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The Federal Communications Commission has begun notifying several TV military analysts that it is probing congressional complaints that the pundits did not properly disclose their ties to the Pentagon when reviewing the war in Iraq on air. According to a copy of the October 2 FCC letter to one of the pundits, the probe was prompted by Reps. John Dingell and Rosa DeLauro, who filed a complaint with the agency after the New York Times reported that some of the pundits were working on or bidding on Pentagon contracts and had also taken free military trips to Iraq. "When seemingly...

WASHINGTON - Intelligence analysts predicted, in secret papers circulated within the government before the Iraq invasion, that al-Qaida would see U.S. military action as an opportunity to increase its operations and that Iran would try to shape a post-Saddam Iraq. The top analysts in government also said that establishing a stable democracy in Iraq would be a "long, difficult and probably turbulent process." Democrats said the newly declassified documents, part of a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation released Friday, make clear that the Bush administration was warned about the very challenges it now faces as it tries to stabilize Iraq. "Sadly,...

HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has urged his supporters to gear up for presidential polls next year, conceding an embarrassing defeat over plans to extend his rule to 2010, analysts said. "I think the view I am getting is that 2008 is preferable," the New Ziana news agency quoted the veteran leader as telling his party's women's league in Harare on Friday. "If we are going to have an election, we must start organising and mobilising support now." Analysts said that by agreeing to elections next year, Mugabe has bowed to opposition from cadres in his Zimbabwe African...

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger again blasted President Bush's Cabinet as ``dangerously wrong'' about the condition of California's waterlogged levees Thursday -- a move political analysts say could be a calculated attempt to curry favor with the state's left-leaning voters while stopping just short of alienating the president. The election-year maneuver has set up a pivotal moment today for Schwarzenegger as the two embattled Republican leaders prepare to meet in San Jose. If Schwarzenegger fails to persuade Bush to pay for levees, it could be the governor's most high-profile defeat of a campaign promise to act as the ``Collectinator,'' and...

You read this magazine religiously, watch CNBC while dressing for work, scan the Web for economic reports. You've heard, over and over, about the underlying problems with the U.S. economy -- the paltry investment rate, the yawning current account deficit, the pathetic amount Americans salt away. And you know what the experts are saying: that the U.S. faces a perilous economic future unless we cut back on spending and change our profligate ways. Rest at link. But what if we told you that the doomsayers, while not definitively wrong, aren't seeing the whole picture? What if we told you that...

Two senior Army analysts who in 2003 accurately foretold the turmoil that would be unleashed by the U.S. invasion of Iraq offer a bleak assessment in a new study of what now lies ahead in that bloodied land. They advise, however, against setting a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal - unless Washington finds the situation "irredeemable." A timetable "is an excuse for allowing the system to collapse," the Army War College's W. Andrew Terrill and Conrad C. Crane write. Political pressure is building in Washington for a concrete plan to extricate U.S. forces from Iraq. On Tuesday, on the eve...

Most of the punditry got it right about GW’s second inaugural address: it was a monumental speech that prescribed a major shift in our foreign policy and national security posture. Not only was it a true description of the dangerous world we live in, it also established the framework for our military operations in the years to come. Some analysts have examined the implications of the speech for our armed forces and their roles and responsibilities in ensuring freedom and promotion of democracy around the world. But they lose sight of the historical context of how this changes our strategic...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

SACRAMENTO -- A new Legislature, rattled by a federal corruption probe centered in the East Bay, returns in about a week to a highly unpopular "partisan cesspool" that voters worsened and should help fix very soon, says a new report from an independent, nonpartisan think-tank. Term limits have largely backfired, spurring rather than squelching political-ladder climbing and behind-the-scenes games, analysts said. In recent weeks, the investigation swirling around Senate leader-elect Don Perata, D-Oakland, has only worsened the crisis in the face of weighty issues such as the state's persistent, multibillion-dollar budget deficit. "Legislators are learning more quickly than in the...

In California this election season, it's all about you-know-who. From one photograph to the next, in mailers promoting dozens of races on the Nov. 2 ballot, the only discernible difference is which Republican candidate happens to be standing at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's side. The same principle holds with many of the groups for or against this year's 16 ballot initiatives. A door hanger distributed in Los Angeles County even implores voters to "join Arnold" by defeating two initiatives on which Schwarzenegger has taken no position. --- snip --- Over the summer, during state budget negotiations, Schwarzenegger pressured the Legislature's leaders,...

WASHINGTON - High oil prices, which have been a factor in virtually all U.S. recessions over the past three decades, are surging again this year. And the higher crude oil prices climb, the more risk energy costs pose to what, until recently, many expected to be a banner year for the U.S. economy. Some economists are even beginning to worry about an outright recession if oil prices, already at record levels, go much higher. And concerns are rising about the threat of "stagflation," a dreaded economic malady of stagnant growth coupled with rising prices that had the United States in...

SACRAMENTO -- Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger denies it but some lawmakers and analysts said Wednesday it's payback time for the Democratic Bay Area that snubbed him in the recall election -- and critics say his moves are also further pitting the north state against the south. At the 11th-hour of the legislative session, Schwarzenegger has suddenly set the stage for $4 or $5 bridge tolls by leaving the region to work out cost overruns on Bay Bridge work and is working to clear the way for a controversial Indian mega-casino that would make the East Bay the urban gambling capital...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite increasing concern about terrorist threats to the United States, the FBI before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks was hampered by a culture resistant to change, inadequate resources and legal barriers, the national commission investigating the attacks said on Tuesday. "From the first World Trade Center attack in 1993, FBI and Department of Justice leadership in Washington and New York became increasingly concerned about the terrorist threat from Islamic extremists to U.S. interests both at home and abroad," said the report, presented at a commission hearing. Attorney General John Ashcroft, his predecessor, Janet Reno, former FBI Director...

<p>WASHINGTON - President Bush's new budget proposes another deficit next year, but he said cutting this year's record deficit of $521 billion in half in five years is a top priority.</p> <p>All he needs to do now is come up with a realistic plan to do it.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON — Presidential candidate Howard Dean has run for the Democratic nomination as one of the most aggressively secular candidates in recent presidential campaign history.</p> <p>He has said almost nothing about his personal faith or how the role of religion or faith affects his perspectives of national issues. But that's about to change.</p>

WASHINGTON - Seniors will face annual increases in premiums and deductibles — and a growing gap in coverage — for the prescription drugs they buy under the new Medicare law, budget analysts say. For example, the $250 annual deductible at the start of the program in 2006 is projected to rise to $445 by 2013. The legislation that won final congressional approval Tuesday would allow seniors to buy coverage — at an estimated monthly premium of $35 — for their prescription drugs beginning in three years. After they agreed to the monthly premiums and paid their first $250 in pharmacy...

WASHINGTON - Maine could be home to an array of missile interceptors several years from now as part of an extensive national missile defense system, according to Pentagon officials, military analysts and published reports. The Bush administration announced this week that it would deploy a limited land- and sea-based missile defense system designed to knock down missiles that are heading for America or its allies. Under that plan, scheduled for completion in 2004 or 2005, missile interceptors would be stationed at military bases in Alaska and California, as well as on Navy warships. But the Pentagon also is planning to...

Analysts study new 'Osama bin Laden' tape that applauds recent terrorist atrocities By Andrew Buncombe in Washington 13 November 2002 Intelligence analysts were examining a taped message last night said to have been made by Osama bin Laden in which he praises a recent spate of terrorist attacks and warns of more attacks if the West attacks Iraq. The message was broadcast across the Arab world yesterday by the Al-Jazeera television network, which refused to say how it obtained the recording but said it had been made by the al-Qa'ida leader. If the voice is authenticated it would send a...

BANGOR — A new poll places Democrat John Baldacci a formidable 30 percentage points ahead of his nearest competitor in the race to become Maine’s next governor. With less than eight weeks to go before Election Day, the poll, conducted for a media partnership including the Bangor Daily News, puts the outgoing 2nd District congressman at 57 percent to Republican Peter Cianchette’s 26 percent, if the election were held today. Green Independent Jonathan Carter came in at 5 percent, with independent state Rep. John Michael of Auburn at less than 1 percent. Ten percent were undecided. Baldacci aides on...

I am a plaintiff's attorney (who is also a conservative republican, believe it or not) who concentrates in representing investors who lose money in the stockmarket. I am interested in finding the transcript of the congressional hearing yesterday on Worldcom and President Bush's excellent speech today from WallStreet. Please excuse any posting errors, this is my first. Regards, Disraeligears