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The Bush Administration’s sudden willingness to engage Iran in direct diplomatic talks even as Tehran presses ahead with its nuclear program is the source of much consternation in Jerusalem. Earlier this week, Washington announced that its third highest diplomat, Undersecretary of State William Burns, would join upcoming negotiations with Iranian nuclear negotiators. The US had previously refused to talk directly with Iran until the latter agreed to halt its uranium enrichment efforts.

A few days ago I had an opportunity to discuss the pithy but engagingly written book War and Decision with its author, Douglas Feith. The book is lengthy -- with endnotes it runs to 653 pages -- but has the virtue the other books about the internal processes on the Iraq war decision-making lack. It is well-detailed and superbly documented rather than the on-the-fly and off-the top-of-the-head self-serving and extensively reviewed accounts written by the other authors

While conservatives inside the administration are unhappy about intervention in markets, President Bush seems content with how the Federal Reserve and Treasury cooked up the deal with erstwhile colleagues in Wall Street. There is little conservative or Republican about the administration's approach to the fiscal crisis, as reflected in Room G-50. Uncritical Democratic senators were not even inquisitive. The closest a senator came to asking who set the price for JPMorgan was this apologetic question from Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd: "There's just reports -- I want to share them with you -- that JPMorgan Chase would make an offer of...

WASHINGTON – The government will raise by 25 percent the fines it levies against employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, officials said Friday. Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the increase, which is the first boost in fines in nearly a decade. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency responsible for investigating illegal hirings, has stepped up its enforcement of the employer sanctions law in the past year, leading to a dozen major busts. Currently, fines range from $275 to $11,000 depending on the offense. The agency says some penalties could include at least six...

<p>World Bank employees who lead the agency's drive to battle corruption in poor nations urged ``clear and decisive actions'' to decide the future of President Paul Wolfowitz.</p> <p>"We are deeply concerned by the impact of the current leadership crisis on the bank's credibility and authority,'' said the letter to Wolfowitz and the bank's board, signed by 46 employees. ``Our own governance standards must be upheld and enforced impartially and without exception,'' the letter said, ``even when they touch the highest levels of this institution.''</p>

WASHINGTON - Campaigning in 2000, Texas Gov. George W. Bush would repeatedly raise his right hand as if taking an oath and vow to "restore honor and integrity" to the White House. He pledged to usher in a new era of bipartisanship. The dual themes of honesty and bipartisanship struck a chord with many voters and helped propel Bush to the White House in one of the nation's closest-ever elections. Americans re-elected him in 2004 after he characterized himself as best suited to protect a nation at war. Now, with fewer than two years left of his second term, the...

Unfortunately, that thumbnail sketch [of Ms.Riza's cxompensation package]omits some highly relevant facts. It was Mr. Wolfowitz who, before taking over at the bank, called the potential conflict of interest to the attention of the bank's ethics committee. He asked to be recused from any personnel decisions involving Ms. Riza. The committee agreed that a conflict existed, but it said that could probably be solved only by Ms. Riza leaving the bank, either permanently or on loan to another agency. The committee also told Mr. Wolfowitz that, if she chose to go elsewhere, Ms. Riza should be given a raise because...

Durham, NC -- I join with everyone who cares about justice in welcoming the North Carolina State Attorney General’s announcement that the remaining charges have been dropped against David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann. This announcement comes at the end of an extraordinarily painful year for the young men and their families. They have carried themselves with dignity through an ordeal of deep unfairness. Let’s be clear about what was said today. The Attorney General did not dismiss the allegations on narrow, equivocal or legalistic ground. He determined our students to be innocent of the charges and said they...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration defended the Medicare prescription drug benefit program on Monday as being cheaper than initially forecast, challenging the U.S. government's top accountant who called it "fiscally irresponsible." "Over 90 percent (of Medicare recipients) are covered and the program costs are much less than what experts predicted when the bill was enacted in 2004," said Leslie Norwalk, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a unit of the Health and Human Services Department. Medicare is the federal health insurance program covering 42 million elderly and disabled Americans. The program was expanded last year...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryMarch 2, 2007 President's Radio Address   President's Radio Address  Audio       In Focus: Veterans      In Focus: Defense THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. One of my most solemn experiences as President is visiting men and women recovering from wounds they suffered in defense of our country. Spending time with these wounded warriors is also inspiring, because so many of them bring the same courage they showed on the battlefield to their battle for recovery. These servicemen and women deserve the thanks of our country, and they deserve the best care our Nation can provide. That...

The political fallout over claims that the Bush administration was riven by infighting over the Iraq war deepened yesterday when the president's former chief of staff confirmed that he twice sought to sack Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary.Andrew Card said George W Bush rebuffed his and others' demands to sideline Mr Rumsfeld, who had been accused of mishandling post-war security. The confirmation yesterday triggered talk in Washington that alternative candidates were being sounded out to lead the Pentagon. The latest bout of speculation began with claims in a new book, State of Denial, by the Watergate journalist Bob Woodward. Mr...

Three From Clinton Administration Urge Disney to Cancel or Revise Sept. 11 MiniseriesBy JESSE McKINLEY Published: September 7, 2006 Three members of the Clinton administration have written the chairman of the Walt Disney Company, ABC’s parent, to complain that the network’s coming two-part miniseries “The Path to 9/11” is fraught with factual errors and fabrications. The letters ask that the five-hour movie, scheduled for broadcast Sunday and Monday, be either edited for accuracy or canceled, and ABC gave a small indication yesterday that some changes might be made. One of the officials, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, said in...

The Cheney presidency By Robert Kuttner | August 26, 2006 GEORGE W. BUSH has been faulted in some quarters for taking an extended vacation while the Middle East festers. It doesn't much matter; the man running the country is Vice President Dick Cheney. Alerts When historians look back on the multiple assaults on our constitutional system of government in this era, Cheney's unprecedented role will come in for overdue notice. Cheney's shotgun mishap, when he accidentally sprayed his host with birdshot, has gotten more media attention than has his ...p>

JOHN SOLOMON As the British terror plot was unfolding, the Bush administration quietly tried to take away $6 million that was supposed to be spent this year developing new explosives detection technology. Homeland Security's research arm, called the Sciences & Technology Directorate, is a "rudderless ship without a clear way to get back on course," Republican and Democratic senators on the Appropriations Committee declared recently. The administration also was slow to start testing a new liquid explosives detector that the Japanese government provided to the United States earlier this year. The department failed to spend $200 million in research and...

WASHINGTON, June 29 (Reuters) - A stolen laptop computer containing sensitive information on more than 26 million U.S. military veterans and servicemembers has been recovered and a preliminary review indicated no data was taken, the FBI and Veterans Affairs Department said on Thursday. The laptop and the external hard drive taken in early May from a VA employee's residence in suburban Washington were recovered, authorities said. "A preliminary review of the equipment by computer forensic teams has determined that the data base remains intact and has not been accessed since it was stolen," the agencies said in a statement. "A...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration has made a tentative deal with the union that represents 87,000 state employees, averting a possible strike. The three-year agreement reached Saturday with the Service Employees International Union Local 1000 - which includes workers in the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Insurance - offers a 3.5 percent pay raise on July 1 that includes a cost of living increase one year later, and a one-time bonus of $1000. The contract must still be ratified by union members, who have not had a raise in three years. Union leaders had been authorized to call...

I’ve argued that the Special Counsel has criminalized a political dispute and increasingly seems to be using his position, not to advance his case, but to smear the defendant and the Administration. Either that, or he seems to have a very spotty knowledge of the facts in the case he is pursuing. Last night in response to Fitzgerald’s representations about the news articles he intended to place in evidence, Libby filed court papers that underscored this shocking lack of command of the facts of the case.

New York US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is said to have told a delegation of visiting Indian MPs that India should be prepared to accept some amendments to the bilateral nuclear agreement to facilitate its approval on Capitol Hill. But the former American Ambassador to India, Frank Wisner, believes the US Congress is unlikely to make too many demands on India. Wisner says, "Most Congressmen and Senators know that if a material difference was introduced legislatively into the agreement, the agreement would die on the Indian side."

There’s nothing harder in public life than admitting you’re wrong. By the way, admitting you’re wrong can be even tougher in private life. If you don’t believe me, just ask Bill Clinton or Charlie Sheen. But when you go out on the limb in public, it’s out there where everyone can see it, or in my case, hear it. So, I’m saying today, I was wrong to have voted for George W. Bush. In historic terms, I believe George W. Bush is the worst two-term President in the history of the country. Worse than Grant. I also believe a case...

The U. S. Congress is making noise again, this time in regard to high gasoline prices. But their concern is insincere. Just look at the huge smile on the face of Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) when he warns us about the possibility of $4.00 per gallon gasoline. The Democrats and some liberal Republicans charge "price gouging." Even Bill O'Reilly has jumped on the "gouging" bandwagon. This shows that they do not understand economics. I'm as upset about high gasoline prices as anyone else is. But let's put the blame where it's due. The oil companies do not control the price...

The House quickly passed, with few changes, President George W. Bush’s request for $92 billion of supplemental funding for the global war on terrorism and hurricane-related relief. However, the Senate Appropriations Committee, in a stunning move of fiscal irresponsibility, veered far off course, adding $14 billion of non-emergency spending unrelated to the original purpose of the bill. While some senators vow to strip out this additional spending, others are readying amendments to add $10 billion more to the bill, bringing it $24 billion over the President’s request and vastly expanding its scope. But now the dynamic has changed. Last night,...

The Associated Press : Smear and Run Tactics ? Much of what you read in your daily newspaper,or see on TV,comes from the Associated Press. Once upon a time, the “AP” symbol at the beginning of a news story meant the story you were about to read was reasonably accurate,and reasonably free of political bias. Today, quite the opposite seems true ! Let’s look at a story that appeared in newspapers all over America this morning. “Fair Use” rules permit the quoting of one or two sentences, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON -...

AUGUSTA - Expected several months ago, the Baldacci administration on Monday released the first biennial state health plan under the Dirigo Health system that calls for creation of a culture of health and urges Mainers to enter into "Be Fit for Maine" contracts. "This doesn't have to mean a major commitment to, say, losing 50 pounds, or running five miles a day," the report said. "What we all need to do, though, is to start somewhere - identify one thing we can do that will improve our health and take it from there." Officials said the release of the...

LONDON: The deputy head of a large British school was forced to sit in a chair that made flatulent noises every time she moved, an employment tribunal has heard. Sue Storer, 48, claims her requests for a new chair were repeatedly ignored and she was "victimised, harassed and bullied" because she was a woman. Ms Storer told the tribunal her two joint deputy heads, who were both men, were given new "executive" chairs without having to ask, whereas she continually had to apologise to pupils, parents and other teachers for the noises. She has resigned from her £48,000-a-year ($116,700) post...

It's tough to get off the topic of aviation security. Unfortunately, the TSA is on a roll. First, Chertoff's threat - give him more money to waste, or there'll be trouble. Then we had repeated and dangerous security incidents at airports around the nation. Now, yet another fun scandal. By now, we've all heard of the GAO study that found the TSA failed a perfect 21 out of 21 times to stop what amateur terrorists would do to get explosives onto airplanes. Unfortunately, that's not the scandal. What this study really illuminated is just how arrogant and morally-corrupted the TSA...

Who is tampering with the FAA witnessess in the Zacarias Mousaoui trial, and why? "A third federal aviation-security agent, one still with the government, has stepped forward to say he also warned Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry about security lapses at Boston's Logan International Airport before the 9-11 hijackings there." "Sullivan says he had a copy of the undercover videotape hand-delivered to Kerry's office." "It turns out the person who delivered it was a senior FAA agent in Washington who's now with the Transportation Security Administration." http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37642 "[Carla] Martin developed a reputation for tenaciousness both at the TSA and, before that,...

The majority of the Palestinian Arabs voted for Hamas and the Bush administration acts surprised and shocked. They denounce Hamas and are squirming to find ways to still proceed with a fictional “peace process” based on an ill-conceived scheme called the Roadmap. The Israeli government was very reluctant to have that election take place. It feared a Hamas victory would also legitimize it despite its being a declared terrorist organization. It was Condoleezza Rice who demanded that Israel permit the election and allow Jerusalem Arabs to vote. The word is demanded and not requested because it was reported that Rice’s...

BOUNTIFUL - When Gregg Revell packed his bags for a trip to Pennsylvania last April, he had no idea how far he'd be traveling. Before the week was out, the 57-year-old suburban real estate agent and grandfather would be arrested, thrown into one of the country's most notorious jails, strip searched and inoculated against his will. The soft-spoken Utah native would be on his way to becoming a poster child for the National Rifle Association in a $3 million lawsuit. During a nearly five-day stay in a Newark, N.J., jail, he would meet a terrifying side of America that most...

Administration Abetting Terrorism? ‘Tis a Puzzlement By Carol Turoff When conservative Republicans find more in common with the utterances of Democrats, the Bush White House has a major disconnect. After giving mere lip service to securing our nation’s land borders, the administration now opts to leave us vulnerable at our major eastern seaports. February 21, 2006 There must be some plausible explanation we’ve yet to hear. What has been reported is that the major US port operations in Baltimore, Miami, New Orleans, New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia are about to be contracted to an Arab company, Dubai Ports World...

WASHINGTON - Cities are at risk because the Bush administration is too preoccupied with its political problems to properly prepare for another natural disaster or terrorist attack, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid told mayors from around the country Friday. "Any one of your cities and towns could be the next New Orleans," Reid said at a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. "The federal government owes it to you and your citizens to be prepared the next time disaster strikes." The Nevada lawmaker said efforts to find out what went wrong after Hurricane Katrina illustrate how the administration's priorities...

I am going to apologize in advance for the metaphors to follow, but they do make the point. Politics is a lot like football. It is a team sport for individuals with similar goals. The team advances its agenda, sometimes in small increments, moving the ball toward “victory.” The only real difference between football and politics is that the players can change positions frequently. Sometimes a politician is the quarterback, sometimes he or she is the lineman. In all cases, everyone wins if they effectively execute the play that is called in the huddle. I know I am a lineman...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Bush administration is siding with a Christian group in its lawsuit demanding rights to conduct prayer services at public libraries. The case concerns a Contra Costa County policy allowing the public to use free meeting rooms at its libraries, but prohibits "religious services and activities." The Sierra Club, Narcotics Anonymous and even the East Contra Costa Democratic Club have utilized the county's library facilities. The Faith Center Church Evangelistic Ministries, however, was denied access because of its religious preaching. "Because the county refused to permit Faith Center to use the meeting rooms solely because of...

This is a partial transcript from "Hannity & Colmes," November 14, 2005, that has been edited for clarity. SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: For the past year, we've been reporting extensively on this program about the crisis of illegal immigration and the threat that it poses to America. Now, our travels have taken us from the desert south to Tucson, Arizona, to the banks of the Rio Grande River, and we've walked along the fence in El Paso, Texas. We rode along with the Border Patrol in the hills overlooking Tijuana. And as we continue our search for answers to all the...

The older I get, the more I realize what an emotional and powerful experience it is to have served my country. And how incredibly strong the bond becomes between other men and women who have served.

Well, now that the Fitzgerald imbroglio is largely over and it's political oxygen depleting powers have begun to subside, it's time to take stock. The Bush Administration has apparently dodged two bullets with the indictment of a little known (if somewhat powerful) aide on relatively minor charges after two years of an investigation that could have effectively crippled the Presidency if it had panned out as the Press and the Democrats (what's the difference) were hoping and praying it would. It dodged the second bullet when Harriet Miers made the wise decision to withdraw her nomination and the President showed...

I just completed this fantastic new "prescription thriller" novel, called "Carmen Piper and the Protest". It was released earlier this year after the Vioxx scandal. I wonder if a person could be sued for the claims made in this book, names are actually named! It's mystery suspense fiction, but it centers around fact-based events surrounding the Food and Drug Administration's financial ties to the pharmaceutical companies. I don't wanna give any spoilers, but you can expect to find a few surprises about Big Pharma. This book is very intelligent, full of cliffhangers, really fresh and witty, and very entertaining and...

Germany may finally know the cast of politicians that is going to take over the reins of power, but chancellor-designate Angela Merkel has her work cut out for her. She is now surrounded by a motley crew of power hungry egos just waiting for her first mistake to pounce. To succeed, she'll have to be part lion tamer and part tight rope walker.

Army reinstates reservist to active duty Bob Rodriguez's story catches eye of Congress; he hopes it will help others BY JOYCE RUSSELL joycer@nwitimes.com This story ran on nwitimes.com on Friday, October 14, 2005 12:48 AM CDT PORTAGE | On Thursday, the U.S. Army reversed its decision to discharge a local reservist who had suffered a brain aneurysm and was left without income and medical benefits. Bob Rodriguez, whose story was published in Tuesday's Times, has been an Army reservist for 27 years. When he returned from deployment in June 2004, the 54-year-old man suffered a brain aneurysm. He maintained active...

The administration of President George W. Bush broke the law as it resorted to illegal "covert propaganda" in trying to sell its key education initiative to the public, US congressional investigators have found. The finding, made public by the Government Accountability Office added to a plethora of big and small ethics scandals besetting the administration and its top Republican allies and putting them on the defensive one year before congressional elections. The investigation was ordered by Democratic Senators Edward Kennedy and Frank Lautenberg earlier this year, in the wake of reports the Education Department had paid newspaper columnist and television...

An interesting Newsweek story this week – that references CT Blog among its sources – claims scoring a point against what it paints as a “questionable” Bush administration portrayal of Abu Azzam. In short, the authors of the article, Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball claim the Administration’s leaders aggrandized the real importance of the killed al Qaida commander basing their conclusion on a number of non-identified U.S. counter-terrorism officials and a report posted by our colleague Evan Kohlman on the blog. The “charge” by Newsweek is about the hierarchy of the man. Was he or was he not the “number...

"It is reported that black hurricane victims in New Orleans have begun eating corpses to survive." This blood-curdling news came from self-described social-justice advocate Randall Robinson, former chief of TransAfrica, an architect of the anti-apartheid sanctions movement, and author of The Debt — What America Owes to Blacks, an impassioned plea for slavery reparations. Writing for Arianna Huffington’s webpage, huffingtonpost.com, last Friday, September 2, Robinson continued: Four days after the storm, thousands of blacks in New Orleans are dying like dogs. No-one has come to help them. I am a sixty-four year old African-American. New Orleans marks the end of...

Fault Lines Ibd Thu Sep 8, 7:00 PM ET Katrina: Hillary Clinton says FEMA was more effective when her husband was president. The victims of Hurricane Floyd might venture a different opinion, and it wasn't FEMA that kept supplies from the Superdome. During a post-Katrina conference call with reporters, Sen. Clinton said, "Helping localities do what they needed to do to mitigate damage -- that philosophy governed FEMA during the Clinton administration. It obviously was rejected by this administration." Does that mean Clinton's FEMA was the model of government efficiency and effectiveness? Or was it closer to the DMV and...

A federal judge yesterday ordered former national security adviser Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger to pay a $50,000 fine and give up his security clearance for three years as the penalty for smuggling classified terrorism documents out of the National Archives in 2003. The sentence was much more severe than the $10,000 fine that Justice Department prosecutors and Berger's attorneys had jointly proposed after Berger pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge. But Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson said the punishment, which also included two years of probation and 100 hours of community service, would more "sufficiently reflect the seriousness of the...

With all due deference to my colleague, Donnel Jones, it is not “over for the Bush Administration.” Maybe it is natural during a national crisis for emotions to run so high, but this blame-game has gotten out of hand. Granted, Donnel is not blaming Hurricane Katrina on Bush as so many wacky leftists are, but to conclude that this is the conclusion of Bush’s efficacy, or that this spells a certain change in who holds the House and Senate; this is just over the top. Katrina is the “worst natural disaster in modern American history”. Could anyone have been fully...

AMONG THE MANY unresolved issues of the former Iraqi regime's support for terrorism, few are more potentially important than the activities throughout the mid to late 1990s of Iraqi military officials and chemical weapons specialists in Sudan. The Clinton Administration, along with a host of Sudanese opposition groups and nonproliferation experts, alleged that Iraqi chemical weapons experts were advising Sudanese military and intelligence officials on the development and production of chemical weapons. This is significant for two reasons, one obvious and one less obvious. First, any Iraqi activity on chemical weapons development inside or outside of Iraq would have constituted...

Before I get to the point in this commentary I want to frame it properly. In order to do that, as well as keep it short and to the point, I’ll first summarize rather briefly. The Moslems were killing the Christians so Clinton pushed an arms embargo against them. When the Christians began killing the Moslems Clinton wouldn’t lift the embargo. He did get a man to let the Iranians know we would look the other way if they smuggled weapons into the Moslems. (It was another of the definition of ‘is’ things for which he was so well known.)...

"The British and the American people loudly declared their support for their leaders decision to attack Iraq. It is the duty of Muslims to confront, fight, and kill them."Osama bin Laden, as quoted in various press accounts, December 26, 1998 "Oh sons of Arabs and the Arab Gulf, rebel against the foreigner . . . Take revenge for your dignity, holy places, security, interests, and exalted values."Saddam Hussein, January 5, 1999 THE "LONG SHORT WAR" with Saddam's Iraq, as author Christopher Hitchens has aptly described it, has had many tense moments. Perhaps never more so than in late 1998. Tensions...

We knew they would happen, the murderous attacks in London. But we knew something else would happen even before the last wisp of foul smoke dissipated into the London sky and the last casualty was counted. And happen it did when British MP George Galloway rose in the House of Commons to declare that the terrorist attacks in London resulted from Britain’s refusal to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan and Iraq to focus instead on finding a “real solution” to conflicts in the Middle East. We knew it would happen because in America our minds and our hearts have long...

In her best ''I’m-a-liberal-first-even-though-I’m-trying-to-fool-the-red-state-rednecks-that-I’m-not'' mode, Sen. Hillary Clinton tried to vanquish two of her colleagues on Monday. Although it will be very hard to come up with anything beyond the continuing ''Dean-Screams'' or Durbin’s ''I hate the military guards at Gitmo (but I’ll apologize so that I get away with it)'' songs, Hillary is still working on it. Speaking at the initial Aspen Ideas Festival (organized by the Aspen Institute--billed as a ''non-partisan'' think tank--which in Dem-speak means liberal or leftist), Sen. Clinton said of President Bush: ''I sometimes feel that Alfred E. Neuman is in charge in Washington.'' I...