Black first family 'changes everything'

(CNN) -- Jamaal Young was watching Barack Obama and his family greet an ecstatic crowd in Chicago, Illinois, on Election Night when he realized that something seemed wrong. Obama didn't shout at his wife, Michelle, to shut up. The first lady didn't roll her eyes and tell Obama to act like a man. No laugh track kicked in, no one danced, and no police sirens wailed in the background.

Young had tuned in to celebrate the election of the nation's first African-American president. But he realized that he was witnessing another historic first. A black family was being featured as the first family, not the "problem family" or the "funny family."

"They are not here to entertain us," says Young, a New York Press columnist. "Michelle Obama is not sitting around with her girlfriends saying, 'My man ain't no good.' You're not seeing this over -sexualized, crazy black family that, every time a Marvin Gaye song comes on, someone stands up and says, 'Oh girl, that's my jam.' "

The nation didn't just get a glimpse of its new first family when Obama and his family waved to the crowds on Inauguration Day. The Obamas are offering America a new way to look at the black family, Young and other commentators say.

America has often viewed the black family through the prism of its pathologies: single-family homes, absentee fathers, out of wedlock children, they say. Or they've turned to the black family for comic relief in television shows such as "Good Times" in the '70s or today's "House of Payne."

But a black first family changes that script, some say. A global audience will now be fed images of a highly educated, loving and photogenic black family living in the White House for the next four years -- and it can't go off the air like "The Cosby Show." "The last time we had an image of a black family that was this positive it was "The Cosby Show," but this is the Real McCoy," says Jacqueline Moore Bowles, national president of Jack and Jill of America Inc., a predominately black organization for youths.

A new vision of black intimacy

The new first family could inspire some of their biggest changes within the black family itself, some say

In 1965, the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democratic senator from New York, warned the nation about the rise of fatherless black families. He concluded that many black families were caught in a "tangle of pathology." The pathology persists. The U.S. Census Bureau said that 69 percent of black women who gave birth in 2005 were unmarried (it was 31 percent for white mothers).

The relationship between Obama and his wife may help untangle some of that pathology, some black commentators say.

It could start with black intimacy. The American public is routinely exposed to sexually charged relationships between black men and women. "Street lit" books with titles such as "Thugs and the Women Who Love Them," and "A Project Chick" now crowd bookstores and public library shelves.

Yet the new first couple offers America an example of a black, passionate, marital relationship, says Jennifer Brea, a writer for EbonyJet.com.

"They are the most natural and accessible first couple this country has ever had," Brea says. "You see a politician give a peck on his wife's cheek after a speech and often it looks staged. When you look at them, you feel like that there's this chemistry and spark."

Several black women actually sighed as they talked about how much Obama seems to touch his wife and exchange soulful glances with her in public. They said Obama will show young black men how to treat women -- and young black women how they should be treated.

"We don't get to see black love," says Heidi Durrow, the prize-winning author of the forthcoming novel, "Low Sky Dreaming."

"But every time you see them [the Obamas] on stage, it's been super," she says. "It's an amazing image to see these dynamic, smart, progressive people just openly affectionate. I'm all for it."

Obama's apparent closeness to his wife may help untangle another pathology -- the preoccupation with skin color and "looking white," Bowles, president of Jack and Jill, says.

Bowles says some powerful black men marry women who are white or fair-skinned. Obama's decision to marry a darker-skinned woman like Michelle Obama shows black women that black can indeed be beautiful.

"Too often successful black men look for other things ... a white woman or someone who is light, bright and darn near white," Bowles says. "She [Obama] is a true sister, and she makes no bones about it."

'They're not 'Bebe's Kids' '

But what about those blacks who haven't been considered "true sisters" or "true brothers." A black first family changes that script as well, some say.

Obama's family shows that there is not one way, but many ways for someone to claim membership in the black family, some say.

Brea, the writer for EbonyJet.com, is the daughter of a white mother and a Haitian-American father. She says she felt pressure to claim one race growing up. She never quite felt like a full citizen.

Obama's biracial background and his "exotic" upbringing relieves her of that pressure. Obama will help other blacks who come from multiracial backgrounds and immigrant communities to be comfortable in their own skin, she says.

"It's changed everything," she says. "You can sort of be whatever you want in all of its complexity, and it's something to be proud of."

The Obama's two daughters, Malia and Sasha, also offer America a new way to look at black kids, others say. Throughout Inauguration Day, the two girls stood before the cameras and waved, smiled and played to the cameras.

Durrow, the author of "Low Sky Dreaming," says it's refreshing to see well-spoken black children on television who act nothing like "Bebe's kids," the unruly black kids from the ghetto immortalized by the late black comedian Robin Harris.

"It's wonderful for people on the world stage to see young black kids who are so poised and vivacious," Durrow says. "They're not 'Bebe's Kids.' I see them and I get the sense that they're going to be OK."

Though the new first family may seem like a novelty to some, for others they are familiar.

Barbara McKinzie, international president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, says she grew up in a small town in Oklahoma surrounded by black couples and an extended family of teachers and neighbors, who were knit together like the new first family.

She didn't need to look at the Inauguration Day festivities to see a vibrant black family.

"It's not new, but it appears new," she says. "The president and his wife and children are not a novelty in the African-American community.

"It's the only family I've known in my life."

read more... »»

Obama: Challenges real, but 'they will be met'

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Barack Obama delivered a sobering assessment of where America stands and a hopeful vision of what it can become during his inaugural address as the nation's 44th president.
"Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time," Obama told those gathered on the National Mall -- a crowd estimated at about 2 million -- and millions more watching on television and the Internet.
"But know this, America -- they will be met," he said.
Obama acknowledged the "nagging fear" of an imminent decline of the U.S. He firmly asserted that Americans were up to reversing the trends spawning that fear, whether they be social, economic or political.
"Greatness is never a given. It must be earned," he said, further proclaiming that people who question the scale of U.S. ambitions "have forgotten what this country has already done."
He also vowed to end the divisiveness and partisanship he said was rampant through Washington.
"We come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics," he said.
In another allusion to Washington's shortcomings, Obama promised to hold accountable anyone handling taxpayer dollars.
"And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account -- to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day -- because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government."
The new president also lauded the civil rights movement that ultimately made his election possible. Because of that movement, he said, "a man whose father, less than 60 years ago, might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath."
Obama also said he would incorporate "old friends and former foes" in the battle to curb global warming and stave off the nuclear threat. To terrorists, he spoke directly: "For those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you," the president stated.
After the speech, spectator L.J. Caldwell said the moment represented the pinnacle thus far in the civil rights movement.
"When you think back, Malcolm [X] fought. Then we come a little further, Rosa Parks sat. Then come up a little further and [the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.] spoke. Then today, President Obama ran and we won," said Caldwell, of Somerset, New Jersey.
Wearing a navy suit and red tie, Obama was sworn in using the same Bible that was used in President Abraham Lincoln's inauguration.
The jubilant crowd became quiet as Obama began his address, with only an occasional "That's right" or "Amen" and scattered applause from the hundreds of thousands in front of him.
Saddleback Church founder Rick Warren delivered the invocation, applauding what he called "a hinge-point in history." Civil rights veteran the Rev. Joseph Lowery gave the benediction.
Aretha Franklin sang "My Country 'Tis of Thee" before Joe Biden was sworn in as vice president.
Following the inauguration ceremony, Obama walked into the Capitol and signed his Cabinet nominations -- which the Senate will vote on when it convenes at 3 p.m. -- and signed a proclamation of national renewal and reconciliation.
"I was told not to swipe the pen," Obama quipped after signing the document, similar to proclamations signed by the last three presidents.
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall -- dancing, singing and vigorously shaking flags -- before Tuesday's swearing-in.
"This is America happening," said Evadey Minott of Brooklyn, New York. "It was prophesized by King that we would have a day when everyone would come together. This is that day. I am excited. I am joyful. It brings tears to my eyes."
Minott was at Lafayette Square near the White House, where Obama and his wife, Michelle, had coffee with President Bush and first lady Laura Bush before heading to Capitol Hill.
The Obamas attended a prayer service earlier at St. John's Episcopal Church to kick off the day of events surrounding Obama's inauguration.
As many as 2 million people were expected to crowd into the area between the Capitol, the White House and the Lincoln Memorial.
Gerrard Coles of Norwalk, Connecticut, had staked out a position in front of St. John's.
"I think this was a beautiful thing," he said. "It's not every day that you get to be a part of history."
Nine-year-old Laura Bruggerman also hoped to catch a glimpse of the soon-to-be president. She waited with her mother, Wendy, and father, Jeff, of Bethesda, Maryland, amid an affable crowd that tried to let shorter onlookers and children to the front for better views.
"I want to see Obama. I think that would be really cool. I could tell all of my friends that I got to see him," the youngster said.
Some spectators were more than a mile from the swearing-in ceremony, watching on giant TV screens erected along the National Mall. The ceremony also drew celebrities like actors Dustin Hoffman, Denzel Washington and Steven Spielberg.
"It's behind the dream. We're just here feeling it with the throngs of people. It's amazing grace personified," Oprah Winfrey said.
Obama and congressional leaders formally bade farewell to Bush, and the now-former president took a presidential jet to Midland, Texas, shortly afterward.
After taking a motorcade to the White House, Obama and his family will watch the inauguration parade from a reviewing stand. The parade begins at 3:45 p.m. ET.
The new president and first lady will close the night by attending 10 official inaugural balls.
In addition to Secret Service, the security effort will involve 8,000 police officers from the District of Columbia and other jurisdictions, 10,000 National Guard troops, about 1,000 FBI personnel, and hundreds of others from the Department of Homeland Security, the National Park Service and U.S. Capitol Police.

read more... »»

Palestinians: 1,300 killed, 22,000 buildings destroyed in Gaza

(CNN) -- More than 1,300 Palestinians died and about 5,400 others were wounded during Israel's three-week offensive in Gaza, the Web site of the Palestinian Authority's Central Bureau of Statistics said Monday. Louay Shabana, head of the agency, said more than 22,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. Shabana put the economic destruction at more than $1.9 billion.
The fighting largely stopped Sunday with a cease-fire. Israel has said 13 of its citizens -- including 10 soldiers -- were killed during the offensive, which started December 27.
Israel said its offensive was aimed at stopping Hamas militants from firing rockets into southern Israel.
Gaza is in need of humanitarian, economic, sanitary and social help as a result of the Israeli attacks, Shabana said.
The attacks destroyed public sector and private buildings in Gaza, affecting even the United Nations Relief and Works Agency's facilities and halting economic and social services, the statistics agency said.
Gaza's gross domestic product was slashed by 85 percent during the 22 days of war, and it could take a year for the economy to recover, the agency said in a preliminary report.
About 80 percent of crops in Gaza were destroyed, according to the agency.
"The pervasive sense here among the population is one of overwhelming grief, so many families have been destroyed in so many ways," said John Ging, the top United Nations official in Gaza.
Ging, UNRWA's Gaza director of operations, said the bill could reach "billions of dollars."
Among the dead were 159 children, two of whom died in an UNRWA school that was shelled Saturday, Ging said.
Gaza's main border crossings, which Israel often closed in response to Hamas rocket attacks, were open Monday. Infrastructure repairs were being made, but 400,000 people still had no water, according to Ging.
Streets in some northern Gaza towns were flooded with sewage, and about 50 U.N. facilities were damaged, he said.
More than 170 supply trucks crossed into Gaza on Monday, less than a third of the daily number that crossed in 2005, said John Holmes, U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.
Israel tried to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, a senior Israel Defense Forces officer said in a posting Monday on the IDF Web site.
"This was not a war against the Palestinians," he said. "It was an operation of self-defense against Hamas and related terror organizations. Unfortunately, this task was made extremely difficult by Hamas, as they made the choice to use civilians as human shields."
Israel began the offensive in response to rocket fire by Hamas militants after showing eight years of restraint, the officer said.
The operation's goal, he said, "was to improve the security situation in southern Israel, and to facilitate peaceful living for the Israeli civilians living there."
"We asked ourselves how to accomplish this, and the answer was to hit Hamas hard -- to strike the tunnels, the terrorists themselves, and all of their assets -- in order to prevent them from committing war crimes by firing rockets that target our civilian population," the officer said.
He said seven rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel since Sunday's cease-fire declaration.
"We want to give this cease-fire a chance, but if Hamas chooses not to, we will utilize all of our means," he said.

read more... »»

Hamas, Israel set independent cease-fires

GAZA CITY, Gaza (CNN) -- Palestinian militants declared Sunday that they would stop attacks on Israel for a week, a statement that came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced a unilateral cease-fire in the country's assault on Hamas in Gaza.
The Palestinians demanded that Israel remove all troops from Gaza within the week, Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha said from Egypt.
The agreement appears to cover all Palestinian armed factions, not only Hamas.
"We in the Palestinian resistance movements announce a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip," Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official in Syria, said on Syrian TV. "And we demand that Israeli forces withdraw in one week and that they open all the border crossings to permit the entry of humanitarian aid and basic goods for our people in Gaza."
There is no mutual agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians -- each side has made its own unilateral declaration of a cease-fire.
Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, called for the cease-fire to hold so aid could get into Gaza.
"We hope that it continues and that the situation calms down and that humanitarian aid delivery begins immediately to our people," he said at a summit in Egypt.

During 22 days of fighting, more than 1,200 people have died, all but 13 of them Palestinians. The Palestinians and Israel continued to skirmish for several hours Sunday after Israel said it was stopping its offensive against Hamas. Palestinians fired at least 19 rockets into Israel on Sunday -- including at least two after the Palestinian cease-fire declaration, according to Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld. At least three people were lightly wounded. Israeli military aircraft retaliated, firing missiles and destroying a rocket launcher, a military spokesman said.
Shortly before the rocket attacks, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on Israeli forces in northern Gaza, the military said. Troops returned fire.
Separately, Palestinian medical sources said 23 bodies were pulled from rubble in Gaza.
Olmert said Sunday the Israeli offensive had achieved its goals but that the Israel Defense Forces reserved the right to respond to any Palestinian violence against Israelis.
"IDF forces are in the Gaza Strip and many other units, which are surrounding Gaza from all sides, are closely observing every corner and listening to every whisper, ready for any response that they might receive from their commanders if and when the violations continue, as they have this morning," he said at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting, before the announcement of the Palestinian cease-fire.
Israel pulled some troops out of the Palestinian territory as it called a halt to its operation against Hamas, but others remained.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told CNN they would be there for a matter of days, not weeks.
International leaders are in the region for talks on the crisis. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and French President Nicolas Sarkozy hosted a summit Sunday in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, bringing together leaders from Europe and the Middle East.
Olmert told the gathering that, if the cease-fire holds, "the government of Israel has no intention to stay in the Gaza Strip. We are interested in leaving Gaza as soon as we can."
He said Israel would "continue to do whatever is possible to prevent the humanitarian crisis in Gaza," and expressed sorrow for the deaths of innocent civilians. "It wasn't our intention to fight them or to harm them, to hurt them or to shoot at them," he said.
German Premier Angela Merkel underscored the international community's preferred outcome in a news conference in Egypt: "The two-state solution is the only solution we have."
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Czech Republic, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, later in Jerusalem.
A top aide to Barack Obama said the president-elect would move swiftly to work on the Middle East after he is sworn in on Tuesday.
"The events around the world demand that he act quickly, and I think you'll see him act quickly," David Axelrod told CNN. But he refused to promise Obama would name a Middle East special envoy "on day one."
Israel said it launched the offensive in Gaza to stop the firing of rockets -- primarily the short-range homemade Qassam rockets -- from the territory into southern Israel by Hamas fighters.
"We welcome any alleviation of violence, with cautious optimism and hope that these declarations of cease-fire will lead to the end of fighting," said Charles Clayton, national director of World Vision Jerusalem, an aid group. "We call on all parties to stop attacks, including Hamas' rocket strikes against Israel, and refrain from further hostilities."
He called for "unhindered and safe humanitarian assistance to the desperate civilian families of Gaza who have lost their homes and businesses and are struggling amid shortages of food, supplies, healthcare and fuel."
He further called for an end "to the 18-month blockade of the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza," saying it has "devastated the economy, halted services, and rendered the people of Gaza entirely dependent on humanitarian aid

read more... »»

French aid mission heads to Egypt, FM says

PARIS, France (CNN) -- French cargo planes carrying aid workers and supplies are bound for Egypt in an effort to deliver humanitarian aid to war-stricken Gaza, according to a French Foreign Ministry statement on Saturday. An Airbus A-310 and three military cargo planes will arrive in Al-Arich, Egypt, on Sunday, with seven tons of medical supplies and equipment to aid an estimated 500 injured Gazans, the ministry said.
A team of 80, including three emergency medical teams and one de-mining crew, with expertise to deactivate unexploded ordinance, are part of €3 million ($3.9 million) in financial aid delivered to Gaza since the start of the conflict, according to the statement.
It is unclear whether the aid workers and supplies will be allowed to enter Gaza from Egypt.
Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy will travel to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Sunday to take part in an international Gaza summit, Sarkozy's office told CNN on Saturday.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will also be attending, Sarkozy's office said.

read more... »»

Senior official: Israel to announce unilateral cease-fire

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is expected to announce a unilateral cease-fire Saturday evening, according to a senior Israeli official. Israel will retain the right to respond to any rocket fire, the official said.
Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are expected to announce the cease-fire during a news conference after a security Cabinet meeting, the official said.
The senior official says he expects Olmert to announce a "cessation of military operations because we have achieved our goals both militarily on the ground and with our international partners,"
"Hamas' military machine has been substantially destroyed," the official added. "They have been given a sufficient deterrence that they will think twice before attacking again."
Saturday's security Cabinet meeting was meant to vote on the basics of a plan that could end the fighting in Gaza. It came a day after Israeli and U.S. diplomats signed an agreement designed to stop arms smuggling into the Palestinian territory through tunnels.
Earlier Saturday, Barak had called on the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to "continue their operational activity," adding that Israel is "very close to achieving the goals and completing them with diplomatic agreements," according to a written statement issued by the defense minister's office.
The expected cease-fire announcement comes amid mounting international pressure to end the fighting.
In a televised speech Saturday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called on Israel to end military operations and withdraw from Gaza. He dismissed the idea of an international force based in Egypt, saying he would "never accept" a foreign presence on Egyptian soil.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also reiterated his call for a cease-fire during a speech before the Lebanese parliament Saturday.
"The level of violence in Gaza is unprecedented," the U.N. chief said. "The Israeli aerial and land offensives against Hamas targets are inflicting heavy civilian casualties, widespread destruction and tremendous suffering for the entire region."
The three-week conflict has killed 1,203 people in Gaza and injured more than 5,000 more -- many of them Palestinian civilians, according to medical sources in Gaza City. They said 410 children have died.
On the Israeli side, 10 soldiers and three civilians have been killed and more than 200 soldiers have been wounded since the fighting began, an IDF spokesman told CNN on Saturday.
Fighting continued as the IDF attacked 50 targets between Friday night and Saturday morning, including eight missile launching sites and 70 tunnels along the Egyptian border. The IDF says the tunnels were being used by Hamas to smuggle weapons into Gaza.
Two children were killed in an Israeli artillery attack at a U.N. school north of Gaza City early Saturday.
"This yet again illustrates that there is no place safe in the Gaza Strip," said Chris Gunness, a U.N. spokesman, speaking of the attack. "This fighting has to stop because innocent people, women and children, who are taking refuge in neutral U.N. buildings are discovering that there is nowhere safe."
Four IDF soldiers were seriously wounded early Saturday by mortar fire in Gaza, according to an IDF written news statement.
Hamas has said a cease-fire alone is not enough.
"We are working in every direction so we can achieve our objectives in stopping the aggression, lifting the blockade, opening the crossings, and the compensation of our people and the rebuilding of the Gaza strip," said Hamas delegation spokesman Salah Bardwill.
Israeli Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad remained in Cairo on Friday, discussing the cease-fire plan. A Hamas delegation was also in the Egyptian capital, talking with leaders trying to hammer out a temporary truce.
In other diplomatic efforts, the state of Qatar held an emergency summit Friday in an attempt to find a unified Arab voice on Gaza. The meeting brought together several Arab and Muslim leaders, including the presidents of Iran and Syria and the leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal.
Friday evening, the U.N. General Assembly voted 142-4 to call on Israel to abide by a January 8 resolution by the U.N. Security Council.
The resolution, which called for an immediate cease-fire by both sides in the conflict, had been universally ignored.
Israel and the United States were among the countries voting against Friday's effort.

read more... »»

Downadup virus exposes millions of PCs to hijack

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A new sleeper virus that could allow hackers to steal financial and personal information has now spread to more than eight million computers in what industry analysts say is one of the most serious infections they have ever seen. The Downadup or Conficker worm exploits a bug in Microsoft Windows to infect mainly corporate networks, where -- although it has yet to cause any harm -- it potentially exposes infected PCs to hijack.
Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at anti-virus firm F-Secure, says while the purpose of the worm is unclear, its unique "phone home" design, linking back to its point of origin, means it can receive further orders to wreak havoc.
He said his company had reverse-engineered its program, which they suspected of originating in Ukraine, and is using the call-back mechanism to monitor an exponential infection rate, despite Microsoft's issuing of a patch to fix the bug.
"On Tuesday there were 2.5 million, on Wednesday 3.5 million and today [Friday], eight million," he told CNN. "It's getting worse, not better."
Hypponen explained to CNN the dangers that Downadup poses, who is most at risk and what can be done to stop its spread.
How serious is it?
It is the most serious large scale worm outbreak we have seen in recent years because of how widespread it is, but it is not very serious in terms of what it does. So far it doesn't try to steal personal information or credit card details.
Who is affected?
We have large infections in Europe, the United States and in Asia. It is a Windows worm and almost all the cases are corporate networks. There are very few reports of independent home computers affected.
What does it do?
It is a complicated worm most likely engineered by a group of people who have spent time making it very complicated to analyze and remove. The real reason why they have created it is hard to say right now, but we do know how it replicates.
How does it spread?
The worm does not spread over email or the Web. However if an infected laptop is connected to your corporate network, it will immediately scan the network looking for machines to infect. These will be machines that have not installed a patch from Microsoft known as MS08-067. The worm will also scan company networks trying to guess your password, trying hundreds and hundreds of common words. If it gets in, even if you are not at your machine, it will infect and begin spreading to other servers. A third method of spreading is via USB data sticks.
How can I prevent it infecting my machine?
The best way is to get the patch and install it company-wide. The second way is password security. Use long, difficult passwords -- particularly for administrators who cannot afford to be locked out of the machines they will have to fix.
What can I do if it has already infected?
Machines can be disinfected. The problem is for companies with thousands of infected machines, which can become re-infected from just one computer even as they are being cleared.

read more... »»

White supremacists watched in lead up to Obama administration

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Hate crimes experts and law enforcement officials are closely watching white supremacists across the country as Barack Obama prepares next week to be sworn in as the first black president of the United States. So far, there is no known organized effort to express opposition to Obama's rise to the presidency other than a call by the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for its members to wear black armbands as well as fly the U.S. flag upside down on Inauguration Day and Obama's first full day in office.
As Tuesday approaches, when Obama stands outside the Capitol to take the oath of office, experts expect anger about the new president to spike. But they don't expect it to go away.
"The level of vitriol, I expect, will go up a bit more around inauguration time," said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino.
There "is concern" about white supremacist groups during the inauguration, said Joe Persichini, the assistant FBI director who is helping to oversee security during the inauguration.
The inauguration of the nation's first minority president increases any potential threat, "particularly stemming from individuals on the extremist fringe of the white supremacist movement," said a recent intelligence assessment by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.
But law enforcement has the appropriate resources to respond if needed, Persichini said.
"We have seen a lot of chatter," Persichini said. "We have seen a lot of discussions. We have seen some information via the Internet. But those are discussions. We look at the vulnerabilities and whether or not the groups are taking action.
"You have freedom of speech," he added. "Anyone in this nation can have a discussion about their beliefs, but we are concerned about whether or not they take that freedom of speech and exercise some act that is against the law."
Anger, violence and interest in racist ideology did increase in the hours and days after Obama was elected president in November, hate groups experts said.
Three New York men were indicted on charges of conspiracy to interfere with voting rights -- accused of targeting and attacking African-Americans in a brutal crime spree soon after Obama was declared the winner on November 4.
And interest in racist ideology was so high right after the election that computer servers for two White supremacist Web sites crashed, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.
But the violence and interest soon subsided. Leaders within the white supremacist movement are now seeking to capitalize on Obama's presidency by using his election to help grow their organizations.
"President-elect Obama is going to be the spark that arouses the 'white movement,' " reads a posting on the National Socialist Movement Web site. "Obama's win is our win. We should all be happy of this event."
In an interview posted on his Web site on election night, former Louisiana state Rep. David Duke said Obama's election "is good in one sense -- that it is making white people clear of the fact that that government in Washington, D.C., is not our government."
"We are beginning to learn and realize our positioning," Duke, a prominent white supremacist, later said in the election night recording. "And our position is that we have got to stand up and fight now."
Mark Potok, director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project, said the leaders of these groups are frustrated by Obama's win.
"I think the hate groups are desperately looking for a silver lining in a very dark cloud for them," Potok said.
While experts said it is difficult to determine how many people belong to hate groups, they do agree with an SPLC estimate that claims there are about 900 operating now, a 40 percent increase from 2000. The vast majority of these groups promote white supremacist beliefs, and range from skinheads living in urban areas to the KKK ,which is based largely in rural settings.
It is difficult to pinpoint how many people subscribe to white supremacist views, because the Internet allows people to follow the movement under the cloak of anonymity. Leaders of the white supremacist movement are able to use their Web sites to reach a new subset of potential followers and push their racist rhetoric to the limit without outright calling for violence.
Levin said one challenge in protecting Obama is that the identity of a potential attacker would likely be unknown -- a person who believes in white supremacist ideology, but decides to act as a lone wolf.
Threats of violence are more likely to be found on Web sites that allow posters to remain anonymous.
Most white supremacist leaders have been careful in what is posted on their Web sites, "hyper-aware that they are being watched," Potok said.
But not all white supremacist leaders are mindful of their actions or care to be. Two months before the election, American National Socialist Workers Party head Bill White posted a magazine cover on his Web site featuring a picture of Obama in the cross hairs of a rifle scope with a headline "Kill This N-----?"
White is now in jail on unrelated charges that he "threatened use of force against" a juror who had helped convict another white supremacist as well as several other charges of making threats to unrelated victims.
Racism in the U.S. "remains a real problem" even though Obama won the White House, Potok said, and he predicted that hate groups will continue to grow during Obama's presidency.
"I think we are in a very worrisome moment historically," Potok said. "I say that because there are several things converging that could foster the continued growth of these groups: continuing high levels of nonwhite immigration, the prediction by the Census Bureau that whites will lose their majority in 2042, the tanking economy, and what is seen as the final insult, the election of a black man to the White House."
Levin noted that it is common knowledge the U.S. Secret Service is taking great measures to protect Obama (who began receiving coverage in May 2007, the earliest point ever for a candidate in a presidential campaign), and emphasized it is a great challenge.
"President-elect Obama is so used to a public presence, and being among people poses some real difficulties for his protection," Levin said.

read more... »»

Third-ranking Hamas leader in Gaza killed

GAZA CITY, Gaza (CNN) -- An Israel artillery strike Thursday killed the third most senior Hamas leader in Gaza, Hamas television announced. Saeed Siam was killed "in the latest shelling on a house" in Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, said Al-Aqsa TV, which showed images of a body it identified as Siam.
Siam served as interior minister in the Hamas-led government before it was dissolved in 2007. He ranked behind only former Prime Minister Ismail Haniya and former Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar in Hamas' Gaza hierarchy.
The Israeli military confirmed it targeted a house where Siam was believed to be present.
Hamas vowed to avenge Siam's death.
"His blood will be the fuel for the coming victory," according to a statement on Al-Aqsa TV.
Meanwhile, Israel ground forces -- backed by massive air power and heavy shelling -- pushed deep into Gaza City on Thursday.
Heavy battles with Hamas militants damaged the United Nations' main relief compound, a foreign media building and a Red Cross hospital.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is in the region as part of the diplomatic effort to secure a truce. He met with Israeli officials on Thursday, and condemned the attack on the U.N. Relief and Works Agency's compound in Gaza City that destroyed relief supplies and wounded three people. Speaking at a news conference in Tel Aviv with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Ban said Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the shelling of the compound "was a grave mistake and he took it very seriously." Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said that Barak actually told the U.N. chief that "if it was Israel's fire, it was a grave mistake." Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed sorrow over the incident, but maintained that Israeli forces were responding to militant fire near the compound.
UNRWA Director John Ging denied there were any militants at the compound, and also said that at the time there was no fighting in the area.
Ging said UNRWA's headquarters -- located in a densely populated neighborhood -- was hit repeatedly by shrapnel and artillery, including white phosphorus shells -- the use of which is restricted under international law.
"It looks like phosphorus, it smells like phosphorus and it's burning like phosphorus," Ging said. "That's why I'm calling it phosphorus."
Some 700 Palestinians were taking shelter in the compound at the time. Read an aid worker's diary
Ging said that Olmert apologized to Ban over the incident.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the allegation of the use of white phosphorous, but Israeli spokesman Regev said Hamas recently fired phosphorus shells at Israelis.
In addition, the Foreign Press Association said international news agency offices in Gaza City were hit by Israeli fire Thursday and demanded Israel stop shooting at the building that houses them.
Palestinian security sources said two employees for Abu Dhabi television were wounded in the incident.
As it stepped up its military campaign, Israel on Thursday also dispatched senior Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad to Cairo to discuss a cease-fire proposal.
A Hamas delegation is also in the Egyptian capital, talking with leaders there who are trying to hammer out a temporary truce.
Israel said it initiated the operation into Gaza -- which is controlled by Hamas -- to stop rocket fire on its southern cities and towns.
Thirteen Israelis, including 10 soldiers, have died in the operation in Gaza and from rocket strikes on southern Israel, according to the Israeli military.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed, including many civilians, Palestinian medics said.

read more... »»

Israel: Shelling of U.N. complex 'a grave mistake'

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday that the shelling of a U.N. relief agency's compound in Gaza City was "a grave mistake," the U.N. chief said. "I conveyed my strong protest and outrage to the defense minister and the foreign minister and demanded a full explanation," Ban said at a news conference in Tel Aviv, Israel.
He added that Barak took the matter "very seriously."

Ban said he called Barak, before meeting with him later in the day, to ask him to explain the shelling of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency compound.

The UNRWA headquarters was hit repeatedly by shrapnel and artillery during clashes Thursday morning, UNRWA Director John Ging said. Three workers were hurt, and the compound's warehouse and workshop were burning out of control within an hour and a half, he said. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said it was "not clear whose shells, whose fire hit the U.N. facility."

"It could have been ours , it could have been Hamas'," Regev said. "This is being investigated." The fire left black smoke hanging over Gaza City.

"It's a very big fire, and we're not able to get it under control at the moment," Ging said. With gunbattles going on around the facility, "the emergency services are not able to get to us."

He said staffers identified the source of the fires as white phosphorous shells, whose use is restricted under international law.

The U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using white phosphorous shells in Gaza during its campaign against Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that has ruled Gaza since 2007.

The Israel Defense Forces initially denied using the ordnance. But by Monday, Israeli officials said only that any shells fired in Gaza "are in accordance with international law."

The private relief agency CARE announced Thursday it was canceling its distribution of food and medical aid to the territory while the fighting continues. Read an aid worker's diary

The Foreign Press Association said international news agency offices in Gaza City were hit by Israeli fire Thursday and demanded Israel stop shooting at the building that houses them.

UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness urged both Israel and Hamas, which has been firing rockets into southern Israel, to heed the "conscience of the world" and comply with a U.N. resolution calling for a cease-fire.

But he added: "I'm standing looking over the town of Beit Hanoun, and with every dull thud and every plume of smoke that comes out of there, it's sad to say that the parties on the ground are not listening."

Ban's presence appeared to do little to advance diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, and Arab nations remain divided on their stances toward Hamas.

Israeli aircraft struck 70 targets in Gaza overnight, the Israel Defense Forces reported Thursday, while fighting on the ground left 11 Israeli troops wounded. The military said about 35 armed Palestinian fighters were wounded or killed in those clashes, mostly by airstrikes At least 10 rockets or mortar shells struck Israeli territory Thursday, the IDF reported. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 5,000 wounded since the conflict began, Palestinian officials said Wednesday. Israel said 10 of its soldiers and three civilians have been killed and more than 100 soldiers have been wounded.

The Israeli military said it planned to let 170 trucks through the border Thursday to deliver food and medical supplies, and announced the appointment of an army officer, Brig. Gen. Shimi Daniel, to coordinate humanitarian efforts.

source from: CNN

read more... »»

Arab nations split over brokering Gaza truce

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- Egypt, which has hosted peace talks with leaders from Israel and the Palestinian Authority and has acted as an intermediary between Hamas and Israel, wants to hold a summit in Kuwait on Sunday, the eve of previously scheduled Arab economic summit there. Other Arab nations say they are attending an emergency meeting in Qatar, which has tried to take the lead in crafting an agreement between Israel and Hamas.For its part, Hamas is frustrated with the diplomatic tug-of-war. "We believed that the Arab summit was supposed to be held earlier," Hamas spokesman Mohammed Nizal said Wednesday. "Is it possible to get into the third week of this Zionist aggression against
Gaza and the Arabs can't hold a summit for Gaza and to stop this aggression?" This issue has split the Arab nations into two camps -- those, like Egypt, who want an end to Hamas' political influence, and others, like Qatar, who are more sympathetic to the organization, which rules Gaza."What is happening in Gaza calls for a separate summit because of the blood that is being shed -- our Palestinian brothers are in very difficult circumstances," said Qatar's Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim.
Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon -- who has repeatedly called for a halt in the fighting -- headed to Jerusalem on Thursday after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the first of several days of talks around the region. Both Israel and Hamas, which has been firing rockets into cities in southern Israel, have ignored a U.N. resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Ban is also scheduled to meet with Arab League leader Amr Moussa while in Cairo, Egypt, before heading to Jerusalem to meet with Israeli leaders. Israel has designated Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, a terrorist organization and has refused to enter direct talks with the group.
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 5,000 wounded since the conflict began December 27, Palestinian officials said Wednesday. Israel said 10 of its soldiers and three civilians have been killed and more than 100 soldiers have been wounded
srael's U.N. Ambassador Gabriela Shalev defended Israel's actions at a U.N. Security Council debate on the conflict Wednesday, saying Israel has no choice but to defend itself against Hamas. "Evidence against Hamas abounds. Hamas terrorists launched rockets from school yards and rigged Palestinian schools with explosives as booby-traps," she said, accusing the militants of setting up shop in Gaza's largest hospital and exploiting Palestinian civilians.
"Hamas' despicable and cynical use of targeting civilians is an appalling example of the toll terrorism takes on all civilians," Shalev said.
Hamas is open to a cease-fire deal with Israel, but only if the Jewish state withdraws its forces from the Palestinian territory, according to Salah Bardwil, a spokesman for the Hamas Palestinian Legislative Council.
"We are seeking all efforts to end the aggression and lift the blockade," Bardwil said. "We will not accept anything less than an immediate end to the aggression, the withdrawal of the troops, opening the crossings and lifting the blockade."
"All crossings need to be opened and the siege must end."
The Hamas spokesman said his delegation is still considering an Egyptian initiative for a cease-fire.
"We submitted our suggestions after we discussed it back and forth with the brothers in the Egyptian leadership and we hope that this will lead to success, God willing," he said.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told CNN that he does not believe Hamas is interested in a lasting truce.
"Hamas is under a lot of pressure and they would like nothing more than a time-out just to rearm, regroup and prepare for the next round," Regev told CNN. "And that's not the sort of cease-fire Israel will agree to."
Elsewhere, Boliva broke diplomatic relations with Israel on Wednesday over its incursion into Gaza, President Evo Morales announced, saying his government wanted to declare Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as war criminals.
There was no immediate reaction from the Israeli government.

read more... »»

Israel explains Gaza media restrictions

GAZA-ISRAEL BORDER (CNN) -- From a distance, smoke rises over Gaza. It is about as close as most reporters can get to the battle zone. Israel's media restrictions have prevented dozens of international journalists from entering Gaza, where the Jewish state is waging an operation against militant targets.

International news media are forced to report on the more than two-week-old conflict from a hill near the Gaza-Israel border. CNN relies on a local journalist in Gaza, but cannot send other reporters into the Palestinian territory. In addition, Egypt is also not allowing journalists to cross its border into Gaza.

"It's really frustrating, you can't be there, see there and feel it," said CNN's Nic Robertson. "And you see these pictures from the hospital, but what's happening behind the hospital? What's Hamas doing?"

Israel has accused Hamas militants of exploiting the deaths of civilians to garner international sympathy through the media. Robertson pointed out that allowing reporters into Gaza would give the world a more thorough picture of Israel's military operation.

"The questions we would ask that go beyond the immediacy of the civilian casualties that you want to know about, but the other stuff that really informs you," he said. It is a very different strategy from Israel's position during its 2006 war against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Then, reporters were allowed to broadcast from Israeli artillery positions.

But this time, Israel has changed its tactics and is preventing international reporters from being embedded with the military to avoid interference in military operations, an Israeli government spokesman said.

"There was too much exposure," Daniel Seaman said. "It had an effect on our ability to achieve strategic goals, so that's one of the lessons we learned from the war in Lebanon."

Some Israeli journalists are embedded with the military in Gaza but are not allowed to report from elsewhere.

The Tel Aviv-based Foreign Press Association -- of which CNN is a member -- is among several groups that have criticized the restrictions.

"The unprecedented denial of access to Gaza for the world's media amounts to a severe violation of press freedom and puts the state of Israel in the company of a handful of regimes around the world which regularly keep journalists from doing their jobs," the association said in a January 6 statement.

John Ging, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in Gaza, said the absence of journalists is preventing the truth from getting out.

Herve Deguine, a spokesman for the Paris, France-based Reporters Without Borders, said the dangers of the current conflict do not override the need for media coverage.

"Of course it's a dangerous place, of course journalists have to take the responsibilities and have to decide whether they want to go in or not and where they want to be," Deguine said.

"But banning the press to enter Gaza is just unacceptable."

Almost two weeks into the operation, Israel did allow a western camera crew across the border. But footage shot by the BBC crew was subject to clearance by Israeli military censors.

Images from inside Gaza did filter out to the world from journalists based inside Gaza who work for news agencies such as Ramattan and broadcasters like Al-Jazeera.

Inside Gaza, Hamas has controlled the images broadcast by the media, and pictures of suffering have been encouraged. But the outside world has seen very few images of Hamas fighters or their rockets being fired into Israel.

Both the Israeli military and Hamas have launched pages on the Web site, YouTube. Israel Defense Forces says the shared video is "documentation of the IDF's humane action and operational success in Operation Cast Lead."

Hamas' video shows graphic scenes from the fighting and also attacks its political rival, Fatah.

read more... »»

Palestinians say Gaza death toll now 1,010

GAZA CITY, Gaza (CNN)Palestinian medical sources said Wednesday that the death toll in the Gaza conflict has risen to 1,010 Palestinians Another 4,700 have been wounded in the conflict, which began on December 27, the medics said.

Thirteen Israelis, including 10 soldiers, have died in the operation in Gaza and from rocket strikes on southern Israel, according to the Israeli military. More than 100 soldiers have been wounded, most of them not seriously.

As Israeli warplanes and artillery pounded Gaza for a 19th day, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon once again called for an immediate halt to the fighting.

"I repeat my call for an immediate and durable cease-fire," Ban told reporters in Cairo. "I've been urging in the strongest of possible terms all sides must stop fighting now. We don't have any time to lose."

Ban spoke Wednesday after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, his first stop in a series of direct talks aimed at brokering a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The two sides have ignored a U.N. resolution -- and Ban's earlier calls -- demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Decrease font Decrease font
Enlarge font Enlarge font

.
The secretary-general will also travel to Jordan, Israel and Syria, but will stop short of visiting Gaza or talking directly with Hamas, which controls the area.

"I would have personally liked to visit Gaza at this time. That was in my mind, in my heart. But in view of the current situation in Gaza, I am not quite sure at this time whether I would be able to visit Gaza," he said.

Mubarak has hosted peace talks with leaders from Israel and the Palestinian Authority and has acted as an intermediary between Hamas and Israel. Israel has designated Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, a terrorist organization and has refused to enter direct talks with the group.

Meanwhile Wednesday, al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden called for jihad to stop the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to an audio message posted on a radical Islamist Web site. he Israel Defense Forces said its air force struck about 60 targets in Gaza overnight, including the headquarters of the Hamas-run police force in Gaza City and five rocket-launching sites. It also continued to bomb tunnels used to smuggle goods and weapons into the blockaded territory from Egypt, the military said.

On the ground, Israeli troops continued to battle Palestinian fighters in Gaza City, while Israeli warships offshore bombarded Hamas targets, the IDF said. But at least 18 rockets fired by Hamas militants fell on southern Israel from Gaza on Tuesday, the IDF said.

And early Wednesday, for the second time in a week, rockets fired from Lebanon struck northern Israel. Three projectiles landed harmlessly in fields near the city of Kiryat Shmona, Israeli police said. Video Watch who may be responsible for the rockets »

Several Palestinian militant factions are active in southern Lebanon, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the strike.

Palestinian medical sources said the death toll in Gaza includes more than 300 children, along with 13 medics and four employees of local media outlets.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said more than 28,000 Palestinians are taking shelter at U.N. schools across the territory during the fighting.

"Our kids, 14 years and younger, they are wetting their pants of fear. They can't control themselves any more because of the fear, because of the horror," said Abu Majed Sultan, a refugee from Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, where heavy Israeli shelling was reported on Tuesday. Video Watch Israeli pilot describe efforts to protect civilians »

He said 35 members of his family are staying at a U.N. school there, "and the older ones just slap each other -- no more respect. We all need psychiatrists now to come here so we can go back normal."

While the Israeli military has been halting its assault for a three-hour break each day over the past week, few people manage to leave their homes for food and other necessities, the ICRC said -- and those who do often return home empty-handed because of food shortages and long lines.

"People who dare to go out rush to supermarkets to try to buy as much food as possible in anticipation of further and more intense fighting in the coming days," said Antoine Grand, head of the ICRC office in Gaza. "The shelves are now almost empty, and prices are soaring."
advertisement

Israel said more than 1,000 truckloads of humanitarian aid has been allowed to enter the territory, carrying nearly 20,000 tons of food, fuel and medical equipment.

Israel has defended the incursion as necessary to stop constant rocket fire by Hamas into southern Israel and said it makes every effort to avoid harming civilians

read more... »»

Israel PM Coral Stories Lie About U.S

In an event that rarely revealed to the public, Israel and the United States-hand opinions.

Even the two countries got strained, after terungkapnya mystery behind abstain on the U.S. Security Council resolution with regard to Gaza, on Thursday last week.

Spokesperson for both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. White House says Israel claims the Prime Minister Ehud Olmet that he obtained approval to U.S. President George Bush but diputarbalikkan by Foreign Minister Condoleezza Rice, so the U.S. abstain in the UN resolution DK, is a mere fabrication.

U.S. DEPLU Spokesperson Sean McCormack said Olmert stories about what happens in the talks with Bush are "100 percent, is entirely, completely not true,". Meanwhile, Deputy White House Press Secretary Tony Fratto called "no inaccuracies (in the statement that Olmert)."

During bercermah in front of the head of the authority of Israel in Ashkelon, on Monday, Rice called Olmert has been put to shame when it ordered the U.S. Menlu support the U.S. (for resistance) DK UN resolution that has been disiapkanya, after Olmert intervence Bush.

Olmert said he spoke with U.S. President Bush so that ceramahnya stop in Philadelphia, to ensure that the U.S. will not support the UN resolution DK.

"I said, 'I Connect to President Bush. They said, he (Bush) is giving lectures in Philapdelphia. I say (to them) I do not care,' I must speak with him now. He and come down from the podium and speaking with me, "I quoted Olmert as The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday (14 / 1).

According to Olmert, he said that Bush on the U.S. do not support the UN resolution DK that Bush and Rice and then ordered to abstain. "She (Rice) is quite disgraceful," Olmert claims.

Instead, McCormack says Rice has since decided Wednesday morning that he will not veto the resolution after the Arab ministers reject U.S. pressure for lowering intonation President DK UN statement. Rice to make this rejection must choose between supporting the final draft of the resolution or abstain.

"Jadinya you have two possibilities: abstein or support, and she (Rice) decide, based on the country where the negotiations took place in the framework of the initiative (the President of Egypt Hosni) fortunate, that is likely abstain best so that the negotiations (Israel-Palestinian peace) and the progress indeed the situation on the ground, "said McCormack.

He said, Rice spoke with Bush both before and after the U.S. president spoke with Olmert, but menandaskan, "with 100 percent assurance that the intention Rice, again, speaking with the President (Bush) is that he (assert) will abstain."

The incidence chill

U.S. response to this comment, an official in the office only a short PM Olmert say, "The statement Monday that the Prime Minister is correct in accordance with what is happening."

Officials of Israel is trying to cool down the incident said that the problem has ended and will not affect anything.

Officials also said that he was not concerned with any pembicaran Olmert on Tuesday that Rice mengklarifikasi for the incident, or any message that dilansir from Jerusalem to Washington.

U.S. recognition of the incident was not immediately confirm the statement of Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni who claim to have been seven times a phone conversation with Rice that are difficult to vote on a resolution to the UN DK. And Rice has said that the U.S. will probably not veto the resolution or abstain are disposed.

Rice spent three days in New York back and forth between the courtroom UN headquarters, the ministers met with Arab allies and partners-the UK and France. Ago he said the reason why he chose Rice because abstain feel DK UN resolution that may be a little premature.

Israeli officials say dissent will not be any impact, because more will soon be leaving Rice posnya this less than a week.

Olmert statement itself as the reflection of Israel's dissatisfaction over the means of Rice in the UN Security Council resolution on Gaza to attack Israel.

Most carelessness Bad

Middle East specialist Steven Spiegel described the incident as a political "carelessness worst made a Prime Minister of Israel throughout history."

"You become what is thought or a prime minister, even if the allegations are correct, you really should merahasiakannya, and if it is not true, why you want to write up stories that good governance mempermalukan Bush and Israel, and invited sharp criticism from party opposed to Israel, "said Director of the Center for Middle East Development to the Israeli daily, Jerusalem Post.

"No matter how to do that, exaggerate, lie, all truth, all the things that make it all look to be bad," said Spiegel.

Source: Antara

read more... »»

Israel pushes further into Gaza

he Swiss Red Cross has criticised the Israelis for 'targeting Palestinian ambulance crews'
Israeli troops have made their deepest push yet into Gaza since the beginning of the 18-day-old conflict, as Palestinians prepare for another night of heavy shelling.
The Israeli military said on Tuesday its air force had hit what it described as 60 Hamas targets overnight, while 19 rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel in the same period.
Israeli jets have continued to pound the city of Rafah in southern Gaza near the border with Egypt.
Israel is using "bunker-busting" bombs in an attempt to destroy underground tunnels it says have been used to smuggle weapons and goods into the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza, said tens of thousands of Palestinians had fled their homes after the Israeli military dropped leaflets warning them of intensive air strikes.
"A large part of Rafah has been completely reduced to rubble... it has been described as hell on earth by some of the witnesses we have met," he said.

Moyheldin said Israeli troops were also closing in on Gaza City, which is now surrounded by both tanks and navy vessels along the coast.

He said the Israelis appeared to be intensifying their assault on Gaza City after dark.

"The pattern [that is emerging is] the Israeli military engaging overnight in fierce fighting and then by early morning the military returns to its position.

"As the sun sets around us that's what many Palestinians are bracing themselves for - another night of deadly and intense firing," Mohyeldin said.
Israelis 'softening up' targets

Mohyeldin said there was speculation that Israeli soldiers were limiting their operation during the day because of stiff resistance from Palestinian fighters on the ground during daylight hours.

Many also suggest that the Israelis might also be looking to "soften up" what they believe to be Hamas targets - such as booby-trapped homes and weapons stores.

Al Jazeera - the only international broadcaster with journalists based both inside Gaza and Israel - reported on Tuesday that the heaviest fighting between Israeli and Palestinian fighters was in Tal al-Hawa, in the south of Gaza City.

Serious clashes were also reported in Beit Lahiya, to the north of the city, and east of Khan Younis.

The AFP news agency reported Israeli tanks, supported by warplanes, had moved into several southern neighbourhoods of Gaza City and that Palestinian fighters were responding with mortar fire.

A spokesman for the Palestinian health ministry said dozens of calls for ambulances had been received, but none could be dispatched because of the fighting.

Combat continued despite another day of pleas from both the United Nations and the European Union to stop the violence, which has so far killed around 970 Palestinians and wounded 4,300 others.

Civilians make up about 40 per cent of casualties, with the majority of those being women and children.

Diplomatic frustration

Expressing frustration at the failure of both sides to adhere to a legally binding UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said he planned to visit the region in a bid to help end Israel's air and ground offensive in Gaza, as well as Hamas rocket fire into southern Israel.
"To both sides, I say: just stop, now," the UN chief told a news conference on Monday. "Too many people have died. There has been too much civilian suffering. Too many people, Israelis and Palestinians, live in daily fear of their lives."

But Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, said the offensive which includes the latest deployment of reservists into Palestinian neighbourhoods, must continue until Hamas is completely disarmed.

He said the military operation would end once Hamas's military wing halted its rocket attacks.

"We want to end the operation when the two conditions we have demanded are met: ending the rocket fire and stopping Hamas's rearmament. If these two conditions are met, we will end our operation in Gaza," he said in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon.

The Israeli military said air raids were carried out on at least 25 targets across the Gaza Strip and Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, said on Monday that the army had "achieved in 16 days what no other country in the world fighting terror has done in 16 years".

Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader and ousted Palestinian prime minister, said that Israel would not emerge victorious from Gaza City.

"This holy blood that has been spilt will never be in vain, it will make the victory. The children's and women's blood and bodies will be a curse which will haunt this occupation," he said.

Meanwhile, Christer Zettergren, the secretary-general of the Swedish Red Cross, said seven ambulances operated by the Red Crescent were damaged last week in Gaza.

Zettergren on Tuesday accused Israeli soldiers of firing at emergency crews and described the shootings as "very deliberate".

He is due to travel to the region on Wednesday to donate 10 ambulances to the Red Crescent.

Also on Tuesday, the AFP news agency reported that the US military had been forced to cancel a shipment of munitions from a Greek port to a US warehouse in Israel because of objections from Athens.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

read more... »»

RI supports UN resolution condemning Israeli human rights violations

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia had supported the United Nations Human Rights Commission`s resolution which strongly condemned the Israeli military assaults and human rights violations in the Gaza Strip, a statement said.

The resolution was endorsed in the Commission`s 9th special session in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday (Jan 12) with the support of 33 votes, 13 abstentions and one (Canadian delegation) opposing, a statement issued by the Indonesian permanent representative to the United Nations, WTO and other international organizations in Geneva received by Antara here Tuesday said.

Apart from supporting the resolution, Indonesia was also the main sponsor of the draft resolution which was filed last Friday.

Previously, Indonesia condemned the violation of human rights by Israel in the Gaza Strip and asked the international community to urge Israel to respect international and human rights laws.

The resolution, in addition to condemning Israel, also urged the Zionist country to immediately stop its military attacks in all its occupied territories in Palestine, causing various heavy human right violations against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which had killed more than 900 people and 4,000 injured, including children and women.

The UN resolution also asked Israel to stop its rocket attacks on Palestine.

The statement said, the resolution also urged Israel to stop using civilians and medical facilities as targets of its military attacks, open access for humanitarian relief aid and pave the way for the media to enter the conflicting areas.

Israel was also urged to withdraw all of its troops from the Gaza Strip, end its occupation of Palestinian land and respect its commitment to the peace process particularly in efforts to setting up a sovereign Palestine with East Jerussalem as its capital city.

Other important points in the resolution include the immediate setting up of an international independent fact finding mission to investigate the human right violations committed by Israel against Palestinian people.

In the meantime, the Indonesian delegation stated that the international community could not keep quiet with regard to the escalation of the human rights violations and humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
Diposkan oleh GlobalIslamNews di 1:36 PM 0 Comments
Label: condemning, Geneva, human rights, Israeli, mIndonesia, Switzerland, UN resolution, United Nations, violations, WTO

read more... »»

Qatar Wants Urgent Arab Summit On Gaza: Arab League

Qatar has requested an emergency Arab League summit to discuss the Israeli offensive in Gaza, the Arab League said on Tuesday, but regional heavyweight Egypt said it favored unofficial consultations among Arab leaders.

The 18-day-old Israeli offensive has exposed deep divisions between Arab countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which both oppose the Islamist group Hamas, and Syria and Qatar which are sympathetic to the group that won Palestinian elections in 2006 and rules the Gaza Strip.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said Cairo had told the Arab League the presence of Arab leaders in Kuwait on January 18 for an economic summit the next day "may pose an appropriate occasion for consultations among them about the situation in Gaza."

Arab League spokesman Abdel-Alim al-Abyad said Qatar made the request for a summit on Monday and that two thirds of the League's 22 members needed to approve the request for the summit to take place.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said Syria welcomed the idea of a summit and would attend.The Algerian state-run news agency APS said Algeria planned to attend the summit, and the Qatari television station Al Jazeera said Lebanon had also agreed to attend.

Lebanese Information Minister Tareq Mitri, however, said the government has not made a decision whether to attend. He said Lebanon had expressed its willingness to attend any emergency Arab summit as long as there was consensus on holding it.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said on Monday Arab foreign ministers would hold emergency talks in Kuwait on Friday to discuss "the continuation of the Israeli aggression on Gaza."

Egypt and Saudi Arabia fear a summit would produce little in the way of results and would make Arab leaders appear ineffective, diplomats said.

Egyptian officials say Qatar and Syria are asking for a summit to embarrass Cairo.

Protesters against the Israeli offensive in Syria, Yemen and Iran have lashed out at Egypt for not opening its border with Gaza to let trapped Palestinians flee the onslaught, which has killed at least 925 people, nearly 400 of them women and children according to Hamas.

Egypt says it will not open the crossing for normal traffic without the presence of the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas, whose forces in Gaza Hamas crushed in 2007.

(Additional reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers and Nadim Ladki in Beirut; Writing by Alaa Shahine; Editing by Katie Nguyen)

read more... »»

'Israel's white phosphorus use legal'

The International Red Cross said Tuesday that Israel has fired white phosphorus shells in its offensive in the Gaza Strip, but has no evidence to suggest it is being used improperly or illegally.he comments came after a human rights organization accused the Jewish state of using the incendiary agent, which ignites when it strikes the skin and burns straight through or until it is cut off from oxygen. It can cause horrific injuries.

The International Committee of the Red Cross urged Israel to exercise "extreme caution" in using the incendiary agent, which is used to illuminate targets at night or create a smoke screen for day attacks, said Peter Herby, the head of the organization's mines-arms unit.

"In some of the strikes in Gaza it's pretty clear that phosphorus was used," Herby told The Associated Press. "But it's not very unusual to use phosphorus to create smoke or illuminate a target. We have no evidence to suggest it's being used in any other way."

In response, the IDF said Tuesday that it "wishes to reiterate that it uses weapons in compliance with international law, while strictly observing that they be used in accordance with the type of combat and its characteristics."

Herby said that using phosphorus to illuminate a target or create smoke is legitimate under international law, and that there was no evidence the Jewish state was intentionally using phosphorus in a questionable way, such as burning down buildings or knowingly putting civilians at risk.

However, Herby said evidence is still limited because of the difficulties of gaining access to Gaza, where Palestinian health officials say more than 900 people have been killed and 4,250 wounded since Israel launched its offensive late last month. The operation aims to halt years of Palestinian rocket attacks over the border.

Human Rights Watch accused Israel of firing phosphorous shells and warned of the possibilities of extreme fire and civilian injuries. The chemical was suspected in the cases of 10 burn victims who had skin peeling off their faces and bodies.

White phosphorus is not considered a chemical weapon.

read more... »»

Journalists challenge Gaza reporting restrictions

The trip's organisers, the Doha Centre for Media Freedoms, was trying to defy Israeli restrictions on foreign correspondents covering the war in Gaza, despite an Israeli court ruling they should be allowed in.

However the attempt proved unsuccessful, with the delegation retiring to spend the night at a hotel in nearby El-Arish.

"We are being optimistic," Robert Menard, head of the media rights group, said on the way back from the crossing.

"By letting us in, it will be a chance for the Egyptian government to show they are different." he said, adding his group would make another attempt to enter Gaza on Wednesday.

Dozens of international news outlets issued a joint call with global press watchdog Reporters Without Borders last week for Israel to let foreign journalists into the Gaza Strip.

"In Jenin, they didn't let anyone in and the rumours grew bigger and bigger," he said, referring to a 2002 battle in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in which Israeli air and ground forces fought Palestinian militants.

"In (the 2006) Lebanon war, they let journalists in and you could see the consequences of the war, and the disorganisation of the army. They figured they were losing, whether they opened or closed access," he said.

Israel's 18-day-old onslaught in Gaza was launched in response to rockets fired by the Islamist militant group Hamas which controls Gaza.

The offensive has killed at least 930 Palestinians and left 13 Israelis dead.

"There should be someone on the ground to reflect reality," said Al-Jazeera television cameraman Ashraf Ibrahim Mohammed, one of the reporters in the delegation.

read more... »»

Fighting rages in Gaza as toll nears 1,000

This is the 18th day of the Israeli aggression against our people, which is becoming more ferocious each day as the number of victims rises," Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said as terrified Gaza residents fled for their lives.

"Israel is keeping up this aggression to wipe out our people over there," added Abbas, speaking from his base in the West Bank.

Israeli special forces backed by tanks and air strikes barrelled their way ever deeper into Gaza's City, advancing several hundred metres (yards) into several neighbourhoods in the south, witnesses said. The thud of tank shells and the crackle of gunfire echoed through much of the day.

Although there were no reports of air strikes in the evening, residents reported extensive gunbattles in Zeitun neighbourhood and Jabaliya refugee camp on the city outskirts, where Apache helicopter gunships were also in action.

Palestinian medical sources said around 70 people were killed on Tuesday, bringing the overall toll to around 975 Palestinians, with a further 4,400 wounded.

Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or by rocket attacks since December 27, when the Jewish state began its deadliest ever offensive on Gaza, ruled by the Islamist Hamas movement since mid-2007.

Israel also carried out a wave of bombing raids on the border town of Rafah, sending hundreds of people fleeing onto the streets.

"There are continuous airstrikes along the Egyptian border -- about 60 families have all fled their houses which are situated several hundred metres from the border," Jawad Harb, a Palestinian working for the international aid agency CARE, told AFP as a series of deafening blasts echoed in the background.

The United Nations' humanitarian office OCHA said the exact number of people who had fled their homes was unknown but added that more than 35,000 displaced people spent the night in temporary shelters, an increase of more than 7,400 on the previous 24 hours.

The Israeli military said its warplanes had attacked more than 100 targets since early on Monday morning, including 55 weapons-smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza.

Eighteen rockets and mortar rounds were fired into Israel, an army spokesman said, barely a quarter of the number recorded at the start of the offensive. No casualties were reported.

Israel's military chief said Operation Cast Lead was making progress but warned that troops faced "complicated" conditions in Gaza City, home to more than half a million Palestinians and where Israel has little combat experience.

"We have already achieved a lot against both Hamas's infrastructure and its military wing but we still have work to be done," the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, told lawmakers.

A Hamas delegation is currently in Cairo for talks on a Western-backed proposal drawn up by President Hosni Mubarak to end the fighting.

A senior source in Cairo indicated Egypt was getting increasingly frustrated at Hamas's response so far to its initiative, saying "they need to say 'yes', now, to our plan."

One of Hamas's top leaders, Mussa Abu Marzuk, acknowledged the movement had "substantial observations" about the initiative but said there was "still a chance" they would accept the plan.

Hillary Clinton, due to take over as US secretary of state in a week's time, said Barack Obama's administration would make "every effort" to forge peace but ruled out talks with Hamas until it recognised Israel's right to exist.

"You cannot negotiate with Hamas until it renounces violence, recognises Israel and agrees to abide by past agreements," she told a Senate confirmation hearing. "That is just for me an absolute."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and with Mubarak, pressing them "for the specific measures necessary to deliver a full and sustainable ceasefire" in line with last week's UN Security Council Resolution.

Brown's office said he was "deeply troubled" by the suffering in Gaza, urged Israel to respect its humanitarian commitments and called on Arab leaders to "say more clearly that Hamas must disarm."

Egypt and Saudi Arabia blocked a proposal by Qatar for an extraordinary summit on the crisis later this week by saying discussions should instead take place at a summit in Kuwait already scheduled for January 19.

Aid agencies have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in the territory where the vast majority of the 1.5 million population depends on foreign aid and is already reeling from 18 months of punishing Israeli blockade.

"Israeli bombardment is causing extensive destruction to homes and to public infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip and is jeopardizing water, sanitation and medical services," said an OCHA field report.

"As of this morning, 60 percent of Gazans are not receiving any power. The rest receive electricity intermittently."

read more... »»

'All-Out War' Declared on Hamas

JERUSALEM, Dec. 29 -- Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak declared "an all-out war against Hamas" on Monday as fighter jets raked the Gaza Strip with bombs for the third straight day and Palestinian fighters sent dozens of rockets flying deep into Israeli territory.The Palestinian death toll rose to 364, according to Palestinian medical officials. The Israeli death toll stood at four, including three people killed in rocket fire Monday. One of the rockets hit a bus stop in Ashdod, a coastal community 23 miles north of Gaza, another sign that Hamas is launching longer-range rockets than it did before a six-month truce expired Dec. 19.

Israel sealed off an area around Gaza on Monday, declaring it a "closed military zone," amid indications that the army may be preparing for a ground offensive. Meanwhile, Israeli jets continued to strike targets across the narrow coastal strip, including a security compound and the homes of suspected Hamas operatives.

While previous Israeli assaults on Gaza have pinpointed crews of Hamas rocket launchers and stores of weapons, the attacks that began Saturday have had broader aims than any before. Israeli military officials said Monday that their target lists have expanded to include the vast support network that the Islamist movement relies on to stay in power in the strip. The choice of targets suggests that Israel intends to weaken all the various facets of Hamas rather than just its armed wing.ad_icon

"There are many aspects of Hamas, and we are trying to hit the whole spectrum, because everything is connected and everything supports terrorism against Israel," said a senior Israeli military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

"Hamas's civilian infrastructure is a very, very sensitive target. If you want to put pressure on them, this is how," said Matti Steinberg, a former top adviser to Israel's domestic security service and an expert on Islamist organizations.

Israel has said its goal in attacking Hamas is to make life secure for the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who live within range of rockets fired from Gaza. But officials have said they do not want to reoccupy the strip just three years after they withdrew troops and settlements from it.

Hamas on Monday fired dozens of rockets into southern Israel. The three Israelis killed included one person in the Negev community of Nahal Oz, a woman at the bus stop in Ashdod and a construction worker in Ashkelon. Nineteen people have been killed in attacks from Gaza so far this year.

Israelis living in the coastal cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon, once believed to be out of range from Gazan rocket fire, spent large parts of Monday in bomb shelters and sent their children to stay with relatives in other parts of the country.

"Today was an awful day," said Sigal Arieli, a mother of three living in Ashkelon. "One rocket landed near our neighborhood pizza restaurant, and another one landed near a children's playground."

Israel has not allowed foreign reporters into Gaza since the operation began Saturday.

In the Israeli offensive, one of the first targets was a police academy, where scores of recruits were preparing to join a security service that Hamas uses to enforce its writ within Gaza. Other targets included government ministries, a Hamas television station, smugglers' tunnels, a seaport and a university building.

read more... »»

Bush gets emotional in defending his presidency

WASHINGTON – With rare public emotion, George W. Bush sat in judgment on his controversial, consequential presidency on Monday, lamenting mistakes but claiming few as his own, heatedly defending his record on disasters in Iraq and at home and offering kindly advice to a successor who won largely because the nation ached for something new.

By turns wistful, aggressive and joking in his final news conference, Bush covered a huge range of topics in summing up his eight years in the White House — the latest in a recent string of efforts to have his say before historians have theirs. Then the White House said he would do it again Thursday night in a final address to the nation.

Reaching back to his first day in office, he recalled walking into the White House and having "a moment" when he felt all the responsibilities of the job landing on his shoulders. Barack Obama will feel that next week, he said, his tone gently understanding.

Indeed, he was full of supportive words for Obama — the nation's first black president — and talked of being deeply affected while watching people say on television that they never thought they would see such a day, many with "tears streaming down their cheeks when they said it."

"President-elect Obama's election does speak volumes about how far this country has come when it comes to racial relations," Bush said, seeming almost awe-struck.

He brushed off any suggestion that he'd found the job of president too burdensome — or that Obama would find it so. "It's just pathetic, isn't it, self-pity?" he said. "And I don't believe that President-elect Obama will be full of self-pity."

At the same time, Bush showed his skin is not so thick as all that. "Sometimes the biggest disappointments will come from your so-called friends," he advised Obama. Bush's former press secretary, Scott McClellan, released a scathing tell-all book last year that still stings around the West Wing.

Asked one last time by reporters about the major controversies of his presidency, Bush had a ready answer for each:

• On the dismal economy he leaves behind for Obama, Bush said, "I inherited a recession, I'm ending on a recession. In the meantime, there were 52 months of uninterrupted job growth." The 2001 recession began in March, two months into his presidency, but economists agree the seeds were sown long before.

Bush also defended himself against economic attacks from his own party on the huge government bailout of Wall Street financial firms. He said, his voice rising, "If you were sitting there and heard that the depression could be greater than the Great Depression, I hope you would act, too, which I did."

• On the five-year-old Iraq war, the issue that will define his presidency, Bush said history will judge his actions but it is a fact that violence diminished and everyday life became more stable after his decision in 2007 to send an additional 30,000 American troops into the fight.

• He vigorously took issue with critics of the federal response to Katrina, the hurricane that devastated New Orleans. Gesturing and speaking with feeling, he said, "Don't tell me the federal response was slow when there were 30,000 people pulled off roofs right after the storm passed," he said. "Has the reconstruction been perfect? No. Have things happened fairly quickly? Absolutely."

• The president claimed progress toward peace in the Middle East, though any hopes for an accord soon have been dashed by, among other things, a bruising offensive by Israel in the Gaza Strip.

• Most angrily, Bush dismissed "some of the elite" who say he has damaged America's image around the world. "No question, parts of Europe have said that we shouldn't have gone to war in Iraq without a mandate, but those are few countries," he said.

The president's actions after the Sept. 11 attacks — such as establishing the prison for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, approving tough interrogation methods that some say amount to torture and instituting information-gathering efforts at home decried by civil rights groups — were compounded by global outrage at the 2003 invasion of Iraq, particularly later when the alleged weapons of mass destruction that were the main justification for war turned out not to exist.

"In terms of the decisions that I had made to protect the homeland, I wouldn't worry about popularity," he said.

Asked about mistakes, Bush cited a few that he preferred to term "disappointments" — not finding those weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the abuses committed by members of the U.S. military at the Abu Ghraib detention center in Iraq, giving a speech two months after the start of the Iraq war under a "Mission Accomplished" banner on an aircraft carrier, Congress' failure to pass free-trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, and the negative tone in Washington that belied his 2000 campaign promise to be a "uniter not a divider."

But he offered no evidence he takes personal responsibility for any of those failures. The only two areas where he seemed to acknowledge that errors in judgment had been his were his penchant for cowboy rhetoric, such as saying "Bring 'em on!" to foes in Iraq, and his decision to pursue partial privatization of Social Security immediately after his 2004 re-election.

He said arguing for immigration reform would have been a better use of the political capital he earned through his victory, in part because lawmakers were not yet convinced that Social Security presented an imminent crisis. Over two years of intensive efforts, Bush achieved reform in neither area.

Bush, who watched a Republican drubbing last fall, gave his party advice about how to rise from the ashes. Referring back to the divisive immigration debate, in which conservatives blocked broad changes and raised concern that illegal immigrants would be given amnesty, Bush said the image of his party that resulted was "Republicans don't like immigrants."

"This party will come back. But the party's message has got to be that different points of view are included in the party," he said.

Bush began what he termed "the ultimate exit interview" Monday with a lengthy and gracious thank-you to his core of usual reporters, calling many by name and saying he respects their work even if he often dislikes the product.

Looking to his first day out of office, Bush appeared somewhat flummoxed but also relieved at the prospect of waking up at his Texas ranch next Wednesday with, by his own admission, little idea what to do beyond bringing coffee to his wife.

Monday's news conference offered only one bit of news, and — in these times when Bush has seemed to fade from office a little more each day — even that was overtaken by events.

He said he would ask Congress to release the remaining $350 billion in Wall Street bailout money if Obama wants him to — but that Obama had not yet asked. A mere two hours later, Obama had made his request to Bush, and the White House said the president had agreed.

read more... »»