Gas explosion controversy
September 17, 2010

Pacific Gas & Electric planned in 2009 to replace a section of its gas pipeline just a couple of miles from the section that exploded last week in San Bruno, California, but never spent the $5 million of rate increases to do the work, a consumer watchdog group said Wednesday.

And further, said TURN [The Utility Reform Network], the utility asked for another $5 million for the same project in 2009 -- the year it should have completed the work it hasn't even started -- saying it wouldn't be completed until 2013.

"The money was spent on what they call higher priority work," said TURN senior attorney Mike Florio.

"You can't track the dollars one by one, but we do know they spent $62 million more on management incentive business than they had forecast in 2009," he said. "They spent $60 million on going back and re-doing gas leak surveys that they had botched elsewhere on their system."

PG&E; responded that it "is committed to performing the work necessary to assure the safety of its gas transmission system."

The utility said it had identified the line section as a "high priority project" in the earlier transmission rate filing, but "rescheduled the project" after an updated assessment in 2009. But the company did not explain why it needed an additional $5 million and three years to complete repairs on a section it said in its most recent rate filing was in the top 100 risks for failure.

"Coupled with the consequences of failure of this section of pipeline, the likelihood of a failure makes the risk of a failure at this location unacceptably high," the company said in that filing.

TURN officials think they know where some of the money went -- in 2009, the year PG&E; didn't spend $5 million on fixing the pipeline, the company did spend $5 million on bonuses for six top executives.

"The company's priorities appear to be skewed," TURN executive director Mark Toney said.

The line that exploded in San Bruno was laid down in 1948, as was the section PG&E; was supposed to replace. In the first filing, the utility noted that the "vintage 30-inch pipeline" runs through "several High Consequence Areas." In the second, it said the pipeline was "located in a heavily urbanized area."

Posted by jc at 1:10 AM - Link to this entry  |  Share this entry  |  Print

Tea Party vs GOP
September 17, 2010

With tea party-, Sarah Palin- and Jim DeMint-backed candidates winning Republican primaries all over the country, it's hard not to conclude that the GOP is committing suicide.

Or, as one GOP insider put it Wednesday, "we're going to hell in a tea caddy."

In the short term, victories by former fringe candidates Christine O'Donnell in Delaware and Sharron Angle in Nevada diminish -- but do not eliminate -- GOP chances of taking control of the Senate in November.

But, worse, the growing strength of right-wing ideologues threatens to shove the GOP into territory occupied by Democrats: out of the mainstream of U.S. opinion.

And, even worse than that, a harder-right GOP contingent in the House and Senate -- whether in the majority or not -- will make it harder to solve any of America's huge problems, which will require compromise with President Barack Obama.

Right now, the "establishment" Republicans leading the GOP in Congress near-automatically oppose every important Obama initiative.

With hard-liners such as Joe Miller (Alaska), Mike Lee (Utah), Ken Buck (Colo.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Rand Paul (Ky.) and former Rep. Pat Toomey (Pa.) bolstering right-wing ranks led by Sen. Jim DeMint (S.C.), agreement on taxes, budgets, entitlement and immigration reform -- even education reform -- may well become impossible.

It's even conceivable that Republicans could repeat the disastrous 1995 stunt of shutting down the government -- perhaps this time over health care funding -- which helped President Bill Clinton recover politically and win re-election in 1996.

The perpetrator of that faux pas, then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), shows every sign of being so caught up in the right-wing ascendancy that he's gone extremist in his bid to be the 2012 GOP presidential nominee.

To top off calling Supreme Court nominee (now Justice) Sonia Sotomayor a racist, likening Islam to Naziism and raising the specter of a "secular-socialist" takeover of America, Gingrich has endorsed the idea that Obama is, at bottom, a Kenyan anti-colonialist who hates western culture.

Among other GOP presidential candidates, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is already repeating Mitt Romney's 2008 mistake of going nativist to appeal to the right.

To be sure, not all tea-party-backed candidates are so "out there," but Rush Limbaugh-inspired vilification of Obama is running deep in the party.

Calling him "alien" is now respectable, and the just-nominated GOP candidate for New York governor has distributed e-mails depicting Obama and the first lady as a pimp and prostitute.

Warning to the GOP: While the latest Quinnipiac University poll shows that Obama's approval rating is 44 percent, an all-time low, 55 percent regard him as "honest and trustworthy" and 59 percent say he has "strong leadership qualities."

Obama's "favorable" rating is down to 47 percent, but Palin's is 31 percent and the tea party's is 30 percent. Only 12 percent of Americans say they belong to the movement.

Approval of the Democratic Party's performance in Congress is down to 30 percent -- 19 percent among independent voters.

But approval of Republicans in Congress is 29 percent overall and 23 percent among independents.

Democrats have sunk so low since 2006 and 2008 because they have gone too far left, proposing big-government solutions to every problem and swelling the national debt.

A Gallup poll in June showed that 49 percent of voters thought the Democratic Party "too liberal," while 38 percent thought it "just right." Forty percent thought the GOP "too conservative" and 41 percent "just right."

What's going to happen when it sinks in with the public that Republicans want to make all of President George W. Bush's tax cuts permanent, adding $3.9 trillion to the national debt? It may not hurt them in this election, but eventually, it will.

Of course, as Democrats lose marginal seats, their ranks will become more solidly liberal. That won't matter much if they lose control of the House, but it will further polarize American politics.

Two very bright conservatives, New York Times columnist David Brooks and Peter Berkowitz of Stanford University's Hoover Institution, have warned recently that conservatives need to remember that, if elected, they have a responsibility to govern and solve problems, not just oppose government.

"Those responsibilities," Berkowitz wrote in the Wall Street Journal, "include putting people to work and reigniting the economy -- and devising alternatives to Obamacare ... to provide affordable and decent health care."

As Brooks wrote this week, "if the current Republican Party regards every new bit of government action as a step on the road to serfdom, then the party will be taking [the] long, mainstream tradition [of government action dating to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln] and exiling it from the GOP."

The GOP is heading out of the mainstream. The disastrous examples of Barry Goldwater in 1964 and George McGovern in 1972 should be instructive.

Posted by jc at 1:08 AM - Link to this entry  |  Share this entry  |  Print

Too sexy for sidelines?
September 16, 2010

The New York Jets football team is investigating allegations of harassment by team members towards television sports reporter Ines Sainz.

It is unclear what exactly happened when Sainz, from the Mexican network TV Azteca, entered the Jets locker room Saturday after practice but Sainz told CNN's Rick Sanchez on Monday that from the moment she entered, she felt all eyes on were her.

"I feel [a] little uncomfortable because evidently it is not easy to be in the locker room and hear and notice that everybody is speaking about you," Sainz said.

CNN was not able to contact anyone else in the locker room at the time but Sainz said that a female colleague took her aside and expressed concern and embarrassment for the situation she was in. But Sainz said she was just trying to focus on her job, and not the joking and talking going on behind her.

"But I really know that she heard something that I didn't hear, and the rest of the media that was inside heard things that I didn't hear," Sainz told CNN.

The Association of Women in Sports and Media spoke out Monday on Sainz' behalf, calling for a sharp rebuke "If Jets players, coaches and staff allegedly involved in the incident are found to have acted in unprofessional and harassing behavior toward Ms. Sainz, we expect and demand reprimand and punishment by the NFL and Jets," the association said in a statement.



The association will be holding meetings between its officials and the National Football League in the next week in an effort "to strengthen dialogue with leagues and teams to help elevate standards and maintain a harassment-free work place," according to a statement from the group.

The Jets released a statement on Sunday saying, "We will continue to work with the league to gather the facts and take any appropriate steps necessary to maintain a respectful environment for the media."

Sainz confirmed in her interview on CNN's "Rick's List" that Jets team owner Woody Johnson called her personally to stress that all Jets members are expected to act professionally and to extend courtesy to members of media regardless of gender.

Sainz told CNN that she accepted an apology from Johnson and that she also made a statement to the NFL about the incident.

Although Sainz at first seemed surprised by the attention she was garnering, she told CNN that she does not believe this type of behavior is acceptable.

"I think that its not good that these kinds of things happen and it mustn't happen anymore," Sainz told CNN. "Everyone knows that a woman or a man deserves the same treatment in the locker room."

Sainz is expected to report on the Jets' opening game at the Meadowlands on Monday night.

Check out Sainz's twitter: http://twitter.com/Ines_Sainz

Posted by jc at 12:36 AM - Link to this entry  |  Share this entry  |  Print

Dems celebrate Tea Party win
September 16, 2010

A celebratory Christine O'Donnell thanked her supporters, the Tea Party and kingmaker Sarah Palin on the night of her stunning win in Delaware's Republican Senate primary.

At the same time, party leaders were shaking their heads, watching helplessly as control of the Senate was slipping out of reach.

Republicans were expected to pick up the Senate seat that Vice President Joe Biden held for 26 years with Rep. Mike Castle, a nine-term congressman and popular former governor who appealed to independents and some Democrats, on the ballot.

And in an anti-incumbent year, Republicans had hopes of reclaiming the Senate, where Democrats hold 59 seats, including two independents who caucus with them, and Republicans 41.

But now that it will be O'Donnell facing off against Democrat Chris Coons, Democrats are breathing a little easier.

Within hours of the race being called, two top nonpartisan political handicappers changed their rating of how the Delaware Senate election might go.

The Rothenberg Political Report moved the race from "Lean Republican" to "Lean Democrat." On Wednesday morning, the Cook Political Report changed its rating from "Likely Republican" to "Likely Democrat."

"Castle had broad appeal, including to independents and even Democratic voters, while O'Donnell's appeal is limited to Tea Party conservatives. Lacking an impressive resume and unlikely to garner significant national Republican support, O'Donnell clearly looks like an underdog against New Castle County Executive Chris Coons (D), who is suddenly transformed to the favorite in the general election," the Rothenberg Report said. "While Tea Party activists are jumping for joy at the primary results, it's Democrats who will have the last laugh in Delaware."

Top two handicappers change Delaware outlook

The Tea Party is a populist, conservative movement that grew out of frustration over perceived overspending by the federal government. Tea Party activists say they feel Washington doesn't hear the voice of the people.

Moments after O'Donnell's victory, the National Republican Senatorial Committee offered a one-armed embrace to their new candidate.

"We congratulate Christine O'Donnell for her nomination this evening after a hard-fought primary campaign in Delaware," Rob Jesmer, the committee's executive director, said in a statement.

No second sentence. No predictions for November.

"The NRSC statement appears as tepid as the Republican Governors Association's initial statement following Rick Scott's victory in Florida," said Paul Steinhauser, CNN's deputy political director. Outsider Scott defeated party favorite Bill McCollum in August in Florida's gubernatorial primary.

Top Democratic strategist Steve Elmendorf said the Republicans "basically gave away a Senate seat."

"This woman cannot win. Just look at the tone of what the NRSC and Karl Rove said," he said.

Democrats euphoric about 'choice' coming out of Delaware

Speaking on Fox News on Tuesday night, Rove, who was a top aide for former President George W. Bush, said the political newcomer does not "evince the characteristics of rectitude and sincerity and character that the voters are looking for," adding "there's just a lot of nutty things she's been saying."

O'Donnell brushed off Rove's remarks, saying, "It's a shame. He is the same so-called political guru that predicted I wasn't going to win."

"And we won, and we won big. So I think he is eating some humble pie and trying to restore his reputation," she told ABC in response.

O'Donnell calls Rove comments 'a shame'

The newly minted Republican Senatorial candidate said that while she'd love the support of establishment Republicans, she can forge ahead without it.

"They don't have a winning track record," O'Donnell said Tuesday night. "If they're too lazy to put in the effort that we need to win, then, so be it. We're going to win without them."

The Tea Party Express, which ran ads, sent mailers and organized rallies in support of O'Donnell, vowed an aggressive independent expenditure campaign for its candidate.

Tea Party Express: O'Donnell can win without national GOP

Following Tuesday's noticeably chilly reception, some Republicans showed signs of warming to her Wednesday.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said he would support and donate money to O'Donnell's campaign.

McConnell didn't respond when asked whether he thinks O'Donnell's victory would lead to a Democrat winning the seat and jeopardizing a possible GOP takeover of the Senate. However, asked if he thinks she will win the race, he responded, "I'm going to be supporting the nominee, and we'll hope for the best. We'd like to win the seat."

Sen. John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, released a statement clarifying the organization's involvement in the general election.

"Let there be no mistake: The National Republican Senatorial Committee -- and I personally as the committee's chairman -- strongly stand by all of our Republican nominees, including Christine O'Donnell in Delaware," he said.

Cornyn also said the the committee would send her a check for $42,000, the maximum allowable donation provided to nominees.

Cornyn issues upbeat tone on O'Donnell

The winner of November's general election will fill out the remaining four years of Biden's final term. Biden stepped down from the Senate after his election in November 2008 as vice president. Former Biden aide Ted Kaufman was named as an interim replacement, but Kaufman is not seeking a full term.

Posted by jc at 12:34 AM - Link to this entry  |  Share this entry  |  Print

Primary elections
September 15, 2010

Virtually unknown a month ago, Christine O'Donnell rode a surge of support from tea party activists to victory in Delaware's Republican Senate primary Tuesday night, dealing yet another setback to the GOP establishment in a campaign season full of them. A second insurgent trailed narrowly in a long, late count for the GOP nomination in New Hampshire.

O'Donnell defeated nine-term Rep. Mike Castle, a fixture in Delaware politics for a generation and a political moderate. Republican Party officials, who had touted him as their only hope for winning the seat in the fall, made clear as the votes were being counted they would not provide O'Donnell funding in the general election campaign.

She enters the fall race as an underdog to Chris Coons, a county executive who was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. The Republican state chairman, Tom Ross, said recently she "could not be elected dogcatcher," and records surfaced during the campaign showing that the IRS had once slapped a lien against her and her house had been headed for foreclosure. She also claimed falsely to have carried two of the state's counties in a race against Vice President Joe Biden two years ago.

With unemployment high and President Barack Obama's popularity below 50 percent, Republicans said a run of hotly contested primaries this spring and summer reflected voter enthusiasm that will serve the party well in the fall. The GOP needs to win 40 seats to take the House and 10 for control of the Senate.

Democrats counter that the presence of tea party-supported Republicans on the ballot on Nov. 2 would prove costly to the GOP. That proposition will be tested in seven weeks' time in Senate races in Nevada, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky - all states where establishment Republican candidates fell in earlier primaries - and now Delaware.

In the other marquee race of the night, for New Hampshire's Republican Senate nomination, former Attorney General Kelly Ayotte edged ahead of Ovide Lamontagne as returns piled up after midnight. Her lead was roughly 1,000 votes with results tallied from three-quarters of the state's precincts.

Ayotte was backed by establishment Republicans as well as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Lamontagne, a former chairman of the state Board of Education, campaigned with the support of tea party activists The winner will face Democratic Rep. Paul Hodes, who is giving up his seat in the House to run for the Senate.

Nearly complete returns from Delaware showed O'Donnell with 53 percent of the vote. "Don't ever underestimate the power of 'we the people,'" she told supporters who cheered her triumph.

But Coons issued a statement moments after Castle's defeat. "We cannot let Joe Biden's seat fall into ultraconservative hands," he said.

In other races, Democratic Attorney General Andrew Cuomo of New York faced no opposition for the party's nomination for governor, and he will be the prohibitive favorite in the fall for an office his father held for three terms.

Political novice Carl Paladino, a wealthy developer who enjoyed tea party support, defeated former Rep. Rick Lazio for the Republican nomination. Lazio angled for the conservative nomination and a spot on the November ballot anyway.

Wisconsin businessman Ron Johnson defeated two minor opponents for the Republican nomination to oppose three-term Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold in November in what polls show is a tight race. Johnson has said he will spend millions of his own money to finance his campaign through Election Day.

In New York, 40-year veteran Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel easily won renomination in his first time on the ballot since the House ethics committee accused him of 13 violations, most of them relating to his personal finances.

In all, five states chose nominees for the Senate, and six more had gubernatorial hopefuls on the ballot in the final big night of a primary season marked by recession and political upheaval. The winners had scant time to refocus their energies for midterm elections on Nov. 2.

Castle's defeat boosted the number of members of Congress who have lost primaries to eight, five Republicans and three Democrats. But that list does not include a lengthy list of GOP contenders who fell to tea party-supported challengers despite having the backing of party officials eager to maximize their gains in November.

In a postscript from one of them, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is expected to announce by week's end whether she will mount a write-in campaign following her primary defeat last month.

The Republican primary in Delaware took a sharp turn for the negative three weeks ago after the Tea Party Express, Palin and Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina announced they would come to O'Donnell's aid.

Castle, a former two-term governor and a veteran of nearly two decades in the House, was repeatedly assailed as a liberal, a Republican in name only. He and the party responded by challenging O'Donnell's fitness for public office.

In an extraordinary move, the state Republican Party launched automated phone calls attacking O'Donnell in the campaign's final hours. The calls feature the voice of a woman who identified herself as Kristin Murray, O'Donnell's campaign manager in her 2008 unsuccessful Senate campaign, accusing the candidate of "living on campaign donations - using them for rent and personal expenses, while leaving her workers unpaid and piling up thousands in debt."

Biden resigned the seat in early 2009, shortly after being sworn in as vice president, and his successor, Democratic Sen. Ted Kaufman, pledged not to run for a full term.

The GOP establishment confronted a possible second defeat in Delaware, where businesswoman Michelle Rollins trailed in a race for the nomination for the state's lone House seat in late returns. John Carney was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

In Maryland, former Republican Gov. Bob Ehrlich won the nomination for a rematch against the man who ousted him from office in 2006, Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley.

In Wisconsin, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker defeated former Rep. Mark Neumann for the Republican nomination for governor. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett won the Democratic nomination.

Rangel's principal challenger for the nomination in his Harlem-based district was Adam Clayton Powell IV, a state assemblyman whose father Rangel defeated 40 years ago. In the decades since, Rangel rose to become chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, with enormous power over taxes, trade, Medicare and more, but Democrats forced him to step aside from that panel while he battles ethics charges.

He is accused of accepting several New York City rent-stabilized apartments, and omitting information on his financial disclosure forms. He's also accused of failing to pay taxes from a rental property in the Dominican Republic, and improperly soliciting money for a college center to be named after him. He has vowed to fight the charges, and faces an ethics committee trial, possibly after the elections.

A second New York Democratic incumbent, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, won easily despite a spirited challenge.

Rhode Island had a rare open seat in its two-member House delegation, following the decision of Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy to retire. Providence Mayor David Cicilline, who is openly gay, defeated three rivals for the Democratic nomination.

Posted by jc at 3:48 AM - Link to this entry  |  Share this entry  |  Print

To tax or not to tax
September 14, 2010

Did John Boehner cave on the issue of the so-called Bush tax cuts?

On CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday, the House GOP leader suggested he would support a tax package that does not include an extension of cuts aimed at the wealthiest Americans if that were the only option on the table.

"I want to do something for all Americans who pay taxes," Boehner said. "If the only option I have is to vote for some of those tax reductions, I'll vote for it ... if that's what we can get done, but I think that's bad policy. I don't think that's going to help our economy."

That's a change from the all-or-nothing approach advocated by House and Senate Republicans for weeks. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said last month that he wouldn't support a tax cut package unless it included breaks for all Americans - a position that has been attacked by President Obama, who says the nation can't afford to give tax breaks to people who don't need it.

In a statement to reporters, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration welcomed "John Boehner's change in position ... but time will tell if his actions will be anything but continued support for the failed policies that got us into this mess."

The danger for Boehner is that his perceived cave could dampen enthusiasm among conservatives ahead of this November's crucial midterms. But with polls showing that voters across party lines are frustrated with the political deadlock in Washington, Boehner could win credit for appearing to compromise on one of the top issues driving the campaign. That's not great news for the Obama and the Democrats, who have attacked Boehner and the GOP as the "party of no."

Posted by jc at 1:14 AM - Link to this entry  |  Share this entry  |  Print

Imam speaking out
September 14, 2010

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is chairman of the Cordoba Initiative, which is planning the controversial Muslim community center and mosque near ground zero in New York. He sat down to discuss the controversy with members of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), including Global Viewpoint editor Nathan Gardels, on Monday, Sept. 13. CFR president Richard Haass posed questions.

Excerpts follow:

Exploring all optionsRichard Haass: You have said that, "If I knew this controversy would happen, if I had known it would have caused this kind of pain, I would not have done it." Given that, why don't you undo your planned project, or at least do it differently from now on?

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf: We are exploring all options as we speak right now. We are working through what will be a solution, God willing, that will defuse this crisis and not create any of the unforeseen or untoward circumstances that we do not want to see happen.

The real battleHaass: If you were to go ahead with the center, and given the larger mission of interfaith dialogue and bridges between faiths that you’ve dedicated so many years to, what sorts of things can you do to heal the rifts that have come about?

Rauf: Let me speak about the larger context. The charge that has been thrown to me since 9/11 is how to improve Muslim-West relations. All of my work since then has been based on doing that.

For many years people have asked, "Where are the moderate Muslims? Where are they? Where are they?" But we moderates couldn't get any attention. Now that we've gotten attention, I'm accused of being immoderate!

In any crisis there is an opportunity. The challenge we have together is how to deploy ourselves in a way that will capitalize on these opportunities within the window of time we have so we can leverage the voice of the moderates - not only to address the causes that have fueled extremism, but enable the moderates to wage a war against the extremists.

Ninety-nine-plus percent of Muslims all over the world, I assure you, absolutely, totally find extremism abhorrent. Let there be no mistake, Islam categorically rejects the killing of innocent people. Terrorists violate the sanctity of human life and corrupt the meaning of our faith. In no way do they represent our religion. And we must not let them define us. Radical extremists would have us believe in a worldwide battle between Muslims and nonMuslims. That idea is false. The real battlefront today is not between Muslims and nonMuslims, but moderates of all faith traditions against the extremists of all faith traditions.

What has been so heartwarming to me (during the crisis over the community center) has been the tidal wave of people all across America who have inundated us with offers of help.

CompromiseHaass: Sometimes in order to achieve the larger goals one has to deal with the immediate challenges. Is compromise one of the tools you are prepared to deploy to defuse this crisis?

Rauf: Everything is on the table. We are really focused on solving the crisis in a way that creates the best possible outcome for all.

Muslim terroristsHaass: You said that the battlefield today is not between Muslims and non-Muslims, but between moderates of all the faith traditions and extremists of all faith traditions. Doesn't this skirt over a real issue? You have said that 99-plus percent of all Muslims are not terrorists. Yet, 99 percent of the world's most dangerous terrorists are Muslims. Why is that? What is wrong?

Rauf: There are a number of reasons for this, some political, some socio-economic, and some as a result of perceptions shaped by the media. Together they have created a witches' brew.

What we are trying to do at the Cordoba Initiative is to look at the underlying causes, unpack them, and create strategic projects that help to address these core issues.

The political dimensions are the most important, including the Arab-Israeli conflict that has gone on so long, as well as the presence of our American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan that has expanded the amount of terrorist acts, of which, by the way, Muslims are the biggest victims.

Then there are the religious issues. How do we get around the issue of separation of church and state? In the history of the last century, we've had secular regimes pushing religious forces away from the boardroom, so to speak.

These are among the issues that have fueled this crisis.

The sense of alienation among Muslim minorities, more in Europe than the United States, is another issue. We Muslims have to help each other just as, during Communism, American Jews supported Soviet Jewry and their plight, creating a sense of a common bond.

To address these issues we need to understand the physics of what is going on to find solutions. At this point we understand the science. What we need now is to engineer the solution.

SolutionsHaass: What about solutions? What is it that moderate Muslims who believe in tolerance can do so that radicals do not continue to have the upper hand?

Rauf: A very important issue we have to address, as I mentioned, is the issue of separation of politics and religion. But also, because we are in a globalized world today, what happens in the West has an impact on what happens in the Muslim world. Remember the Danish cartoon crisis. Here was a purely media-created crisis that resulted in a flare-up. Whenever a crisis occurs, there are always forces that emerge which have an agenda. If the train is moving, they jump on it because it helps them reach their destination.

In the case of the Danish cartoon crisis, it was taken advantage of by certain people to push their agendas. So we have to understand the political, social, and religious forces behind extremism and manage it.

Hijacking the agendaHaass: There will always be people with agendas. If the Florida pastor had gone ahead with his terrible threat to burn the Koran, there would have been people who exploited that. Where are the voices pushing back? What can be done to strengthen the voices who say, "What has been said or done is awful, but it is not a license for committing acts of violence against innocent people"?

Rauf: We have to be proactive and strategic instead of reactive. In order to win the game, you just can't have players on the field, but strategies formulated together, and deploy them. What is absent right now is strategic planning about how to push back.

Look, the threat of radical extremists throughout the Muslim world is not only a threat to Western governments. It is as much a threat to Muslim governments and societies. The people of Pakistan are sick and tired of suicide bombers. The same in Iraq.

I remember going to Egypt after a terrorist attack against some tourists. People were mad and angry because tourism dried up and the economy turned down.

Muslims are miserable over terrorism, not happy. They want something better, but we don't know how to give it to them.

Radical extremists have hijacked our discourse. What might happen if, whenever there was a suicide bombing, there was a news blackout. They love the fact that the media gives them this coverage.

I don't know the solution. But what I do know is that we have a status quo in which the extremists can hijack the agenda. For all of our intelligence, we haven't figured out how to tie them down.

Posted by jc at 1:10 AM - Link to this entry  |  Share this entry  |  Print

The War on Terror
September 13, 2010

Nine years after the September 11 attacks, the United States faces a growing threat from home-grown insurgents and an "Americanization" of al Qaeda leadership, according to a report released on Friday.

Former heads of the 9/11 Commission that studied the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington presented the 43-page study, describing it as a wake-up call about the radicalization of Muslims in the United States and the changing strategy of al Qaeda and its allies.

"The threat that the U.S. is facing is different than it was nine years ago," said the report, released by the Washington-based Bipartisan Policy Center.

"The U.S. is arguably now little different from Europe in terms of having a domestic terrorist problem involving immigrant and indigenous Muslims as well as converts to Islam."

The report comes at a sensitive time for the United States.

President Barack Obama made a plea for religious tolerance on Friday as passions simmered over a Florida Christian preacher's threat to burn copies of the Koran, Islam's holy book, and plans to build an Islamic cultural center and mosque near the so-called Ground Zero site in New York City.

U.S. officials warn such cases could lead to a recruiting bonanza for al Qaeda.

The report said al Qaeda and its affiliates in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen had minimally established an "embryonic" recruitment infrastructure in the United States.

It pointed to convictions last year of at least 43 American citizens or residents aligned with militant ideology, and high-profile cases of recruits who went abroad for training.

"In the past year alone the United States has seen affluent suburban Americans and the progeny of hard-working immigrants gravitate to terrorism," the report said. "There seems no longer any clear profile of a terrorist."

Americans were also increasingly forming part of the leadership of al Qaeda and its allies. It cited the cases of:

* U.S.-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is now one of the top figures in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He is linked to the failed attempt to blow up a passenger plane over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009 as well as a deadly shooting spree at Fort Hood military base in Texas a month earlier.

* Adnan al-Shukrijumah, a Saudi-born operative who grew up in Brooklyn and Florida, who is considered to be a senior leader of al Qaeda's external operations.

* Chicagoan David Headley, who played a role in scoping out targets for the 2008 Mumbai attacks on behalf of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.

"There is little precedent for the high-level operational roles that Americans are currently playing in al Qaeda and affiliated groups," the report said.
SMALLER SCALE ATTACKS

Much of the report highlights fears that U.S. intelligence officials have been flagging for years, including the rising prominence of al-Awlaki and other American recruits.

The Obama administration has authorized operations to kill or capture Awlaki and a secret CIA memo, leaked to the media last month, spoke extensively about how U.S. citizens were of great value to terrorist groups.

American intelligence officials also have agreed with another key point in the report that sees an increased risk of small-scale attacks on hard-to-protect U.S. targets.

In the wake of the September 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people, the report said the intelligence community had wrongly believed that al Qaeda was intent on "matching or besting the loss of life and destruction" it had caused.

It is now clear that militants see operational value in conducting more frequent and less sophisticated attacks, which are harder to detect and require less high level coordination.

"American officials and the wider public should realize that, by the law of averages, al Qaeda or an affiliate will succeed in getting some kind of attack through in the next years," said the report.

Even the Pakistani-born American Faisal Shahzad's failed attempt to set off a car bomb in Times Square in May was extremely effective from a propaganda standpoint, given the enormous amount of media coverage it received.

"The best response (to an attack) would be to demonstrate that we as a society are resilient and are not being intimidated by such actions," the report said.

Posted by jc at 4:14 AM - Link to this entry  |  Share this entry  |  Print

Quran burning on hold
September 10, 2010

A Florida pastor who called off a Quran burning said late Thursday he would "rethink our position" after a Muslim leader said the minister incorrectly announced that the proposed Islamic center near New York's ground zero would be moved as part of a deal.

The dramatic development was one of several twists on a day when President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged the Rev. Terry Jones to call off the Saturday event, timed for the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

During the afternoon, Jones canceled his plan to burn copies of the Quran, based on what he said were assurances from a local Muslim leader that the Islamic center in New York would be moved -- an assertion rejected by the center's visionary in New York.

Jones, leader of the Gainesville, Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center, announced he will travel Saturday to New York to meet with the religious leader behind the planned center, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, about a new location.

But that, too, was questioned.

Rauf and Imam Muhammad Musri, a Florida Muslim leader who appeared with Jones, said later no agreement on a meeting or relocation of the mosque had been reached.

Jones insisted the church "put a temporary hold" on the Quran burning event after he had been told by Musri of a deal to move the New York mosque.

"I am actually very disappointed and very shocked because if this turns out to be true, he [Musri] clearly, clearly lied to us," Jones said Thursday evening.

Wayne Sapp, associate pastor of the small church, said that the Quran burning scheduled for Saturday was postponed until the proposed meeting in New York is confirmed. The church will wait 24 hours to confirm the meeting will take place before making any further decision about the Quran burning, Sapp said.

Rauf issued a statement a few hours earlier.

"I am glad that Pastor Jones has decided not to burn any Qurans. However, I have not spoken to Pastor Jones or Imam Musri. I am surprised by their announcement. We are not going to toy with our religion or any other. Nor are we going to barter. We are here to extend our hands to build peace and harmony."

The back-and-forth over the mosque location and the meeting continued into the evening Thursday. Jones insisted he had been told of a deal on moving the center, but Musri said instead he was brokering a meeting with Rauf.

"We are canceling the event because they have agreed to move the ground zero mosque," Jones said, claiming his announcement was based on several conversations with Musri.

But the latter said he had not spoken with Rauf and was not authorized to say the Islamic center would be moved. Jones may have "stretched" their conversations to say there was a deal, Musri told CNN.

He said he believes Jones knows there was no deal on the mosque and may be using Thursday's controversy to gain leverage on the proposed mosque.

Rauf's office told him they would welcome Jones to a meeting if he canceled the Quran burning, Musri said, adding it was his understanding from Jones that he canceled the Quran burning because of a Muslim holy day.

Sharif El-Gamal, developer of Park51, denied there had been a change in plans for the New York center.

"It is untrue that the community center known as Park51 in lower Manhattan is being moved," El-Gamal said in a statement. "The project will proceed as planned. What is being reported in the media today is a falsehood."

Jones, pastor of the Gainesville-based Dove World Outreach Center, said he felt a relocation of the mosque "would be a sign from God."

Musri, with the Islamic Society of Central Florida, told CNN that he hoped the Saturday meeting will, in fact, take place.

Jones' plans to burned Qurans had set off a firestorm of concern, including from U.S. military leaders who said the event would imperil the lives of troops abroad.

The pastor told reporters Thursday that he took a phone call from Gates, who "was very gracious and encouraged us not to continue." The call was later confirmed by CNN.

Also Thursday, real estate mogul Donald Trump offered to buy the lower Manhattan site where the Muslim group plans to build an Islamic community center, for 25 percent more than the current owners paid for it.

Trump made the offer Thursday in a letter to Hisham Elzanaty, an investor in the Islamic center site.

"I am making this offer as a resident of New York and citizen of the United States, not because I think the location is a spectacular one (because it is not), but because it will end a very serious, inflammatory, and highly divisive situation that is destined, in my opinion, to only get worse," he wrote.

Rauf had said Wednesday evening that "nothing is off the table" when asked whether he would consider moving the site.

"We are consulting, talking to various people about how to do this so that we negotiate the best and safest option."

The imam told CNN's Soledad O'Brien on "Larry King Live" that "had I known [the controversy] would happen, we certainly would never have done this."

Asked if he meant he would not have picked the location, Rauf said, "we would not have done something that would create more divisiveness."

Earlier Thursday, Obama called the plan by Jones to burn the Qurans on Saturday a "recruitment bonanza for al Qaeda."

"You could have serious violence in places like Pakistan or Afghanistan" as a result of the burning, Obama said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "This could increase the recruitment of individuals who'd be willing to blow themselves up in American cities, or European cities."

Jones previously had said he would proceed with the plan Saturday despite increased pressure to abandon the proposal and warnings that going ahead could endanger U.S. troops and Americans worldwide.

Interpol on Thursday issued a global alert to its 188 member countries, warning of a "strong likelihood" of violent attacks if the Quran burning proceeded.

The FBI visited Jones at the Dove Center on Thursday, according to Jeffrey Westcott, special agent in charge of the Jacksonville, Florida, bureau. The FBI also visited him a few weeks ago, he said, but would not say what was discussed.

Earlier Thursday, discussions were taking place within the Obama administration about the possibility of intervening, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

Earlier this week, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, warned that the plan "could cause significant problems" for American troops overseas.

Jones had rejected the pleas, saying his message targets radical Islamists. "The general needs to point his finger to radical Islam and tell them to shut up, tell them to stop, tell them that we will not bow our knees to them," Jones said on CNN's "AC360." "We are burning the book. We are not killing someone. We are not murdering people."

Meanwhile, two websites associated with Jones and his church were down Thursday.

Rackspace Hosting took down the two sites because the church "violated the hate speech provision of our acceptable use policy," said spokesman Dan Goodgame.

The company investigated a complaint in the past couple of days and made the determination after reviewing both sites, said Goodgame, adding that Rackspace was under no pressure to act.

"This is not a constitutional issue. This is a contract issue," he said.

A Christian congregation in Germany, meanwhile, on Thursday distanced itself from Jones, its founder and former pastor. Stephan Baar, one of the leaders of the Christian Community of Cologne, said the congregation split with Jones in 2008 over differences in the way the church was run.

Posted by jc at 1:41 AM - Link to this entry  |  Share this entry  |  Print

Obama on campaign trail
September 10, 2010

President Barack Obama is coming to a swing state near you this fall.

The Democrat known for packing stadiums from coast to coast plans at least four major rallies in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Nevada before the Nov. 2 midterm elections.

He also plans to host a teletown hall event in October to fire up backers of his 2008 presidential campaign in hopes they turn out for Democratic candidates this fall. That's according to the Democratic National Committee.

Obama plans to host a rally in Madison, Wis., on Sept. 28; Philadelphia on Oct 10; Ohio on Oct. 17, and Las Vegas on Oct. 22.

Party aides say the White House also could add more presidential appearances in the run up to the elections.

At stake are 435 House seats, 37 Senate seats and 37 governorships.

Posted by jc at 1:40 AM - Link to this entry  |  Share this entry  |  Print