Carronade The Yankee Sailor Carronade

The Sea is a choosy mistress. She takes the men that come to her and weighs them and measures them. The ones she adores, she keeps; the ones she hates, she destroys. The rest she casts back to land. I count myself among the adored, for I am Her willing Captive.

FLASH TRAFFIC:
I've relocated to a new Yankee Sailor.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Daily Read Board - 29JUN05

United States

Bush invokes 9/11 in Iraq war - President Bush last night warned Americans not to forget the lessons of September 11, declaring that Iraq is the central front in the war on terror and asserting that finishing the military mission there "is vital to the future security of our country."

Democrats reject link to attacks on America - Congressional Democrats said President Bush's repeated attempts last night to link the war in Iraq to the September 11 terrorist attacks rang hollow and did not constitute the plan to win the war that they said Mr. Bush needed to deliver.

Bush Critics Call for More Troops in Iraq - WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional critics of President Bush's stay-the-course commitment to the war in Iraq argued Wednesday that the administration lacks sufficient troops on the ground to mount a successful counterinsurgency.

New U.S. center to check spread of WMDs - The Bush administration has agreed to set up a new interagency center to counter the spread of weapons of mass destruction, U.S. officials said. The creation of the National Counterproliferation Center will be announced today, along with a series of reforms recommended by a presidential panel in March, said officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

New Office to Oversee Intelligence Abroad - The White House has decided to establish an office to manage and coordinate all U.S. human intelligence collection overseas, whether carried out by the CIA, the Pentagon or the FBI, one of dozens of recommendations made in March by a presidential commission on intelligence, according to current and former senior intelligence officials.

CIA Opposes 9-11 Panel's Recommendation - WASHINGTON (AP) - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and CIA Director Porter Goss have told the White House they oppose a recommendation by the Sept. 11 commission to transfer the CIA's control of covert paramilitary operations to the Pentagon.

Senate to Boost Spending for Vets - Struggling to prevent political damage, Senate Republicans intend to raise spending on veterans programs by $1.5 billion to make up for a shortage caused partly by the return of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. Says It Could Repel Any NKorea Attack - SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A U.S. military commander on Wednesday said the United States and South Korea could repel any attack by North Korea, even if the secretive country has one or two nuclear bombs.

International

Sunnis will nab Zarqawi when 'ready' - Sunni "fence sitters" in Iraq say they would be willing to take on master terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi and rid the country of foreign saboteurs if the Shi'ite-run government's new political structure is acceptable to them, according to a senior U.S. official.

Iraqis Split Over Bush Pledge on Troops - BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraqis were divided Wednesday over President Bush's rejection of a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops, which came as insurgents bent on starting a civil war blew up a natural gas pipeline and killed a police officer.

Some Iraqis Optimistic About Sovereignty - BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 28 - When Shaker Assal was approached in his butcher's shop on Tuesday and asked what he thought about life in Iraq a year after it resumed formal sovereignty, he responded with a blast of invective as heated as the sunbaked sidewalks in his Baghdad neighborhood of Ghazaliya.

Saudi Official Warns of More Terrorism - RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - The interior minister warned of more terrorist acts in Saudi Arabia, pointing to a new list of 36 wanted suspects who belong to the same group responsible for attacks in the past two years, an official news agency reported Wednesday.

Blair Defends Iraq War, Dismisses Memo - LONDON (AP) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday defended the war in Iraq, and brushed off a new question about a government memo that suggested Washington had been determined to justify the invasion. "I was glad that we took the action we did," Blair told the House of Commons

Military strategy 'defensive,' envoy insists - A senior Chinese diplomat describes China's military strategy as "defensive," and says the Beijing government does not seek to "exclude" U.S. forces from the region.

Despite sanctions, U.S. allies aid oil, gas pipeline projects - Iran is expanding its oil, gas and petrochemical projects with American allies such as Iraq and India, finding ways to increase its energy deals and foreign investment, in effect doing an end run around U.S. sanctions threats.

Extremist Israelis Block Highway Over Gaza - JERUSALEM (AP) - Extremist opponents of Israel's planned pullout from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank blocked the main entrance to Jerusalem on Wednesday, sitting in the road during evening rush hour. Police reacted by spraying them with a water cannon.

EU Forges Ahead With Turkey Invite Plan - BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The European Union head office on Wednesday formally proposed opening membership talks with Turkey on Oct. 3, but acknowledged there are misgivings about letting the relatively poor, overwhelming Muslim nation into the bloc.