of kidney disease and vomiting. If the tests determine that your pet has kidney disease, your veterinarian may recommend treatment including intravenous fluid therapy and medications.

Q. What is the food that is making animals sick?

A. The cause of the illnesses has not yet been confirmed, and the FDA and laboratories are continuing to evaluate samples and reports of illness or death. Because the cause is not confirmed, the treatment can not be specifically directed to one cause. Generalized treatment for kidney disease and vomiting is recommended until a more specific treatment can be determined.

Q. How long will it be before you know what is causing the problem?

A. The answer to this question is unknown. Food, blood, urine, and tissue samples are being thoroughly tested for many possible causes. Many of these tests are not rapid tests, and may require additional time to complete. There is always the possibility, however, that the cause of the problem will not be found.

Q. How do I report my pet's illness from the pet food?

A. You should contact your state Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Consumer Complaint Coordinator. For a state-by-state list of Coordinators, go to the FDA . Please include as much information as possible, including the specific product name, lot numbers, veterinarian's report and diagnosis, etc.

Q. Where can I go for up-to-date information?

A. The American Veterinary Medical Association's home page (http://www.avma.org/) includes links to more information, and is updated as soon as new information becomes available.

These FAQs prepared by AVMA.

IMPEACHMENT: The BlackWater Mercenary Army; A Stand Alone Impeachable War Crime!

2007-04-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

MATERIALS FROM THE PRECINCT MASTER’S GROWING IMPEACHMENT NOTEBOOKS: BUSH IS IMPEACHABLE ON THIS ISSUE ALONE; IT IS A WAR CRIME, PLAIN AND SIMPLE, LET ALONE AN ACT OF BLATANT FINANCIAL CORRUPTION.

THE BLACKWATER BUSH MERCENARY ARMY ISSUE: MILITARY OUT SOURCING in direct defiance of The Geneva Conventions…A WAR CRIME!

War is not polite recreation but the vilest thing in life, and we ought to understand that and not play at war. Our attitude towards the fearful necessity of war ought to be stern and serious. LEO TOLSTOY

“When asked about their mission, Blackwater refused to comment--and told reporters to talk to their lawyers.

The Geneva Conventions make hired mercenaries illegal--so private armies today "officially" claim that they are not in the battle zones to actually fight or assassinate, but only for "security" or "training" or (perhaps) "guarding food shipments."

Blackwater USA is the most comprehensive professional military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping, and stability Operations Company in the world.

Blackwater USA comprises nine separate business units to offer the most comprehensive professional security, peacekeeping, and stability Operations Company in the world.

VISION
To support security, peace, freedom, and democracy everywhere.

MISSION
To support national and international security policies that protect those who are defenseless and provide a free voice for all with a dedication to providing ethical, efficient, and effective turnkey solutions that positively impact the lives of those still caught in desperate times.

Blackwater is committed to the foot soldiers -- the men and women who stand on the frontlines of the global war on terror and who believe in a peaceful future for their communities and nations.

Whether serving in or out of uniform, Blackwater is committed to providing these men and women with the very best in training and tactical support to ensure they are fully prepared to meet current and future global security challenges.

http://www.blackwaterusa.com

Saturday 10 September 2005 {It’s not like no one knows}

New Orleans - Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous for their work in Iraq, are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans. Some of the mercenaries say they have been "deputized" by the Louisiana governor; indeed some are wearing gold Louisiana state law enforcement badges on their chests and Blackwater photo identification cards on their arms.

They say they are on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and have been given the authority to use lethal force.

Several mercenaries we spoke with said they had served in Iraq on the personal security details of the former head of the US occupation, L. Paul Bremer and the former US ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte.

"This is a totally new thing to have guys like us working CONUS (Continental United States)," a heavily armed Blackwater mercenary told us as we stood on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter.

"We're much better equipped to deal with the situation in Iraq."

Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional killers in the world and they are accustomed to operating without worry of legal consequences.

Their presence on the streets of New Orleans should be a cause for serious concern for the remaining residents of the city and raises alarming questions about why the government would allow men trained to kill with impunity in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to operate here.

Some of the men now patrolling the streets of New Orleans returned from Iraq as recently as 2 weeks ago.

What is most disturbing is the claim of several Blackwater mercenaries we spoke with that they are here under contract from the federal and Louisiana state governments.

Blackwater is one of the leading private "security" firms servicing the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. It has several US government contracts and has provided security for many senior US diplomats, foreign dignitaries and corporations.

The company rose to international prominence after 4 of its men were killed in Fallujah and two of their charred bodies were hung from a bridge in March 2004. Those killings sparked the massive US retaliation against the civilian population of Fallujah that resulted in scores of deaths and tens of thousands of refugees.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/091005A.shtml

"We have established a global presence and provide training and tactical solutions for the 21st century.

Our clients include federal law enforcement agencies, the Department of Defense, Department of State, and Department of Transportation, local and state entities from around the country, multinational corporations and friendly nations from all over the globe."

Blackwater corporate website (http://www.blackwaterusa.com)

"I would like to have the largest, most professional private army in the world."

Gary Jackson, president of Blackwater USA

"Blackwater. right now has contracts that [Gary Jackson] says are so secret that he is not able to tell one branch of the Feds that he's working for a different branch of the Feds.. Much of the interview I had with them was couched in this -- this almost cowboy-like secrecy. They were very proud of being on these top secret missions."

Barry Yeoman, author of "Soldiers of Good Fortune," on Democracy Now

Soldier Of Fortune Magazine (A Watch Source of these types of things)

Soon after the four U.S. "civilian contractors" died in Fallujah, it became obvious they weren't "civilians" at all. All four were trained commandos--at least three had years of experience in elite U.S. military units. They were working for the private mercenary army called "Blackwater USA." All were heavily armed. One carried a Department of Defense ID card.

What were they doing deep in Fallujah? At this point, it is not known.

The official story is that these heavily armed mercenaries were in Fallujah to "protect food shipments." But that day, there were no "food shipments" in sight. The Marines had just gone door-to-door arresting men for interrogation--and so there has been speculation in Fallujah that these commandos were on a mission to capture or assassinate people fingered as part of the resistance.

When asked about their mission, Blackwater refused to comment--and told reporters to talk to their lawyers.

The Geneva Conventions make hired mercenaries illegal--so private armies today "officially" claim that they are not in the battle zones to actually fight or assassinate, but only for "security" or "training" or (perhaps) "guarding food shipments."

Blackwater is a highly connected mercenary corporation--based in North Carolina, but with offices in McLean, Virginia, near CIA headquarters. They operate a 5,200-acre state-of-the-art commando training ground in North Carolina's Great Dismal Swamp--basically a private military base. It provides privatized training for U.S. military personnel and police.

http://rwor.org/a/1236/blackwater.htm

Nestled inconspicuously amid the pinelands and horse farms of northeastern North Carolina lays a small but increasingly important part of the nation's campaign to stabilize Iraq.

Here, at the 6,000-acre training ground of Blackwater U.S.A., scores of former military commandos, police officers and civilians are prepared each month to join the lucrative but often deadly work of providing security for corporations and governments in the toughest corners of the globe.

On Wednesday, four employees of a Blackwater unit -- most of them former American military Special Operations personnel -- were killed in an ambush in the central Iraqi city of Fallujah, their bodies mutilated and dragged through the streets by chanting crowds.The scene, captured in horrific detail by television and newspaper cameras, shocked the nation and outraged the tightly knit community of current and former Special Operations personnel.

But it also shed new light on the rapidly growing and loosely regulated industry of private paramilitary companies like Blackwater that are replacing government troops in conflicts from South America to Africa to the Middle East."This is basically a new phenomenon: corporatized private military services doing the front-line work soldiers used to do," said Peter W. Singer, a national security fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington who has written a book on the industry,

(1) "Corporate Warriors" (2) (Cornell University Press, 2003).

http://www.warprofiteers.com/article.php?id=11235

There are currently thousands of mercenaries serving in Iraq. Their high salaries and shorter terms of employment will inevitably make a serious dent on the military's budget -- and soldiers' morale.

With the casualty toll ticking ever upward and troops stretched thin on the ground, the Bush administration is looking to mercenaries to help control Iraq. These soldiers-for-hire are veterans of some of the most repressive military forces in the world, including that of the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and South Africa's apartheid regime.

In February, Blackwater USA, a North Carolina-based Pentagon contractor, began hiring former combat personnel in Chile, offering them up to $4,000 a month to guard oil wells in Iraq. The company flew the first batch of 60 former commandos to a training camp in North Carolina. These recruits will eventually wind up in Iraq where they will spend six months to a year.

"We scour the ends of the earth to find professionals -- the Chilean commandos are very, very professional and they fit within the Blackwater system," Gary Jackson, the president of Blackwater USA, told the Guardian.

While Blackwater USA is not nearly as well known as Halliburton or Bechtel -- two mega-corporations making a killing off the reconstruction of Iraq -- it nevertheless is doing quite well financially thanks to the White House's war on terror.

The company specializes in firearm, tactics and security training and in October 2003, according to Mother Jones magazine, the company won a $35.7 million contract to train more than 10,000 sailors from Virginia, Texas, and California each year in 'force protection.'

http://www.alternet.org/story/18193

With the casualty toll ticking ever upward and troops stretched thin on the ground, the Bush administration is looking to mercenaries to help control Iraq. These soldiers-for-hire are veterans of some of the most repressive military forces in the world, including that of the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and South Africa's apartheid regime.

In February, Blackwater USA, a North Carolina-based Pentagon contractor, began hiring former combat personnel in Chile, offering them up to $4,000 a month to guard oil wells in Iraq. The company flew the first batch of 60 former commandos to a training camp in North Carolina. These recruits will eventually wind up in Iraq where they will spend six months to a year

Blackwater Mercenaries Are Some Of The Most Feared Professional Killers In The World. What are they doing prowling the streets of NOLA?

A Short repeat of some often cited material_

Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous for its work in Iraq, are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans. Some of the mercenaries say they have been "deputized" by the Louisiana governor; indeed some are wearing gold Louisiana state law enforcement badges on their chests and Blackwater photo identification cards on their arms.

They say they are on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and have been given the authority to use lethal force. Several mercenaries we spoke with said they had served in Iraq on the personal security details of the former head of the U.S. occupation, L. Paul Bremer and the former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte.

"This is a totally new thing to have guys like us working CONUS (Continental United States)," a heavily armed Blackwater mercenary told us as we stood on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. "We're much better equipped to deal with the situation in Iraq."

Blackwater mercenaries are some of the most feared professional killers in the world and they are accustomed to operating without worry of legal consequences.

Their presence on the streets of New Orleans should be a cause for serious concern for the remaining residents of the city and raises alarming questions about why the government would allow men trained to kill with impunity in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to operate here. Some of the men now patrolling the streets of New Orleans returned from Iraq as recently as two weeks ago.

What is most disturbing is the claim of several Blackwater mercenaries we spoke with that they are here under contract from the federal government and the state of Louisiana. Blackwater is one of the leading private security firms servicing the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. It has several U.S. government contracts and has provided security for many senior U.S. diplomats, foreign dignitaries and corporations.

The company rose to international prominence after four of its men were killed in Fallujah and two of their charred bodies were hung from a bridge in March 2004. Those killings sparked the massive U.S. retaliation against the civilian population of Fallujah that resulted in scores of deaths and tens of thousands of refugees. (Blown Cover)

Who Sent In the Mercs? (Now there’s one that needs an answer!)

That raises a key question: under what authority are Blackwater's men operating? A spokesperson for the Homeland Security Department, Russ Knocke, told the Washington Post he knows of no federal plans to hire Blackwater or other private security. "We believe we've got the right mix of personnel in law enforcement for the federal government to meet the demands of public safety," he said.

But in an hour-long conversation with several Blackwater mercenaries, we heard a different story. The men we spoke with said they are indeed on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and the Louisiana governor's office and that some of them are sleeping in camps organized by Homeland Security in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. They told us they not only had authority to make arrests but also to use lethal force. Read On!

http://www.alternet.org/katrina/25320

In addition to the thousands of military troops patrolling the streets of New Orleans, there are also scores of private soldiers that are now spreading out across the city, like those from the Blackwater Security firm. Democracy Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill reports. [includes rush transcript]

*Jeremy Scahill, Democracy Now! producer and correspondent. Read: "Overkill: Feared Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/12/1426242

On Tuesday, five employees of the private security firm Blackwater USA were killed in a violent Baghdad neighborhood. Hours later, President Bush used his State of the Union address to call on what some are calling an undeclared surge of private mercenaries in Iraq. We speak with Jeremy Scahill, author of the forthcoming “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army.” [includes rush transcript]

The private security firm Blackwater USA is back in the news again. On Tuesday, hours before President Bush’s State of the Union address, one of the company’s helicopters was brought down in a violent Baghdad neighborhood. Five Blackwater troops - all Americans - were killed. Reports say the men’s bodies show signs of execution-style deaths with bullet wounds to the back off the head.

Blackwater provided no identities or details of those killed. They did release a statement saying the deaths “are a reminder of the extraordinary circumstances under which our professionals voluntarily serve to bring freedom and democracy to the Iraqi people.”

President Bush made no mention of the incident during his State of the Union. But he did address the very issue that has brought dozens of private security companies like Blackwater to Iraq in the first place: the need for more troops.

President Bush.

Is the president looking to further outsource war?

My next guest writes that Blackwater is a reminder of just how privatized the Iraq war has become. Jeremy Scahill is a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute and is author of the forthcoming book, “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army.”

He has an OpEd in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times titled “Our mercenaries in Iraq.” He joins me in the firehouse studio.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/26/1559232

Tens of thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims remain without homes. The environment is devastated. People are disenfranchised. Financial resources, desperate residents are told, are scarce. But at least New Orleans has a Wal-Mart parking lot serving as a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center with perhaps the tightest security of any parking lot in the world.

That's thanks to the more than $30 million Washington has shelled out to the Blackwater USA security firm since its men deployed after Katrina hit. Under contract with the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal Protective Service, Blackwater’s men are ostensibly protecting federal reconstruction projects for FEMA.

Documents show that the government paid Blackwater $950 a day for each of its guards in the area.

Interviewed by The Nation last September, several of the company's guards stationed in New Orleans said they were being paid $350 a day. That would have left Blackwater with $600 per man, per day to cover lodging, ammo, other overhead--and profits.

*A Scahill Must Read
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060529/scahill

The powerful private army that the U.S. government has made its Praetorian Guard for the “global war on terror.” Blackwater has the world's largest private military base, a fleet of twenty aircraft, and 20,000 soldiers at the ready.

Run by a multimillionaire Christian conservative who bankrolls President Bush and his allies, its forces are capable of overthrowing governments, and yet most people have never heard of Blackwater. That is about to change.

http://www.blackwaterbook.com

There's a $400 million question facing the Pentagon's largest contractor, KBR, the former Halliburton subsidiary responsible for more than 50,000 personnel in Iraq and billions in government contracts:

Will the mammoth corporation be forced to repay the government nearly half a billion dollars because it hired private security forces in Iraq, including Blackwater USA, when the Army itself was supposed to be providing it with protection?

It's a scandal that has been brewing for more than two years, kept alive largely through the efforts of Representative Henry Waxman.

The California Democrat has been on a warpath against Halliburton and KBR almost since the Bush Administration took power in 2000. But it was actually an incident involving the private military company Blackwater USA that sparked the current controversy, which could result in the hefty KBR repayment to the government.

It began with one of the most iconic incidents of the Iraq War: the March 31, 2004, ambush of four Blackwater contractors in the Sunni city of Falluja. The men were burned, dragged through the streets and strung from a bridge. For many in Congress--and the broader population--it was the first they had heard of private soldiers operating in the war zone. Finding out who exactly they were working for in Falluja that day would take nearly three years.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070326/scahill_ordower

Blackwater USA, the private military contractor in the Bush Administration's "war on terror," has a new lawyer working to defend it against a ground-breaking wrongful death lawsuit brought by the families of four of its contractors killed in Iraq.

The new "counsel of record" for the North Carolina-based company is none other than former Whitewater investigator Kenneth Starr--the independent counsel in the 1999 impeachment of President Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal.

Starr was brought in last week by Blackwater to file motions in front of the US Supreme Court in a case stemming from the killing of four Blackwater contractors in the Iraqi city of Fallujah on March 31, 2004.

"I think that Blackwater has brought in Kenneth Starr to somehow leverage a political connection to help them succeed in a case where they can't win on the merits," says Marc Miles, an attorney for the families of the Blackwater contractors.

Starr takes over from Blackwater’s’s previous counsel, Greenberg Traurig, the influential Washington law firm that once employed lobbyist Jack Abramoff. "They bring in all these big-time lawyers from nationwide firms with hundreds of attorneys. Blackwater is really painting this David and Goliath picture themselves."

In the lawsuit, originally filed in January 2005 in state court in North Carolina, the families of the men argue that Blackwater cut corners in the interest of profits, and sent the men into Fallujah without proper personnel, armored vehicles and adequate weapons.

The men were ambushed, their vehicles burned and their charred bodies hung from a bridge. The incident sparked the first US siege of Fallujah, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Iraqis and the destruction of the city.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061113/whitewater_to_blackwater

In a major blow to one of the most infamous war profiteers operating in Iraq, Afghanistan and New Orleans, a federal appeals court has ruled that a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the mercenary firm Blackwater USA can proceed in North Carolina's state courts.

The suit was brought by the families of the four Blackwater contractors ambushed and killed in Falluja, Iraq on March 31, 2004. Blackwater had tried to have the same case dismissed or moved to federal court.

"I've been bawling ever since I've heard the decision," says Katy Helvenston, whose son Scott was killed in Falluja, his charred body hung from a bridge. "It's been overwhelming.

I am so glad that they ruled this way. Blackwater has stalled and stalled. Look at the hundreds of millions of dollars in profits in Iraq and New Orleans they've made since my son was killed. It's time to go to trial and let the chips fall where they may."

The lawsuit, filed in January 2005, alleges that Blackwater cut corners in the interest of profits, leading to the brutal deaths of the four men: Scott Helvenston, Jerko "Jerry" Zovko, Mike Teague and Wes Batalona. "

It has now been more than a year and a half since the lawsuit was filed, and Blackwater has managed to stall and frustrate the litigation," Marc Miles, an attorney for the families, told me. "I anticipate that this matter will now be on a fast track to trial, and believe that a jury will ultimately find Blackwater liable for its wrongful conduct in causing the deaths of these four Americans."

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060911/blackwater_shot_down

While the Bush Administration calls for the immediate disbanding of what it has labeled "private" and "illegal" militias in Lebanon and Iraq, it is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into its own global private mercenary army tasked with protecting US officials and institutions overseas.

The secretive program, which spans at least twenty-seven countries, has been an incredible jackpot for one heavily Republican-connected firm in particular:

Blackwater USA. Government records recently obtained by The Nation reveal that the Bush Administration has paid Blackwater more than $320 million since June 2004 to provide "diplomatic security" services globally.

The massive contract is the largest known to have been awarded to Blackwater to date and reveals how the Administration has elevated a once-fledgling security firm into a major profiteer in the "war on terror."

Blackwater’s’s highly lucrative "diplomatic security" contract was officially awarded under the State Department's little-known Worldwide Personal Protective Service (WPPS) program, described in State Department documents as a government initiative to protect US officials as well as "certain foreign government high level officials whenever the need arises."

A heavily redacted 2005 government audit of Blackwater's WPPS contract proposal, obtained by The Nation, reveals that Blackwater included profit in its overhead and its total costs, which would result "not only in a duplication of profit but a pyramiding of profit since in effect Blackwater is applying profit to profit." The audit also found that the company tried to inflate its profits by representing different Blackwater divisions as wholly separate companies.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060828/scahill

It is one of the most infamous incidents of the war in Iraq: On March 31, 2004, four private American security contractors get lost and end up driving through the center of Falluja, a hotbed of Sunni resistance to the US occupation. Shortly after entering the city, they get stuck in traffic, and their small convoy is ambushed. Several armed men approach the two vehicles and open fire from behind, repeatedly shooting the men at point-blank range.

Within moments, their bodies are dragged from the vehicles and a crowd descends on them, tearing them to pieces. Eventually, their corpses are chopped and burned. The remains of two of the men are strung up on a bridge over the Euphrates River and left to dangle. The gruesome image is soon beamed across the globe.

In the Oval Office the killings were taken as "a challenge to America's resolve," according to the Los Angeles Times. President Bush issued a statement through his spokesperson. "We will not be intimidated," he said.

"We will finish the job." Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt vowed, "We will be back in Falluja.... We will hunt down the criminals.... It's going to be deliberate. It will be precise, and it will be overwhelming." Within days of the ambush, US forces laid siege to Falluja, beginning what would be one of the most brutal and sustained US operations of the occupation.

For most people, the gruesome killings were the first they had ever heard of Blackwater USA, a small, North Carolina-based private security company.

Since the Falluja incident, and also because of it, Blackwater has emerged as one of the most successful and profitable security contractors operating in Iraq.

The company and its secretive, mega-millionaire, right-wing Christian founder, Erik Prince, position Blackwater as a patriotic extension of the US military, and its employees are required to take an oath of loyalty to the Constitution.

After the killings, Blackwater released a statement saying the "heinous mistreatment of our friends exhibits the extraordinary conditions under which we voluntarily work to bring freedom and democracy to the Iraqi people.... Our tasks are dangerous and while we feel sadness for our fallen colleagues, we also feel pride and satisfaction that we are making a difference for the people of Iraq."

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060508/scahill

Jamie Wilson in New OrleansMonday September 12, 2005The Guardian

Hundreds of mercenaries have descended on New Orleans to guard the property of the city's millionaires from looters.

The heavily armed men, employed by private military companies including Blackwater and ISI, are part of the militarisation of a city which had a reputation for being one of the most relaxed and easy-going in America.

After scenes of looting and lawlessness in the days immediately after Hurricane Katrina struck, New Orleans has turned into an armed camp, patrolled by thousands of local, state and federal law enforcement officers, as well as 70,000 national guard troops and active-duty soldiers now based in the region.

Blackwater, one of the fastest-growing private security firms in the world, which achieved global prominence last year when four of its men were killed and their bodies mutilated in the Iraqi city of Falluja, has set up camp in the back garden of a vast mansion in the wealthy Uptown district of the city.

David Reagan, 52, a semi-retired US army colonel from Huntsville, Alabama, who fought in the first Gulf war and is commander of Blackwater's operations in the city, refused to say how many men he had in New Orleans but indicated it was in the hundreds.

Asked if they had encountered many looters so far, Mr Reagan said that the sight of his heavily armed men - a pump action shotgun was propped against the wall near to where he was standing - was enough to put most people off.

Two Israeli mercenaries from ISI, another private military company, were guarding Audubon Place, a gated community. Wearing bulletproof vests, they were carrying M16 assault rifles.

Gill, 40, and Yovi, 42, who refused to give their surnames, said they were army veterans of the Israeli war in Lebanon, but had been living in Houston for 17 years. They had been hired by Jimmy Reiss, a descendant of an old New Orleans family who made his fortune selling electronic systems to shipbuilders. They had been flown by private jet to Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, and then helicoptered to Audubon Place, they said.

"I spoke to one of the other owners on the telephone earlier in the week," Yovi said. "I told him how the water had stopped just at the back gate. God watches out for the rich people, I guess."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1567656,00.html

Posted by mrspickles on January 26th, 2007

Our mercenaries in Iraq

The president relies on thousands of private soldiers with little oversight, a disturbing example of the military-industrial complex.

By Jeremy Scahill, JEREMY SCAHILL is a fellow at the Nation Institute and the author of the forthcoming “Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army.”January 25, 2007

http://mrspickles.wordpress.com/2007/01/26/blackwater-mercenaries

Our mercenaries in Iraq
The president relies on thousands of private soldiers with little oversight, a disturbing example of the military-industrial complex.

By Jeremy Scahill, JEREMY SCAHILL is a fellow at the Nation Institute and the author of the forthcoming "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army."January 25, 2007

AS PRESIDENT BUSH took the podium to deliver his State of the Union address Tuesday, there were five American families receiving news that has become all too common: Their loved ones had been killed in Iraq. But in this case, the slain were neither "civilians," as the news reports proclaimed, nor were they U.S. soldiers. They were highly trained mercenaries deployed to Iraq by a secretive private military company based in North Carolina — Blackwater USA.

The company made headlines in early 2004 when four of its troops were ambushed and burned in the Sunni hotbed of Fallouja — two charred, lifeless bodies left to dangle for hours from a bridge. That incident marked a turning point in the war, sparked multiple U.S. sieges of Fallouja and helped fuel the Iraqi resistance that haunts the occupation to this day.

Now, Blackwater is back in the news, providing a reminder of just how privatized the war has become. On Tuesday, one of the company's helicopters was brought down in one of Baghdad's most violent areas. The men who were killed were providing diplomatic security under Blackwater's $300-million State Department contract, which dates to 2003 and the company's initial no-bid contract to guard administrator L. Paul Bremer III in Iraq.

Current U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who is also protected by Blackwater, said he had gone to the morgue to view the men's bodies, asserting the circumstances of their deaths were unclear because of "the fog of war."

Bush made no mention of the downing of the helicopter during his State of the Union speech. But he did address the very issue that has made the war's privatization a linchpin of his Iraq policy — the need for more troops. The president called on Congress to authorize an increase of about 92,000 active-duty troops over the next five years. He then slipped in a mention of a major initiative that would represent a significant development in the U.S. disaster response/reconstruction/war machine: a Civilian Reserve Corps.

"Such a corps would function much like our military Reserve. It would ease the burden on the armed forces by allowing us to hire civilians with critical skills to serve on missions abroad when America needs them," Bush declared.

This is precisely what the administration has already done, largely behind the backs of the American people and with little congressional input, with its revolution in military affairs. Bush and his political allies are using taxpayer dollars to run an outsourcing laboratory. Iraq is its Frankenstein monster.

Already, private contractors constitute the second-largest "force" in Iraq. At last count, there were about 100,000 contractors in Iraq, of which 48,000 work as private soldiers, according to a Government Accountability Office report. These soldiers have operated with almost no oversight or effective legal constraints and are an undeclared expansion of the scope of the occupation.

Many of these contractors make up to $1,000 a day, far more than active-duty soldiers. What's more, these forces are politically expedient, as contractor deaths go uncounted in the official toll. The president's proposed Civilian Reserve Corps was not his idea alone. A privatized version of it was floated two years ago by Erik Prince, the secretive, mega-millionaire, conservative owner of Blackwater USA and a man who for years has served as the Pied Piper of a campaign to repackage mercenaries as legitimate forces.

In early 2005, Prince — a major bankroller of the president and his allies — pitched the idea at a military conference of a "contractor brigade" to supplement the official military.

"There's consternation in the [Pentagon] about increasing the permanent size of the Army," Prince declared. Officials "want to add 30,000 people, and they talked about costs of anywhere from $3.6 billion to $4 billion to do that. Well, by my math, that comes out to about $135,000 per soldier."

He added: "We could do it certainly cheaper."

And Prince is not just a man with an idea; he is a man with his own army. Blackwater began in 1996 with a private military training camp "to fulfill the anticipated demand for government outsourcing."

Today, its contacts run from deep inside the military and intelligence agencies to the upper echelons of the White House. It has secured a status as the elite Praetorian Guard for the global war on terror, with the largest private military base in the world, a fleet of 20 aircraft and 20,000 soldiers at the ready.

From Iraq and Afghanistan to the hurricane-ravaged streets of New Orleans to meetings with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger about responding to disasters in California, Blackwater now envisions itself as the FedEx of defense and homeland security operations.

Such power in the hands of one company, run by a neo-crusader bankroller of the president, embodies the "military-industrial complex" President Eisenhower warned against in 1961.

Further privatizing the country's war machine — or inventing new back doors for military expansion with fancy names like the Civilian Reserve Corps — will represent a devastating blow to the future of American democracy.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-scahill25jan25,0,7395303.story?track=tothtml

Earthside Comments: Below is a link and excerpts from an important artricle by Jeremy Scahill on the largest private army in the United States.

Blackwater, Inc. -- the people behind it, its supporters in the Bush regime and the philosophy that rationalize its existence -- are direct threats to freedom and democracy in our Republic.

We are seeing the danger of private militias in Iraq right now ... and private armies have been important ingrediants in the rise of almost every totalitarian government in modern times.

And ... Bush wants this dangerous idea made a part of the national military! Yet more evidence of the fascistic tendencies of the Bushites and radical Republicans.

Link: Our Mercenaries in Iraq Jeremy Scahill/Los Angeles Times

Link: Blackwater's Top Brass Virginian-Pilot

A July 24, 2006 report on the main players of the Blackwater private army.

Posted on Friday, January 26, 2007 a

http://www.blackwaterusa.com/btw2006/archive/011507btw.html

The Emergence of a New Dog of War: Private International Security Companies, International Law, and the New World Disorder
JUAN CARLOS ZARATE* http://sjil.stanford.edu/zarate.pdf

American Hegemony or Global Governance? Competing Visionsof International Security
ELKE KRAHMANN Department of Politics, University of Bristol, U.K.
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1468-2486.2005.00531.x?cookieSet=1

Outsourcing War: Mercenaries and the Privatization of Peacekeeping STEVEN BRAYTON “If other nations, individually or collectively, are not willing to
contribute to multilateral peacekeeping or peacemaking forces, why should a state not have the right to hire a force able to keep order?”http://www.weltpolitik.net/texte/sicherheit/brayton.pdf

Blackwater Faces California Protest
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Massive_security_contractor_faces_growing_protest_0403.html

New Troubles For Blackwater USA
http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2125/New_Troubles_for_Blackwater_USA

Blackwater The $40 million Question
http://freeinternetpress.com/story.php?sid=10885

Kikos House
http://kikoshouse.blogspot.com/2007/03/military-monetary-mercenary.html

Wikipedia Give the content a good look Internally http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_USA

The Next Jihadists: Iraq's Lost Children (Report From Falluja)

The Question In the End will be: “What The Hell Did We Think We Were Doing?”Ammar will tell you he's proud to be carrying a gun. His father was a brigadier in Saddam Hussein's Army, a man who saw combat in his country's several wars, and from an early age Ammar had accompanied him to the shooting range.

"I got used to the sound of guns then," Ammar says. So he was ready, last fall, when the imam in his Baghdad neighborhood urged residents to take up arms against the invader-who in this case happened to be members of a Shiite militia trying to push into the predominantly Sunni area. Ammar joined the neighborhood watch, a ragtag bunch of men who stand guard nightly at improvised roadblocks and rooftop observation posts.

In mid-October Ammar fought his first big battle against soldiers from the Mahdi Army-"the garbage collectors and robbers," as he contemptuously refers to the Shiite militia. He says he put his Kalashnikov assault rifle to good use: "I think I injured or even killed two of them. Our group killed more than six of them that night."

Ammar is 17 years old. A tall, thin boy with a beard just starting up, he has already seen far more of the dark side of life than anyone really should. As the grisly toll of Baghdad's death squads spiked last fall, he helped out in the room at his local mosque where bodies are ritually washed before they are buried. Some corpses had been burned with chemicals. Limbs had been cut off, eyes torn out.

One day at the beginning of November, a neighbor of Ammar's, a college student and fellow Sunni, disappeared at an impromptu checkpoint set up by the Mahdi Army. When the neighbor's body finally turned up at the mosque for burial, Ammar saw that he had been beheaded. (He recognized his friend from the clothing.) "I ran into the garden and threw up," Ammar says. Then he vowed revenge.

Sectarian warfare is reshaping Iraq in all sorts of malevolent ways day in and day out. But it is also forging the future by poisoning the next generation of Iraqis. Like many of its neighbors, Iraq is a young country: nearly half the population is under the age of 18. And those children have had a particularly turbulent upbringing.

Kids like Ammar were born in the aftermath of one debilitating war, against neighboring Iran, then suffered two others and years of impoverishing sanctions in between. They are especially vulnerable to the demons that now grip Iraq. Hassan Ali, a sociologist at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, estimates that at least 1 million Iraqi kids have seen their lives damaged by the war-they've lost parents and homes, watched as their communities have been torn apart by sectarian furies.

"These children will come to believe in the principles of force and violence," says Ali. "There's no question that society as a whole is going to feel the effects in the future"-and not only Iraqi society.

From the Middle East to Europe to America, violence may well beget violence around the world for years to come.

Time For A Political Update: Obama Rama Romp Rolls Up The Cash: Bombs Clinton Crowd!

2007-04-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

OBAMA RAMA ROMP ROLLS UP THE CASH: BOMBS CLINTON CROWD

(But first…….)

IMPEACHMENT THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY…

Because nobody’s life, liberty or property is safe while Congress is in session or the White House is occupied.

Ethics is not about what we say or what we intend, it's about what we do.This is the heart of Integrity - demonstrating a consistency between ethical principle and practice.

Who we are is never more clearly revealed than in the daily moments of our lives. How we respond to some of those moments reveals whether we stand up for our principles or rationalize our way around them.

There is truth in Harper Lee's observation in To Kill a Mockingbird :. "The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience." The hundreds of thousands of votes I had received would not have been enough to defeat the single vote my conscience had cast.

NY1-Report: Obama Raised Over $20 Million in Donations, Meeting – and_Black America Web, Tx -Unlike Edwards, Clinton aides would not reveal how much of her total was available only for the primary election and how much could be used just in the_

Obama Raises $25m To Rival Clinton Camp Guardian Unlimited
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) - With a stunning $25 million fundraising haul for his presidential campaign, Democrat Barack Obama affirmed his status Wednesday as Hillary Rodham Clinton's chief rival. The freshman Illinois senator proved he could channel his appeal into significant financial muscle, and he dispelled, for now, questions about the durability of his anti-war, ``hope''-driven candidacy.

Obama fundraising rivals Clinton BBC News

Obama rolls in big Atlanta Journal Constitution (subscription)

CBS News

Link 934 news articles »

Obama Raises $25M to Rival Clinton CampThe Southern, IL - 21 minutes agoDonors can give just $2300 apiece for the primary election, but Clinton, Obama and Edwards can also solicit another $2300 from each donor to be used in the_

Is Barack Obama Unqualified to Be President? American Chronicle, CA George W. Bush was by his own admission and report cards a mediocre student throughout his academic career. Despite being aC student in elementary through_

US election race soon to be a $1-billion club Globe and Mail, CanadaWASHINGTON -- The United States appears headed toward its first-ever $1-billion presidential election race in 2008 as would-be candidates report_

2008 Presidential fundraising divides the candidates in half China Post
Combined, five of the six top-tier presidential candidates reported raising a jaw-dropping US$90.5 million (euro67.71 million) from Jan. 1 through March 31. The sum doesn't include Obama's tally; he likely will disclose it this week.

Link 792 news articles »

Obama's banking on citizens to be involved Foster's Daily Democrat, NH Declining to confirm one news report pegging his fundraising at $20 million, Obama said he did not think the candidates with the most money will win their_

Carville’s ’08 Predictions Twice (subscription), MAAs for the leading Democratic candidates Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, who Carville said some call “Obama and Mama” He went back to his Cajun_

***One of his other observations gave me pause - 1976 was the last time someone named Bush or Clinton was not on the Presidential ballot.***.

Grading the CandidatesWashington Post, DC - Apr 3, 2007Because even though Edwards met his expectations he faces the likely prospect of being out raised by nearly $10 million by both Clinton and Obama.

Dems Swamp GOP in Money Chase Politico, DC Democrat Barack Obama’s announcement Wednesday that he had raised $25 million - $6.9 million of it in Internet donations – emphasizes the point_

Obama's Community Roots Yahoo! News - Apr 3, 2007Obama worked as an organizer at a time when Harold Washington's election as mayor stirred his hopes and dreams, as well as those of blacks and progressives_

The race to buy the presidency Macon Telegraph, GA
Barack Obama of Illinois, who hasn't filed his report, is running a close second, the Chicago Tribune reported. Three sources in his campaign say he will_

The Philadelphia Inquirer Gail Shister Column: Jeff Greenfield ...International News Service, Australia - Apr 3, 2007It will be Obama's second Late Show hit. He appeared in November '04, just after his election to the Senate. For the record, fellow contender Sen._

Obama Blasted For Backing Fed Duke Case Probe, Week Of March 29_The Wilmington Journal, NC - Apr 2, 2007By telling the lab director to withhold that report, critics say, Nifong not only violated state law compelling him to turn over all discovery evidence to_

4/3: Opportunity Knocks For Edwards National Journal, DC - Apr 3, 2007Barack Obama (D-IL) are continuing to grow as Obama proves unable to please them with his current position on the war, and more and more bloggers are_

Hostile Takeover '08: Democrats Gone Wild Huffington Post, NY - Apr 3, 2007Buried at the very bottom of a New York Times story marveling at Barack Obama's ability to shakedown wealthy Chicago scions for big cash, we find out that_

Sunlight Foundation Mixes Tech, Citizen Journalism to Open CongressMediaShift, CA That group hung together for that project and we got the Coburn-Obama law passed. We smoked out who was responsible for the secret hold on the bill.

The Rivett Report 04.02.07 411mania.com, TX - Apr 1, 2007Welcome ladies and gentlemen to another edition of the Rivett Report! The major Democratic candidates for president except for Obama have released their_

McCain campaign hired "Jew-counter" Fred Malek - will Politico ...Media Matters for America, DCMarch 13 weblog post in order to report that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has a "Jewish Problem," but failed to provide evidence substantiating that claim.

Politics this week Economist, UK Barack Obama did not disclose a sum, but it was rumoured to be in excess of $20m. See article. A report forecast that this year American farmers would plant_

Will the real conservative please stand up? USA Today Barack Obama is a bit of a cipher, but it's hard to see much daylight between him and Clinton on first principles. It's interesting: Given all of the_

Democratic Candidates The Media Aren't Telling You About [Part 1]
Huffington Post, NY -Gaffes like his "clean and articulate" description of Barack Obama occasionally make the news, and they will be dug up by the opposition.

Dems Earn War Party Stripes: Philip Girald Antiwar.com, CA Barack Obama of Illinois, backpedaling from some apparently sincere expressions of sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians, attempted to make amends by_

Obama wins the First Quarter financial race ScienceBlogs - Apr 1, 2007All the media report that Hillary Clinton rasied a record amount and is clearly in the lead? Oh, who ever said that journalists know how to calculate?

Global Warming Ruling Called 'Victory for the Bad Guys'CNSNews.com, VA - Apr 3, 2007Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has yet to announce his figure. The AP reports that the previous first-quarter fundraising records were held by Democrat Al Gore of_

Feinstein Leaves Senate Defense Panel Amid Controversy CNSNews.com

Links 47 news articles »

None of the Democratic Contenders Has Called for the Closure of ...uruknet.info, Italy Howard is facing a tough election in November, so he doesn't want Hicks mucking things up by telling his harrowing tales. Get him out but don't let him talk_

The banality of geekinessGuardian Unlimited, UK - Apr 2, 2007De Vellis gives the geeky details: which machine and software he used to make it (he's a Mac guy; I'll bet lots of Obama fans are)_

Behind Washington “showdown” on Iraq: Democrats to fully fund the warWorld Socialist Web Site, MI Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a leading candidate for the Democratic 2008 presidential nomination, told the press that if Bush vetoes a bill sent up by ...

The Political Universe 04.03.07 411mania.com

Links 1,381 news articles »

Al-Hydra Slate - Apr 2, 2007Barack Obama declined to release a preliminary estimate, though like all candidates he will have to file an official report by April 15. ...

As We See It: Big bucks in presidential politics. Santa Cruz Sentinel, CA - Apr 3, 2007Barack Obama has yet to report his take. The third-place Democratic candidate, John Edwards, has reported about $14 million. On the Republican side,

Americans now vote for presidents as if shopping for cornflakes ...San Francisco Chronicle, CA - Apr 1, 2007Barack) Obama camp, but it did exactly what they wanted to do," Levick said. "Position (Clinton) as the IBM to their Apple. She's old Washington, he's the ...

Xenophobe Tancredo Enters the Race (No Pun Intended) Des Moines Register
U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, a leading voice in Congress for immigration reform, announced his candidacy for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination Monday on WHO radio in Des Moines.Tancredo, of Colorado, made his announcement during an hour-long segment on WHO host Jan Mickelson's program, "Mickelson in the Morning."

Tancredo joins a crowded field that includes far better-known candidates. He promised to make the fight against illegal immigration the cornerstone of his 2008 bid."

While we fight around the world to defend our nation, we are entrenched now in a struggle here at home to define it.

The crisis of illegal immigration threatens not only our economy and our security, but our very identity," Tancredo said in a statement released by his campaign. "That ends today."

Personal commentary: Now Here is a Fool pandering to a dark place; a divider!

Transcript: Bush remarks on Iraq during press conference

Bush: At this moment, two of the five additional U.S. Army brigades we are sending for this mission are operating in Baghdad. A third brigade is now moving from Kuwait and will be fully operation in Baghdad in the coming weeks. And the remaining two brigades will deploy in April and May.

It will be early June before all U.S. forces dedicated to the operation are in place, so this operation is still in its beginning stages.

Breitbart.com

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush named Republican fundraiser Sam Fox as U.S. ambassador to Belgium on Wednesday, using a maneuver that allowed him to bypass Congress, where Democrats had derailed Fox's nomination.

The appointment, made while lawmakers were out of town on spring break, prompted angry rebukes from Democrats, who said Bush's action may even be illegal.

Democrats had denounced Fox for his donation to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth during the 2004 presidential campaign. The group's TV ads, which claimed that Sen. John Kerry exaggerated his military record in Vietnam, were viewed as a major factor in the Massachusetts Democrat's election loss.

Recognizing Fox did not have the votes to obtain Senate confirmation in the Foreign Relations Committee, Bush withdrew the nomination last week. On Wednesday, with the Senate on a one-week break, the president used his power to make recess appointments to put Fox in the job without Senate confirmation.

This means Fox can remain ambassador until the end of the next session of Congress, effectively through the end of the Bush presidency.

Friday, March 30th in Joe Biden, Dennis Kucinich, John McCain, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama by gdancik No comments

The firing of eight District Attorneys has caused quite an outrage on Capital Hill and throughout the United States. And for good reason. However, my prediction is that we won’t be (honestly) talking about this much at all come 2008. The reason - whereas the firing of the attorneys in the middle of a presidential term may have been politically motivated, unprecedented, and dishonestly handled, it appears that not president Bush, nor Alberto Gonzales, nor anybody else did anything illegal . The reason is due to a clause in the 2006 Reauthorization of the ironically named Patriot Act, which gives the president power to fire and appoint new attorneys without senate confirmation.

The reauthorization of the Patriot Act was supported by Hillary Clinton, Barack O’Bama, and Joe Biden (as well as John McCain and Chuck Hagel; John Edwards was no longer a Senator at this time). In fact, the only presidential candidate to oppose the reauthorization of the Patriot Act was Congressman Dennis Kucinich from Ohio. Kucinich also opposed the Patriot Act during its first enactment in 2001, whereas Clinton and Edwards both voted ‘Yea’.

By now many people from both parties, including Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and Republican Senator John Sununu, (John McCain has not), are calling on Gonzales to resign, but where were they in 2006????

ELECTION 2008 WATCH (PICK OF THE DAY)

Ann Coulter
Barack Obama
Chris Dodd
Chuck Hagel
Dennis Kucinich
Environment
Fred Dalton Thompson
Fundraising
funny
GOP
Health Care
Hillary Clinton
HIV/AIDS
Human Rights
Iraq War
Joe Biden
John Edwards
John McCain
Looking Back
Media Bias
mudslinging
New Media
Newt Gingrich
Polls
Rudy Giuliani
Technology
Third Party
Tom Vilsack
Uncategorized
Unity 08
Wesley Clark
women

IMPEACHMENT: We Face The Call To Restore Our Democracy

2007-04-04T07:06:00.000-07:00

I WILL KEEP REMINDING YOU THAT THIS NATION IS IN REAL DANGER AND THAT AS A PEOPLE, AND INFORMED CITIZENRY, THAT WE MUST ACT TO MAKE THE CONGRESS UNDERSTAND THAT THEY MUST ACT TO DO OUR WILL OR THEY WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS AS THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TAKE TO THE STREETS IN EVER INCREASING NUMBERS TO END THIS WAR AND PUT AN END TO THE FASCIST REGIME OF GEORGE W. BUSH.

"Fascism in America won’t come with jackboots, book burnings, mass rallies, and fevered harangues, nor will it come with black helicopters or tanks on the street. It won’t come like a storm—but as a break in the weather, that sudden change of season you might feel when the wind shifts on an October evening: Everything is the same, but everything has changed. Something has gone, departed from the world, and a new reality will have taken its place. But it will all seem “normal”."

All the old forms will still be there: legislatures, elections, campaigns—plenty of bread and circuses. It will all seem “normal”.

But “consent of the governed” will no longer apply; actual control of the state will have passed to a small and privileged group who rule for the benefit of their wealthy peers and corporate patrons. But it will all seem ““normal””.

The change in America is taking place as I write, and Sinclair Lewis prophetically said that:

“When Fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”

And when it happens, somehow; it will all seem “normal”.

WE ARE THERE NOW!

OUR VERY WAY OF LIFE AND EVERY THING THAT THIS NATION HAS EVER STOOD FOR, AND WAS INTENDED TO STAND FOR, STANDS IN PERIL.

THE WAR MUST END!

THE CONGRESS MUST ACT RESPONSIBLY!

AMERICA

MUST WAKE UP!

BUSH, CHENEY AND ALL OTHER GUILTY PARTIES MUST BE IMPEACHED AND BROUGHT TO JUSTICE!

WE DARE NOT BE THE GENERATION OF WHICH IT WILL BE WRITTEN: "THEY DID NOT HAVE THE COURAGE, WILL, INTELLIGENCE, CONVICTION OR STRENGTH OF CHARACTER TO PRESERVE DEMOCRACY."

OUR ULTIMATE RIGHTS AND HIGHEST DUTIES AS AMERICANS RESIDE IN THESE WORDS:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government.

THE PRECINCT MASTER: The Front Page

2007-01-13T05:34:00.000-08:00

Use this page to navigate all the components and rooms of the Precinct Master Blog Sites.

In The News - Kris Kristofferson

You may contact Precinct Master Ed. at:

dickaued@yahoo.com
ed.dickau@gmail.com or ed.dickau@shadowpolitics.us

INDEX TO ED. DICKAU: BLOGS AND BLOG ROOMS: PRECINCT MASTER, PEACE AND IMPEACHMENT

The Precinct Master Front Page

The Court Of Impeachment And War Crimes Home Page

Alexandria Advocates Alliance Home Page

The Yellow Rose Of Texas Peace Bus–(Texas)

Friends Of The Article V Convention (Con_Con 2)

The Reference Room: The Third Continental Congress Graphics Preparation

DC shadows Home Page

Ed (Precinct Master) At Impeach Space

Ed Dickau At Out Post Earth

A PROTEST CONCERT IN WORDS AND MUSIC

The Political Video Parlor

The Man In Black

REMINDERS

Apathy The Danger

A Citizen’s Message

John F. Kennedy Presents The Declaration Of Independence

Eulogy of Bobby Kennedy The Message Of Constant Reminder

Martin Luther King: I Have Dream With We Shall Over Come

Cher: The Masters Of War: Another Type Of Reminder

Joan Baez: We Want Our Freedom Now & We Shall Overcome

Another Voice From My Past: Joan Baez In A Reminder Of Love

Let There Be Peace On Earth

Mormon Tabernacle Choir: The Battle Hymn Of The Republic

Peter, Paul And Mary, Peace March DC, 1971

Peter, Paul, Mary and Pete Seeger: Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

Bruce Springsteen: Blowing In The Wind

Neil Young: America The Beautiful

Peter, Paul, Mary And Friends: Day Is Done

What Happens When You Wait Too Long

IMPORTANT FRIENDS LINKS

Virginians For Peace And Accountability

We The People Now.org

Veterans For Peace Impeachment Campaign

Darviews News And Views Form Ohio

Tampa’s Back Door (Vox Populi)

TomSongs.org (Music and Films)

THE REFERENCE ROOM

The Third Continental Congress Graphics Preparation

The Complete Government Resource Shelf

The Reference Room: The Political Cartoonist Shelf

The Reference Room: The Political Watch Shelf

The Reference Room: The Newsroom Shelf

The Petition Of Impeachment And Related Documents

Politics And News USA Front Page

The Graphics Graffiti Room

Additional Graphics Assaults Found At The Court Of Impeachment And War Crimes:

Page 0 Introduction and Sam Adams Dedication

Page 1 Military Action, Consequences and “Awards”

Page 2 Administration Players, Positions and Problems

Page 3 Emphasis on War Crimes, Plus the Lieberman Problem

Page 4 Primarily Metallic Peace and War Display Work

Page 5 The Fascist Designs (Plus)

Page 6 Homeland Insecurity Plus Nasty Ann Coulter Panels

Page 7 Criminality, Oil, Corruption, Manipulation and Retribution

Page 8 Impeachment Panels

Page 9 Corruption, BuShit and Impeachment

Page 10 Eclectic Impeachment Collection

Page 11 Eclectic Impeachment Collection

Page 12 Gonzales, Justice and the Voice of the Militant Rise

Page 13 Fruit Cakes and Spin

Page 14 Watchful and Virginia’s 2nd Amendment Democrats

Page 15 Emphasis Rove and Jail

Page 16 Scary as Halloween Irritating as a Broken Record

Page 17 Running out of Time, an Angry Page

Page 18 Bad News, What Bush Wants, and What We Want

Page 19 The Bush Agenda, Screw ups and Let’s March

Page 20 The Beginning, The Problems, Let’s March

Page 21 The Bush Stamp Collection

Page 22 Stamp Collection Continued

Page 23 Peace, Bigger Stamps and The Gas Price Hits

Page 24 Eclectic Mix

Page 25 A Cheney Page

Page 26 Not Nice To Condi Rice

Page 27 Coulter, Blackwater, Dictatorship Decrees

Page 28 The Pump Page, Some Over Laps

Page 29 Emphasis Justice, Virginia

Page 30 A Darkness Upon Our Land and Political Failure

Page 31 A Darkness Upon Our Land; Nuremberg Day Dreams

Page 32 Our Esteemed Leaders At Their Worst

Page 33 Our Esteemed Leaders And Consequences

Page 34 The Darkness Of Fascism

Page 35 The New Leadership Clique: America Betrayed

Page 36 Monday Morning Commentary

Impeachment Is Too Good For Bush

The Black Quill Letters

The Political Back Room

Hillyland Hillary Watch

The Alexandria Page

Ed’s Photo Gallery

Ed At Flickr

Café Le Coffee

Computer Links And Alerts

The Movie Shelf

Lab Experiments

Impeachment And War Crimes News Source

ACLU
AFL-CIO
AFSCME
Alliance for Retired Americans
American Federation of Teachers
Brookings Institution
Campaign for America's Future
Center for American Progress
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Citizens for Tax Justice
Democrats.com
Economic Policy Institute
Electronic Policy Network
Emily's List
Fair Taxes for All
Gadflyer
Justice at Stake
League of Conservation Voters
MoveOn.org
NAACP
National Education Association
National Organization of Women
National Partnership for Women and Families
Natural Resources Defense Council
People for the American Way
Progressive Strategies
SEIU
Sierra Club
Social Security Superpage
TomPaine.com
US Action

Impeachment Post Friday 01/19/07 The Twilight Of Our Democracy?

New 01/17/07 Impeachment Is Imperative

Impeachment: Voice For Justice: Contributor Tom Chelston

EMERGENCY POST:

THE TECTONIC PLATES ARE SET TO COLLIDE!
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=3468

HELP MOBILIZE FOR JAN. 27-29! PLUS, LATEST DETAILS ON THE DEMO

Help Mobilize for Jan. 27-29! Plus, Latest Details on the Demo

MARCH ON WASHINGTON TO END THE WAR!

Saturday, January 27
Assemble 11:00AM on the Mall between 3rd and 7th Streets
March kicks off at 1:00PM
Transportation information
Housing board
Grassroots Lobby Day -- Monday, Jan. 29
Spread the word!
Make a donation

Momentum is beginning to build for the politically urgent mobilization on Saturday, Jan. 27th. There are already more than 500 endorsements for the demonstration and we are hearing from groups around the country that they are organizing to get people to Washington, DC. In order to send the strongest, clearest message to the new Congress we are working hard to have the largest turnout possible.

And we have set another important goal for this mobilization: We want to have at least one person from each of the 435 Congressional districts marching on Jan. 27th to help represent the truly nationwide peace majority.

We are inviting you to sign up to be a local coordinator for people coming from your area to Washington, DC. Being a local coordinator means doing the things we hope you are already doing -- spreading the word and encouraging people to come to DC, helping to arrange buses, car caravans or rideshares, hosting a sign-making party -- but it also will mean following up with people in your area who will find you through the coordinator's listing on our website.

Many of you are already working on some or all of these activities -- and more! Now we've set up this system to help people in your area connect with your efforts. By signing up as a local coordinator, you will be putting your congressional district on our map that will show that folks are coming from all around the country to stand up for peace!

· Sign up and/or find out more information about being a local coordinator
· Ideas and resources for local coordinators
· Once you sign up, your location and info will show up on this map and people will be able to "RSVP" for whatever you are organizing (car caravan, sign-making party, etc.).

You will then be able to log in and change or update your listing as needed, and also contact the people who have RSVP'd for your listing. This is a great way to reach new people in your area, to build your group's membership if you have one, or even to start a new one.

If you want to know more about the role of the coordinators before signing up, please get in touch with either Susan Chenelle (susan at unitedforpeace.org) or Leslie Kauffman (lak at unitedforpeace.org); both can be reached by phone at .

If you have other creative ideas for organizing people to come to DC that we haven't listed here or in our materials on the website, please let Susan or Leslie know and we'll share them in future bulletins to member groups.

LOGISTICAL INFORMATION

Many of the details of the January mobilization are still being worked out, so please keep checking the UFPJ website for updates. Here is the information so far:

TRANSPORTATION HOUSING LOBBY DAY VOLUNTEER FLYERS, ETC.BUS TICKETS FROM NYC TO DC

LOGISTICS: Assemble on the Mall,between 3rd and 7th Streets, at 11 am. March will kick off at 1pm. More details coming soon!

If you are organizing buses or can offer any kind of transportation to DC,

please post the details on our ride board ASAP. (Click here for tips on organizing buses.)

We also have a housing board and info on affordable lodging in the DC area.

And, of course, we hope everyone will make whatever financial contribution you can to help make this an historic mobilization.
Visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/ for further resources and updates on the January 27-29 mobilization. Together we can end this war!

THE IMPEACHABLE BUSH: HAS LAST BIG IRAQ SPEECH...NOT TOO BIG, NOT SO NEW AND NO SURPRISES

2007-01-10T21:12:00.000-08:00

BUSH SPEECH TEXT (01/09/07)NPR LINK

Politics
Text of President Bush's Speech on Troop Levels
NPR.org, January 10, 2007 ·

The complete text of President Bush's Jan. 10 speech on the U.S. mission in Iraq and his policies in the Middle East. The president's speech, delivered from the library of the White House, began just after 9 p.m. ET.

THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Tonight in Iraq, the Armed Forces of the United States are engaged in a struggle that will determine the direction of the global war on terror — and our safety here at home. The new strategy I outline tonight will change America's course in Iraq, and help us succeed in the fight against terror.

When I addressed you just over a year ago, nearly 12 million Iraqis had cast their ballots for a unified and democratic nation. The elections of 2005 were a stunning achievement. We thought that these elections would bring the Iraqis together, and that as we trained Iraqi security forces we could accomplish our mission with fewer American troops.

But in 2006, the opposite happened. The violence in Iraq — particularly in Baghdad — overwhelmed the political gains the Iraqis had made. Al Qaeda terrorists and Sunni insurgents recognized the mortal danger that Iraq's elections posed for their cause, and they responded with outrageous acts of murder aimed at innocent Iraqis. They blew up one of the holiest shrines in Shia Islam — the Golden Mosque of Samarra — in a calculated effort to provoke Iraq's Shia population to retaliate. Their strategy worked. Radical Shia elements, some supported by Iran, formed death squads. And the result was a vicious cycle of sectarian violence that continues today.

The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people — and it is unacceptable to me. Our troops in Iraq have fought bravely. They have done everything we have asked them to do. Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me.

It is clear that we need to change our strategy in Iraq. So my national security team, military commanders, and diplomats conducted a comprehensive review. We consulted members of Congress from both parties, our allies abroad, and distinguished outside experts. We benefitted from the thoughtful recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel led by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Congressman Lee Hamilton. In our discussions, we all agreed that there is no magic formula for success in Iraq. And one message came through loud and clear: Failure in Iraq would be a disaster for the United States.

The consequences of failure are clear: Radical Islamic extremists would grow in strength and gain new recruits. They would be in a better position to topple moderate governments, create chaos in the region, and use oil revenues to fund their ambitions. Iran would be emboldened in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Our enemies would have a safe haven from which to plan and launch attacks on the American people. On September the 11th, 2001, we saw what a refuge for extremists on the other side of the world could bring to the streets of our own cities. For the safety of our people, America must succeed in Iraq.

The most urgent priority for success in Iraq is security, especially in Baghdad. Eighty percent of Iraq's sectarian violence occurs within 30 miles of the capital. This violence is splitting Baghdad into sectarian enclaves, and shaking the confidence of all Iraqis. Only Iraqis can end the sectarian violence and secure their people. And their government has put forward an aggressive plan to do it.

Our past efforts to secure Baghdad failed for two principal reasons: There were not enough Iraqi and American troops to secure neighborhoods that had been cleared of terrorists and insurgents. And there were too many restrictions on the troops we did have. Our military commanders reviewed the new Iraqi plan to ensure that it addressed these mistakes. They report that it does. They also report that this plan can work.

Now let me explain the main elements of this effort: The Iraqi government will appoint a military commander and two deputy commanders for their capital. The Iraqi government will deploy Iraqi Army and National Police brigades across Baghdad's nine districts. When these forces are fully deployed, there will be 18 Iraqi Army and National Police brigades committed to this effort, along with local police.

These Iraqi forces will operate from local police stations — conducting patrols and setting up checkpoints, and going door-to-door to gain the trust of Baghdad residents.

This is a strong commitment. But for it to succeed, our commanders say the Iraqis will need our help. So America will change our strategy to help the Iraqis carry out their campaign to put down sectarian violence and bring security to the people of Baghdad. This will require increasing American force levels. So I've committed more than 20,000 additional American troops to Iraq. The vast majority of them — five brigades — will be deployed to Baghdad.

These troops will work alongside Iraqi units and be embedded in their formations. Our troops will have a well-defined mission: to help Iraqis clear and secure neighborhoods, to help them protect the local population, and to help ensure that the Iraqi forces left behind are capable of providing the security that Baghdad needs.
Many listening tonight will ask why this effort will succeed when previous operations to secure Baghdad did not.

Well, here are the differences: In earlier operations, Iraqi and American forces cleared many neighborhoods of terrorists and insurgents, but when our forces moved on to other targets, the killers returned. This time, we'll have the force levels we need to hold the areas that have been cleared. In earlier operations, political and sectarian interference prevented Iraqi and American forces from going into neighborhoods that are home to those fueling the sectarian violence.

This time, Iraqi and American forces will have a green light to enter those neighborhoods — and Prime Minister Maliki has pledged that political or sectarian interference will not be tolerated.

I've made it clear to the Prime Minister and Iraq's other leaders that America's commitment is not open-ended. If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people — and it will lose the support of the Iraqi people.

Now is the time to act. The Prime Minister understands this. Here is what he told his people just last week: "The Baghdad security plan will not provide a safe haven for any outlaws, regardless of [their] sectarian or political affiliation."

This new strategy will not yield an immediate end to suicide bombings, assassinations, or IED attacks. Our enemies in Iraq will make every effort to ensure that our television screens are filled with images of death and suffering. Yet over time, we can expect to see Iraqi troops chasing down murderers, fewer brazen acts of terror, and growing trust and cooperation from Baghdad's residents.

When this happens, daily life will improve, Iraqis will gain confidence in their leaders, and the government will have the breathing space it needs to make progress in other critical areas. Most of Iraq's Sunni and Shia want to live together in peace — and reducing the violence in Baghdad will help make reconciliation possible.

A successful strategy for Iraq goes beyond military operations. Ordinary Iraqi citizens must see that military operations are accompanied by visible improvements in their neighborhoods and communities. So America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks it has announced.

To establish its authority, the Iraqi government plans to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November. To give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy, Iraq will pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis. To show that it is committed to delivering a better life, the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion of its own money on reconstruction and infrastructure projects that will create new jobs. To empower local leaders, Iraqis plan to hold provincial elections later this year.

And to allow more Iraqis to re-enter their nation's political life, the government will reform de-Baathification laws, and establish a fair process for considering amendments to Iraq's constitution.
America will change our approach to help the Iraqi government as it works to meet these benchmarks. In keeping with the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, we will increase the embedding of American advisers in Iraqi Army units, and partner a coalition brigade with every Iraqi Army division.

We will help the Iraqis build a larger and better-equipped army, and we will accelerate the training of Iraqi forces, which remains the essential U.S. security mission in Iraq. We will give our commanders and civilians greater flexibility to spend funds for economic assistance.

We will double the number of provincial reconstruction teams. These teams bring together military and civilian experts to help local Iraqi communities pursue reconciliation, strengthen the moderates, and speed the transition to Iraqi self-reliance. And Secretary Rice will soon appoint a reconstruction coordinator in Baghdad to ensure better results for economic assistance being spent in Iraq.

As we make these changes, we will continue to pursue al Qaeda and foreign fighters. Al Qaeda is still active in Iraq. Its home base is Anbar Province. Al Qaeda has helped make Anbar the most violent area of Iraq outside the capital. A captured al Qaeda document describes the terrorists' plan to infiltrate and seize control of the province. This would bring al Qaeda closer to its goals of taking down Iraq's democracy, building a radical Islamic empire, and launching new attacks on the United States at home and abroad.

Our military forces in Anbar are killing and capturing al Qaeda leaders, and they are protecting the local population. Recently, local tribal leaders have begun to show their willingness to take on al Qaeda. And as a result, our commanders believe we have an opportunity to deal a serious blow to the terrorists.

So I have given orders to increase American forces in Anbar Province by 4,000 troops. These troops will work with Iraqi and tribal forces to keep up the pressure on the terrorists. America's men and women in uniform took away al Qaeda's safe haven in Afghanistan — and we will not allow them to re-establish it in Iraq.

Succeeding in Iraq also requires defending its territorial integrity and stabilizing the region in the face of extremist challenges. This begins with addressing Iran and Syria. These two regimes are allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq.

Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops. We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We'll interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq.

We're also taking other steps to bolster the security of Iraq and protect American interests in the Middle East. I recently ordered the deployment of an additional carrier strike group to the region. We will expand intelligence-sharing and deploy Patriot air defense systems to reassure our friends and allies.

We will work with the governments of Turkey and Iraq to help them resolve problems along their border. And we will work with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating the region.

We will use America's full diplomatic resources to rally support for Iraq from nations throughout the Middle East. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the Gulf States need to understand that an American defeat in Iraq would create a new sanctuary for extremists and a strategic threat to their survival.

These nations have a stake in a successful Iraq that is at peace with its neighbors, and they must step up their support for Iraq's unity government. We endorse the Iraqi government's call to finalize an International Compact that will bring new economic assistance in exchange for greater economic reform. And on Friday, Secretary Rice will leave for the region, to build support for Iraq and continue the urgent diplomacy required to help bring peace to the Middle East.

The challenge playing out across the broader Middle East is more than a military conflict. It is the decisive ideological struggle of our time. On one side are those who believe in freedom and moderation. On the other side are extremists who kill the innocent, and have declared their intention to destroy our way of life.

In the long run, the most realistic way to protect the American people is to provide a hopeful alternative to the hateful ideology of the enemy, by advancing liberty across a troubled region. It is in the interests of the United States to stand with the brave men and women who are risking their lives to claim their freedom, and to help them as they work to raise up just and hopeful societies across the Middle East.

From Afghanistan to Lebanon to the Palestinian Territories, millions of ordinary people are sick of the violence, and want a future of peace and opportunity for their children. And they are looking at Iraq.

They want to know: Will America withdraw and yield the future of that country to the extremists, or will we stand with the Iraqis who have made the choice for freedom?

The changes I have outlined tonight are aimed at ensuring the survival of a young democracy that is fighting for its life in a part of the world of enormous importance to American security.

Let me be clear: The terrorists and insurgents in Iraq are without conscience, and they will make the year ahead bloody and violent. Even if our new strategy works exactly as planned, deadly acts of violence will continue — and we must expect more Iraqi and American casualties.

The question is whether our new strategy will bring us closer to success. I believe that it will.

Victory will not look like the ones our fathers and grandfathers achieved. There will be no surrender ceremony on the deck of a battleship.

But victory in Iraq will bring something new in the Arab world — a functioning democracy that polices its territory, upholds the rule of law, respects fundamental human liberties, and answers to its people.

A democratic Iraq will not be perfect. But it will be a country that fights terrorists instead of harboring them — and it will help bring a future of peace and security for our children and our grandchildren.

This new approach comes after consultations with Congress about the different courses we could take in Iraq. Many are concerned that the Iraqis are becoming too dependent on the United States, and therefore, our policy should focus on protecting Iraq's borders and hunting down al Qaeda.

Their solution is to scale back America's efforts in Baghdad — or announce the phased withdrawal of our combat forces. We carefully considered these proposals. And we concluded that to step back now would force a collapse of the Iraqi government, tear the country apart, and result in mass killings on an unimaginable scale.

Such a scenario would result in our troops being forced to stay in Iraq even longer, and confront an enemy that is even more lethal. If we increase our support at this crucial moment, and help the Iraqis break the current cycle of violence, we can hasten the day our troops begin coming home.

In the days ahead, my national security team will fully brief Congress on our new strategy. If members have improvements that can be made, we will make them. If circumstances change, we will adjust. Honorable people have different views, and they will voice their criticisms.

It is fair to hold our views up to scrutiny. And all involved have a responsibility to explain how the path they propose would be more likely to succeed.

Acting on the good advice of Senator Joe Lieberman and other key members of Congress, we will form a new, bipartisan working group that will help us come together across party lines to win the war on terror.

This group will meet regularly with me and my administration; it will help strengthen our relationship with Congress. We can begin by working together to increase the size of the active Army and Marine Corps, so that America has the Armed Forces we need for the 21st century.

We also need to examine ways to mobilize talented American civilians to deploy overseas, where they can help build democratic institutions in communities and nations recovering from war and tyranny.

In these dangerous times, the United States is blessed to have extraordinary and selfless men and women willing to step forward and defend us. These young Americans understand that our cause in Iraq is noble and necessary — and that the advance of freedom is the calling of our time.

They serve far from their families, who make the quiet sacrifices of lonely holidays and empty chairs at the dinner table. They have watched their comrades give their lives to ensure our liberty. We mourn the loss of every fallen American — and we owe it to them to build a future worthy of their sacrifice.

Fellow citizens: The year ahead will demand more patience, sacrifice, and resolve. It can be tempting to think that America can put aside the burdens of freedom. Yet times of testing reveal the character of a nation. And throughout our history, Americans have always defied the pessimists and seen our faith in freedom redeemed.

Now America is engaged in a new struggle that will set the course for a new century. We can, and we will, prevail.

We go forward with trust that the Author of Liberty will guide us through these trying hours. Thank you and good night.

END E-mail this Page

Tomorrow the media and DC will be alive with a war of words, the question will be: “Will he get his troops or not?” Will he play out a “Security for Baghdad Strategy” cover action while planning the inevitable pull out, because what he is talking about is securing Columbus Ohio, while fighting is going on in the farm field of Southern Ohio and the Urban centers of Northeast Ohio, or securing Hartford Connecticut for Lieberman while fighting rages along the Connecticut River and in the Tobacco Fields and the slums of New Haven and Bridgeport.

He is either delusional, or he and his people think we are all stupid, ah ha…both! This war is lost because we are not willing, nor is the rest of the world, to do that which will eventually be done at a catastrophic cost to world, when there is finally no choice but to face and end the war of 1,300 years!

In the end you know it will be the Iraui’s fault, because they did not have the will to defend themselves…trust me…that will be the final finger point!

AND THE FIRST CONTACT IS IN:

Dear Ed.,
Thought you might like to be one of the first to see my thoughts on tonight’s non-event. The letter is be sent to all my friends tonight and will be posted on my web site. Mike

Wednesday, January 10th, 2007Dear Mr. President: Send Even MORE Troops (and you go, too!) ...from Michael Moore

Dear Mr. President,

Thanks for your address to the nation. It's good to know you still want to talk to us after how we behaved in November.

Listen, can I be frank? Sending in 20,000 more troops just ain't gonna do the job. That will only bring the troop level back up to what it was last year. And we were losing the war last year! We've already had over a million troops serve some time in Iraq since 2003. Another few thousand is simply not enough to find those weapons of mass destruction! Er, I mean... bringing those responsible for 9/11 to justice! Um, scratch that. Try this -- BRING DEMOCRACY TO THE MIDDLE EAST! YES!!!

You've got to show some courage, dude! You've got to win this one! C'mon, you got Saddam! You hung 'im high! I loved watching the video of that -- just like the old wild west! The bad guy wore black! The hangmen were as crazy as the hangee! Lynch mobs rule!!!

Look, I have to admit I feel very sorry for the predicament you're in. As Ricky Bobby said, "If you're not first, you're last." And you being humiliated in front of the whole world does NONE of us Americans any good.

Sir, listen to me. You have to send in MILLIONS of troops to Iraq, not thousands! The only way to lick this thing now is to flood Iraq with millions of us! I know that you're out of combat-ready soldiers -- so you have to look elsewhere! The only way you are going to beat a nation of 27 million -- Iraq -- is to send in at least 28 million! Here's how it would work:

The first 27 million Americans go in and kill one Iraqi each. That will quickly take care of any insurgency. The other one million of us will stay and rebuild the country. Simple.

Now, I know you're saying, where will I find 28 million Americans to go to Iraq? Here are some suggestions:

1. More than 62,000,000 Americans voted for you in the last election (the one that took place a year and half into a war we already knew we were losing). I am confident that at least a third of them would want to put their body where there vote was and sign up to volunteer. I know many of these people and, while we may disagree politically, I know that they don't believe someone else should have to go and fight their fight for them -- while they hide here in America.

2. Start a "Kill an Iraqi" Meet-Up group in cities across the country. I know this idea is so early-21st century, but I once went to a Lou Dobbs Meet-Up and, I swear, some of the best ideas happen after the third mojito. I'm sure you'll get another five million or so enlistees from this effort.

3. Send over all members of the mainstream media. After all, they were your collaborators in bringing us this war -- and many of them are already trained from having been "embedded!" If that doesn't bring the total to 28 million, then draft all viewers of the FOX News channel.

Mr. Bush, do not give up! Now is not the time to pull your punch! Don't be a weenie by sending in a few over-tired troops. Get your people behind you and YOU lead them in like a true commander in chief! Leave no conservative behind! Full speed ahead!

We promise to write. Go get 'em W!

Yours,

Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
http://www.michaelmoore.comhttp:/www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=204

SEEING MICROSOFT RED!

2007-01-10T19:12:00.000-08:00

I HAVE TALKED TO HIM SEVERAL TIMES WITH MIXED RESULTS.

Even the most resonable of us get frustrated with some things, and Microsoft is one of my things!!!

Mujibar was trying to get a job in India .

The Personnel Manager said, "Mujibar, you have passed all the tests, except one.

Unless you pass it you cannot qualify for this job." ï¿½

Mujibar said, "I am ready" ï¿½

The manager said, "Make a sentence using the words Yellow, Pink and Green." ï¿½

Mujibar said, "The telephone goes green, green and I pink it up, and say, 'Yellow, this is Mujibar.'' Mujibar now works as a technician at a call center for computer problems. ï¿½

No doubt you have spoken to him. I have.

If I had a car like Windows that needed a weekly tune up and new additional parts to run safely; it would long ago been labeled a lemon, recalled and replaced!

If I had a car like Internet Explorer that froze up, or swerved off the road and crashed daily, it would long ago been totaled by my insurance company and replaced with a safe vehicle!

If I had a car like Microsoft Word that crashes at will, so much so Microsoft wants reports, (so they can sell you a new version),; that car would have to have a James Bond-like parachute ejection seat!

Pretty soon everyone will be singing a New Penguin song, and it won't be from a movie: "I Love Linux"!

MICROSOFT RIDES AGAIN; WORD PLATFORM REMAINS BUGGY AND UNSTABLE

2007-01-10T16:44:00.000-08:00

BLOGGERS BEWARE!

ADD WORD TO THE (HOLEY) SHOOTING GALLERY!

Security threats Toolkit
Microsoft leaves Word flaws unpatched
Joris Evers CNET News.com
Published: 10 Jan 2007 09:52 GMT

Microsoft on Tuesday released fixes for vulnerabilities in its Windows and Office software, but left several known Word zero-day flaws without a patch.

As part of its monthly patch cycle, Microsoft published four security bulletins with fixes for 10 vulnerabilities. Three of the bulletins are deemed "critical", the company's most serious rating; the fourth is tagged "important", a notch lower. All bulletins, however, address flaws that could allow an attacker to commandeer a PC.

"Microsoft does recommend that all customers sign up for Microsoft Update and enable its Automatic Updates functionality to receive all updates available this month and to help make their systems more secure," a Microsoft representative said in an emailed statement.

Among Microsoft's fixes are three vulnerabilities that were previously known. Still, the company left several known zero-day vulnerabilities without a patch.

"Conspicuous by their absence are patches for the zero-day exploits in Word," Andrew Storms, director of security operations at network security firm nCircle, said in a statement. These patches were probably pulled due to quality issues, he said. Microsoft on Friday postponed four of its planned eight security bulletins.

All of the security vulnerabilities addressed by Microsoft's first fixes of 2007 relate to how multiple versions of Windows and Office handle specific files. Attackers could create malicious files that, when opened, at worst could give the attacker control of a vulnerable PC, according to Microsoft's bulletins.

Nine of the 10 security holes Microsoft provided fixes for lie in Office applications. Five affect Excel, three hit Outlook, and one impacts the Brazilian Portuguese grammar checker for Office. Opening rigged files could trigger the flaws and allow an attack to occur, Microsoft said. Both Windows and Mac versions of Office are affected.

"Today's patch release illustrates once again that the volume of client-side vulnerabilities for the Windows platform is not slowing down," Oliver Friedrichs, a Symantec Security Response director, said in a statement. "Attackers are exploiting vulnerabilities with increasing speed, and it's imperative that computer users protect themselves by installing updated software patches as quickly as possible."

The tenth hole is in Windows and is similar to a bug Microsoft rushed out a fix for in September after Windows users came under attack. The vulnerability lies in a Windows component called "vgx.dll" that is meant to support Vector Markup Language documents in the operating system. VML is used for high-quality vector graphics on the Web.

Like the first VML hole, this vulnerability can be exploited by tricking a user into viewing a malicious VML file on a website with Internet Explorer. All recent versions of Windows are vulnerable with all recent versions of IE, including IE 7, according to Microsoft. The exception is Windows Vista, which is not affected, it said.

Microsoft's patches will be distributed via Automatic Updates and the company's Microsoft Update downloads website.

DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH AND BE CAREFUL. Ed.

THE LATEST FROM RASMUSSEN

2007-01-10T13:56:00.000-08:00

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Biden Trails McCain and Giuliani by Double Digits
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38% Believe It's Better For Different Parties to Control Congress & White House
48% Trust Dem Leaders in Congress, 38% Trust Bush
Pelosi: 43% Have Favorable Opinion of New House Speaker
Lower Job Satisfaction Prompts Year-End Decline in Worker Confidence
42% Will Make New Year's Resolution
Bush Job Approval at 44%
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IMPEACH, SUSPECTS, MAYBE, OH WELL; WHAT THE HELL...BOMB!!!

2007-01-09T06:36:00.000-08:00

SOMALIA NOW!!!

MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, CANADIAN PRESS

Published: Tuesday, January 09, 2007

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Two U.S. air strikes in Somalia killed large numbers of Islamic extremists, government officials and witnesses said Tuesday. THE TARGETS WERE SUSPECTS IN THE BOMBINGS OF TWO U.S. EMBASSIES IN EAST AFRICA IN 1998.

The attacks, by an AC-130 gunship, came after the terror suspects were spotted hiding on a remote island on the southern tip of Somalia, close to the Kenyan border, Somali officials said. The island and a site 250 kilometres north were hit.

It was the first overt military action by the U.S. in Somalia since the 1990s and the legacy of a botched intervention - known as "Black Hawk Down" - that left 18 U.S. servicemen dead. The U.S. military said Tuesday it had sent an aircraft carrier to join three other U.S. warships conducting anti-terror operations off the Somali coast.

U.S. warships have been seeking to capture al-Qaida MEMBERS THOUGHT TO BE FLEEING Somalia after Ethiopia invaded Dec. 24 in support of the government and have begun flying intelligence-gathering missions over Somalia.

President Abdullahi Yusuf told journalists in the capital, Mogadishu, that the U.S. "has a right to bombard terrorist suspects who attacked its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania." Monday, Yusuf had entered the restive capital for the first time since his election.

Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Aideed told The Associated Press the United States had "our full support for the attacks."

BUT OTHERS IN THE CAPITAL SAID THE ATTACKS WOULD ONLY INCREASE ANTI-AMERICAN SENTIMENT IN THE LARGELY MUSLIM COUNTRY.

"U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN THE FIGHTING IN OUR COUNTRY IS COMPLETELY WRONG," SAID SAHRO AHMED, A 37-YEAR-OLD MOTHER OF FIVE.

Already, many people in predominantly Muslim Somalia had resented the presence of troops from neighbouring Ethiopia, which has a large Christian population and has fought two brutal wars with Somalia, most recently in 1977.

Ethiopian forces had invaded Somalia to prevent an Islamic movement from ousting the weak, internationally recognized government from its lone stronghold in the west of the country. The U.S. and Ethiopia both accuse the Islamic group of harbouring extremists, among them al-Qaida suspects.

Ethiopian troops, tanks and warplanes took just 10 days to drive the Islamic group from the capital, Mogadishu, and other key towns.

PRESIDENT YUSUF SAID THE LEADERS OF THE ISLAMIC MOVEMENT "WOULD NOT BE FORGIVEN" AND THAT TALKS BETWEEN THE TWO RIVAL SIDES WERE NOT AN OPTION.

One U.S. attack took place on Monday afternoon on Badmadow island. The area is known as Ras Kamboni and Is Suspected To Be A Terror Training Base. Ethiopian and Somali troops had over the last days cornered the main Islamic force in Ras Kamboni, with U.S. warships patrolling off shore and the Kenyan military guarding the border to watch for fleeing militants.

Witnesses said at least four civilians were killed in another attack 50 kilometres east of Afmadow town, including a small boy. The claims could not be independently verified.

“My 4-year-old boy was killed in the strike," Mohamed Mahmud Burale told the AP by telephone. "We also heard 14 massive explosions."

The AC-130, a four engine turboprop-driven aircraft, is armed with 40 mm cannon that fire 120 rounds per minute and a 105 mm cannon, normally a field artillery weapon. The plane's latest version, the AC-130U, known as "Spooky," also carries Gatling gun-type 20 mm cannon. The gunships were designed primarily for battlefield use to place saturated fire on massed troops.

"We don't know how many people were killed in the attack but we understand there were a lot of casualties," government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said. "Most were Islamic fighters."

U.S. OFFICIALS SAID AFTER THE SEPT. 11 ATTACKS THAT EXTREMISTS WITH TIES TO AL-QAIDA OPERATED A TRAINING CAMP AT RAS KAMBONI AND AL-QAIDA MEMBERS ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE VISITED IT. The alleged mastermind of the embassy bombings in East Africa, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, escaped to Ras Kamboni, according to testimony from one of the convicted bombers.

Mohammed is believed to be the leader of the al-Qaida East Africa cell.

Leaders of the Islamic movement have vowed from their hideouts to launch an Iraq-style guerrilla war in Somalia, and al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden's deputy has called on militants to carry out suicide attacks on the Ethiopian troops.

SOMALIA HAS NOT HAD AN EFFECTIVE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT SINCE CLAN-BASED WARLORDS TOPPLED DICTATOR MOHAMED SIAD BARRE IN 1991 AND THEN TURNED ON EACH OTHER, SINKING THE HORN OF AFRICA NATION OF SEVEN MILLION PEOPLE INTO CHAOS.

AT LEAST 13 ATTEMPTS AT GOVERNMENT HAVE FAILED SINCE THEN. THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2004 WITH UN BACKING.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday that a UN peacekeeping force may be needed to guarantee security and stability in Somalia. He said Ugandan forces may be the first deployed to replace Ethiopian troops.

Jendayi Frazer, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Africa, said Sunday that the United States would use its diplomatic and financial resources to support the government. The U.S. has pledged US$40 million in political, humanitarian and peacekeeping assistance.

The African Union has begun planning for a peacekeeping force, and Uganda has promised at least 1,000 soldiers. Frazer has said she hopes the first troops will begin arriving in Mogadishu before the end of the month.

© The Canadian Press 2007

'Many dead' after US strike on Somalia

Iraqi Qaeda allies urge backing for Somali Islamists

"In this great showdown, the Islamic State in Iraq calls on all Muslims to stand with their brothers in Somalia and support them with money, arms and men and to pray for their victory over the enemy," the so-called Islamic State in Iraq said in a statement dated Dec. 27 posted on the Internet.

U.S. airstrikes target al-Qaida in Somalia

WASHINGTON - At least one U.S. airstrike in Somalia that targeted an al-Qaida cell wanted for two 1998 U.S. embassy bombings killed large numbers of Islamic extremists, government officials said Tuesday.

The attack came after the terror suspects were spotted hiding on a remote island on the southern tip of Somalia, close to the Kenyan border, Somali officials said.

Eyewitnesses also said another attack was carried out Monday about 155 miles north of the original strike and more strikes were reported on Tuesday

Target of U.S. strike wanted for multiple attacks

NAIROBI, Kenya - Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, the main target of the U.S. military action Monday in Somalia, is master of disguises who speaks several languages and likes to wear baseball caps.

One of the FBI’s most wanted, he has a $5 million price on his head for allegedly planning the 1998 attacks on the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which killed 225 people.

• U.S. airstrikes target al-Qaida in Somalia

By Andrew England in Cairo

Updated: 23 minutes ago

A US aircraft launched an attack in southern Somalia against suspected al-Qaeda terrorists, killing many people, Somali officials said on Tuesday.

US military officials refused to comment on the air-strikes, which reportedly involved an AC-130 gunship and took place in an area known as Ros Kamboni.

US officials have previously told the Financial Times that they deem it their right to pursue terrorists wherever they are.

The attack came 16 days after Ethiopian troops led an offensive against a rival Somali Islamist movement, which both Addis Ababa and Washington accused of harbouring and including al-Qaeda suspects.

The US says three suspects believed to be involved in the 1998 US embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, as well as a 2002 attack on an Israeli-owned hotel on the Kenyan coast and a simultaneous attempt to shoot down an Israeli charter aircraft, have been hiding out in Somalia.

It says they include Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Comorian who is on the FBI's most wanted terrorist list and is believed to be the leader of an East African terrorist cell. The other two are a Kenyan and a Sudanese national.

It was not clear whether any of the suspects had been killed or wounded in the attack.

"The US has a right to bombard terrorist suspects who attacked its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania," Abdullahi Yusuf, Somalia's interim president said after the attack, which would be the first known direct US military involvement in Somalia since its failed intervention in the Horn of Africa nation in the 1990s.

The US Central Command said on Tuesday it was deploying an aircraft carrier, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, off the Somali coast. The carrier includes F/A 18 Hornets or Super Hornets jets and E-2C Hawkeyes, reconnaissance aircraft, and it was the first time such a vessel had been deployed off Somalia in "recent memory" a US navy spokesman said.

Other US ships have been patrolling Somalia's coastline, one of Africa's longest, to prevent Islamists fleeing by sea.

Washington was thought to have given Addis Ababa tacit support for its offensive against the Somali Islamists.

The Islamist movement, which was an alliance of Islamic courts, had controlled much of southern Somalia before the offensive. But faced with Ethiopian tanks and aircraft, it retreated from all its strongholds and its fighters fled south towards the Kenyan border.

The movement, which came to prominence after seizing control of Mogadishu, the Somali capital, from an alliance of US-backed warlords in June, was not a monolithic group and included hardliners and conservatives. Islamist leaders repeatedly denied any links to al-Qaeda and terrorism.

In spite of their rapid defeat they have insisted they will continue to fight, fuelling concerns that Ethiopian troops could be sucked into a guerrilla war.

Efforts are underway to put together an African-led peace keeping force to bolster the weak Ethiopian-backed Somali transitional government. On Monday, Mr Yusuf entered Mogadishu for the first time in years.

However, his government, which has been plagued by divisions and includes warlords, has little popular support and is dependent on Ethiopia's troops for security. Before the Ethiopian offensive, its area of control was restricted to the small, central town of Baidao.

Somalia, a Muslim nation, has not had an effective central government since the ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and has been plagued by warlordism and clan-based violence.

The lawlessness and the country's proximity to the Middle East caused US officials to describe Somalia as a potential haven for terrorists after the September 11 attacks.