http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,335908,00.html
Commander Claims Al Qaeda Working Harder to Attack U.S.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Washington — Al Qaeda terrorists may be plotting more urgently to attack the United States to maintain their credibility and ability to recruit followers, the U.S. military commander in charge of domestic defense said Thursday.
Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, chief of the U.S. Northern Command, also told reporters he has not seen any direct threats tied to the U.S. presidential elections. But he said it would be rash to think that such threats are not there.
“We need only to look at Spain and see that they’re certainly willing to try to do something that is significant that could affect an election process,” Renuart said. “I think it would be imprudent of us to let down our guard believing that if there’s no credible threat that you know of today, there won’t be something tomorrow.”
While he said that U.S. authorities have thwarted attacks on a number of occasions, he said terrorist cells may be working harder than ever to plot high-impact events. He did not point to any specific intelligence that authorities have received but said the “chatter” they are hearing “gives me no reason to believe they’re going to slow down” in their efforts to target the U.S.
“If an organization like that is to maintain credibility and continue to grow more of its extremists, it has to show tangible results,” Renuart said. “So I think there may be a certain sense of urgency among that organization to have an effect. So it would tell me that they’re trying harder.”
Of the more than a dozen daily events that Northern Command responds to — ranging from natural disasters to threats — two or three may have the potential to be terrorist incidents, he said.
The chatter, which included public audio and video tapes released on the Internet by Al Qaeda leaders, suggests that they are looking for a way to have a big impact again, he said. Pressed for details, he said the chatter was more common but “whether that’s louder or more ominous, I’m not sure I’m ready to draw that conclusion.”
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,336008,00.html
Report: Anti-War Judge Rejects Foster Teen’s Bid to Join Marines
Friday, March 07, 2008
A California judge rejected a foster teen’s request for early enlistment with the Marine Corps — and a $10,000 signing bonus — reportedly on the grounds that the judge didn’t approve of the Iraq war.
Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Marilyn Mackel denied 17-year-old Shawn Sage’s request to join the military last October, according to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News.
“The judge said she didn’t support the Iraq war for any reason we’re over there,” Marine recruiter Sgt. Guillermo Medrano of the Simi Valley U.S. Marine Corps recruiting office told the paper.
“She just said all recruiters were the same — that they ‘all tap dance and tell me what I want to hear.’ She said she didn’t want him to fight in it.”
Sage, a Simi Valley, Calif., resident, begged the anti-war judge for permission to join, according to the Daily News.
“Foster children shouldn’t be denied [an] ability to enlist in the service just because they’re foster kids,” Sage told the paper. “Foster kids shouldn’t have to go to court to gain approval to serve one’s country.”
Sage plans to join the Marines when he turns 18 in June and his case has prompted a Republican lawmaker to introduce a bill that would allow foster teens to enlist in the military without the express permission of a judge.