In the News: Mar-31

Senator: US can't ignore Iraqi refugees - 31 Mar 2009 at 2:41pm - WASHINGTON -- A Democratic senator is warning that as U.S. troops are withdrawn from Iraq, the U.S. should not ignore the plight of millions of Iraqis who are displaced from their homes in Iraq or living as refugees in other countries.

Levin: No US aid until Pakistan takes on militants - 31 Mar 2009 at 1:48pm - WASHINGTON -- Pakistan must prove it is willing to take on extremists within its own borders before the U.S. delivers financial aid or weapons to the government there, a key senator said Tuesday.

Now, to continue military operations in Afghanistan, in practical terms, the U.S. must maintain some sort of right-of-passage agreement with Pakistan, no? It seems Pakistan is the party in a position to make a deal here. The alternatives for the U.S. are: to move all troops & equipment in & out of Afghanistan by air (risky & expensive, & perhaps still thru Pakistan's air space); simply to dictate to the sovereign state of Pakistan how the U.S. will make use of its territory (politically risky & almost certainly illegal); or to make a deal to go thru Iran instead (yeah, right).

Ex-military officers back continued ban on gays - 31 Mar 2009 at 1:24pm - NEW YORK -- More than 1,000 retired military officers, including several who were top commanders, are urging President Barack Obama and Congress to maintain the law that bars gays from serving openly in the armed forces.

Men freed on basis of DNA ask Texas for help - 31 Mar 2009 at 1:12pm - AUSTIN, Texas -- More than a dozen men who spent a total of more than 200 years in prison for crimes they did not commit are asking Texas lawmakers to improve the state's criminal justice system.

Guard needs more money to send troops to border - 31 Mar 2009 at 1:23pm - WASHINGTON -- A National Guard official says the Guard would need additional funding to send more troops to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Basra wary of U.S. forces after light British touch - 31 Mar 2009 at 11:13am - BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - People in the Iraqi city of Basra fear the U.S. troops taking over from departing British forces, whose relatively light touch contrasts with the U.S. military's fearsome, and sometimes trigger-happy, reputation.

Winning hearts & minds with trigger-happy fearsomeness? And why are U.S. troops taking over? Weren't U.S. forces going to serve only in a back-up role, as of the SOFA effective date -- or is it not yet in effect?

U.S. January home prices drop record 19 percent - 31 Mar 2009 at 11:16am - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prices of U.S. single-family homes in January plunged a record 19.0 percent from a year earlier, showing a U.S. housing market that is still in the throes of a deep recession, according to a Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller report on Tuesday.

Canadian economy contracted 0.7% in January - 31 Mar 2009 at 9:32am - The Canadian economy shrank by 0.7 per cent in January, as activity in the manufacturing, wholesaling and construction sectors fell, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.

U.S. offers olive branch to non-violent Taliban - 31 Mar 2009 at 9:06am - THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The United States offered Taliban fighters who renounce violence in Afghanistan an "honorable form of reconciliation" on Tuesday as part of a revamped strategy to tackle a deepening insurgency.

Clinton: New team not using 'war on terror' term - 30 Mar 2009 at 5:03pm - THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the Obama administration has indeed abandoned the term "global war on terror."

US soldier jailed for life for Iraqi murders - 30 Mar 2009 at 5:28pm - A US army sergeant has been sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the murder of four Iraqi detainees in Baghdad.

Thought for the day:
Reporters are like alligators. You don’t have to love them, you don’t necessarily have to like them. But you do have to feed them. -White House source, on plans for frequent press briefings during Tokyo economic summit meeting, quoted in US News & World Report 5 May 86