Today's News Update 31 October 2008

Update as of 0800 Eastern Time:

Bottom Line Up Front:
1. Pakistan
2. Syria
3. Al Qaeda

From CNN (Pakistan):

The death toll from the earthquake in southwestern Pakistan will likely rise to more than 300, local officials say.

Provincial government minister Zamrak Khan told The Associated Press that 215 deaths had been confirmed, but said Friday that officials were receiving reports of more deaths from remote areas and that the toll would likely top 300.

The quake rendered between 10,000 and 15,000 people homeless when it struck a remote area of Balochistan province early Wednesday, said Asar ul Haq of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Many residents are reluctant to return home, afraid their houses might collapse, he said.

The death toll was tallied based on bodies that had been recovered and buried by Thursday, said Mohammad Dawud of the District Police Office in the hardest-hit Ziarat district. A quake-induced landslide there buried dozens of homes.

The main quake struck just after 4 a.m., about 35 miles (60 km) north-northeast of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. It was followed by a 6.2-magnitude aftershock about 12 hours later, and dozens of smaller ones, according to the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado.

From CNN (Syria):

Thousands of people demonstrated Thursday in the Syrian capital to protest a U.S. airstrike last weekend that Damascus says killed eight civilians, according to reports from Syria.

The U.S. military has not confirmed the attack, but officials have said U.S. gunships conducted a "successful" strike on Sunday in Syria, killing Abu Ghadiya, the top facilitator of al Qaeda foreign fighters into Iraq, and several members of his network.

The United States, anticipating the government-stoked protests, closed its embassy in Damascus Thursday because of security concerns. Syrian riot police were out in force to control the crowd.

Some of the demonstrators carried signs harshly critical of the United States, with such messages as "America is the sponsor of destruction and wars" and "We will not submit to terrorism," according to scenes shown on Syrian state television.

From Fox News (Al Qaeda):

An Internet video posting of an Al Qaeda leader shows the commander calling for President Bush and the Republicans to be "humiliated," Reuters reports.

"O God, humiliate Bush and his party, O Lord of the Worlds, degrade and defy him," Abu Yahya al-Libi said at the end of a sermon.

The remarks from the commander, believed to be living in Afghanistan or Pakistan, are the first from a top Al Qaeda leader referring to the U.S. presidential election.

Libi called for God's wrath to be brought against Bush and likened him to past tyrants in history, Reuters reported.

In 2004, Usama bin Laden used his first video in more than a year to tell Americans "Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or Al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands and each state which does not harm our security will remain safe."

God Bless America and Happy Halloween to everyone.

Bryan Sphere: Related Content

This is Insane......

I read this a bit ago over at "From My Position On The Way" and I was stunned. I'm not going to give a long blurb on it here, Chuck did it better then I could. But here is the Bottom Line Up Front and the link:

Link to From My Position On the Way...

1. Soldier buys new house and moves family to brand new location.
2. Soldier is activated just as house is ready, and deploys to Iraq.
3. Wife and children go home to stay with relatives on the opposite side of the country.
4. Company does not complete work on landscaping as promised to soldier.
5. Home Owners Association or more accurately Chick Edwards of Redmond Oregon, wants to throw him out of the house for not having landscaping completed.
6. Best comment by this idiot Chick Edwards, "I don't care what his problem is."

This guys is a Class A Idiot (Chick Edwards). I truly hope he gets sued for violation of the Soldier's and Sailor's Relief Act and for mental anguish to the Jensen Family.

God Bless America

Bryan Sphere: Related Content

Today's News Update 30 October 2008

Update as of 0800 Eastern Time:

Bottom Line Up Front:
1. Afghanistan
2. India
3. Syria

From Fox News (Afghanistan):

Taliban militants stormed a government building in the center of the Afghan capital on Thursday and one of them blew himself up inside, killing five people, officials and witnesses said.

The assailants first opened fire on police guards outside the Ministry of Information and Culture before entering its cavernous hall where the explosion occurred, said Amir Mohammad, a police guard who was wounded in the blast.

"There were three people. They were running. They opened fire on our guard first and then they entered (the building)," Mohammad told The Associated Press from his hospital bed in Kabul.

Five people were killed in the attack, according to a statement from President Hamid Karzai's office. Another 21 were wounded in the explosion, said Abdul Fahim, the spokesman for the Health Ministry, which supervises the hospitals where the injured were taken.

The ministry is in the center of the city, at a busy intersection lined with shops.

One of the walls of the building collapsed, while glass littered the roads nearby and office equipment was scattered over the area.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and gave a similar account of what happened.

From CNN (India):

A series of nine near-simultaneous explosions ripped through crowded areas in four districts of a northeastern Indian state Thursday.

At least 54 people were killed, while another 224 were wounded in the blasts, in the remote state of Assam, police told CNN.

Officials said the death toll may rise. They sealed off exit points from the state, and rushed in paramilitary forces to secure refineries in the oil-rich region.

Police officers fanned out to heavily populated areas, combing them for unexploded bombs.

"There may be more blasts, you never know. But we are taking all precautions," Deputy Inspector General of Police N.I. Hussain told CNN's sister network, CNN-IBN. iReport.com: Are you there? Share your photos, videos

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks. But suspicion fell on the separatist group, the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).

The group has waged a 20-year rebellion demanding more autonomy from the central government. Intelligence sources told CNN-IBN that very few other groups have the ability to launch such a coordinated attack.

From CNN (Syria):

The U.S. Embassy in Damascus announced that it will be closed Thursday because of "increased security concerns" arising three days after a U.S. strike in Syria.

Officials said the action was taken because of concerns over anti-U.S. demonstrations scheduled for Thursday over Sunday's airstrike, which Syria claims left eight people dead near the Iraq-Syria border.

Demonstrations were reportedly staged Wednesday throughout Syria to protest the incident, which has raised tensions among Iraq, Syria and the United States.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Abu Kamal, Syria, near the Iraqi border, burning American flags and shouting angrily, the country's official news agency SANA reported.

The Syrian government summoned the top U.S. official in the country, Maura Connelly, on Wednesday to request that an American cultural center be shut immediately. The government also requested a closure date of November 6 for the American-run Damascus Community School, deputy U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.

The Syrians did not specify how long the closures would last, Wood said.

Connelly told Syrian officials that the United States "expects them to provide adequate security to the buildings" during the closures, Wood said.

God Bless America

Bryan Sphere: Related Content

Prime Time TV and ACORN

Imagine this for a moment. You are swimming in money. You have more then you know what to do with. You logically can not imagine anything else you need. I know, it hits you like a bolt of lightening, I'll go buy a 30 minute segment of prime time television. I'll be my own special infomercial.....

No, this isn't specifically anti-Obama. I won't voice my opinions there. But what this is about is our political election system. Why is it, that a candidate has raised 600 Million dollars just since August? Now they have so much, they can go buy time blocks on network TV.

I can think of about a hundred worthy causes that the money could have gone to. Just within the military that money could go to the Fisher House. It could go to developing alternate energy sources. It could go to the ASPCA. But instead its going to buy a 30 minute infomercial tonight. For all the talk about earmarks, this is a great deal of money that in my opinion is just being wasted.

Someday when I retire, and if I choose to run for office, if it takes me 600 million dollars to express my views, I'm doing something wrong. Obviously I have not connected with my possible constituents.

But wait, it gets better. ACORN is launching a television ad campaign tomorrow accusing the GOP of racial prejudice and preventing minority American's from being able to vote. Why you may ask? What is the accusation specifically? That they question an organization, that by low estimates has turned in over 15% of its voter registration paperwork as fraudulent. If someone came to me, and 15% of their paperwork was wrong and illegal I would question it. Heck, If they worked for me, I'd fire them for this. But simply asking the question is being viewed by them as being racist.

To make it even better, they have the 50,000 dollars to create the ad campaign, and then who knows how much, to buy the 30 second time slots of commercials on various networks to show them. Lets just assume that it costs 25,000 dollars to air one of these commercials. They air 20 times over the coming days, and yes I know both of these are very low estimates. But, that would equate to 500,000 dollars in just commercial expenditures for ACORN. My first question is, where is this money coming from? My second, and more important question, is couldn't this money be better spent?

I don't know, maybe I'm an idealist. I thought that in this country, we offered our viewpoint, tried to do what was best for the country, and if the people so choose to agree with us then that person is elected to office. Heck, that's exactly what we taught the Iraqi's and its working just fine for them. So why in this country, the land that we call the guardian of democracy, are we outright trying to buy elections?

God Bless America, and may he be with all of us in the coming days, leading up to the election.

Bryan Sphere: Related Content

Today's News Update 29 October 2008

Update as of 0800 Eastern Time:

Bottom Line Up Front:
1. Pakistan
2. Iraq

From Fox News (Pakistan):

Pakistan's government summoned the U.S. ambassador on Wednesday to urge an immediate halt to missile strikes on suspected militant hide-outs near the Afghan border.

Missile attacks have killed at least two senior Al Qaeda commanders in Pakistan earlier this year, putting some pressure on extremist groups accused of planning attacks in Afghanistan — and perhaps terror strikes in the West.

However, a marked uptick in their frequency has badly strained America's seven-year alliance with Pakistan, where rising violence is exacerbating economic problems gnawing at the nuclear-armed Islamic republic's stability.

Having called in U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson on Wednesday, "a strong protest was lodged on the continued missile attacks by U.S. drones inside Pakistani territory," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

The attacks were resulting in the loss of "precious lives and property" and "undermine public support for the government's counterterrorism policies," the statement said.

"It was emphasized that such attacks were a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and should be stopped immediately," it said.

From CNN (Pakistan):

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck southwest Pakistan Wednesday, killing at least 150 people and leaving thousands homeless, a local official said.

The death toll was expected to rise as rescue workers dug through the rubble of mud homes in a remote part of Baluchistan province, said the province's Deputy Director of Public Safety Mohammad Ali.

"There are still searching. There are some villages completely destroyed. There is a lot of destruction," Ali said.

The quake struck before daybreak, about 60 kilometers (35 miles) north-northeast of the province's capital, Quetta.

The worst-hit area appeared to be the district of Ziarat, where a quake-induced landslide buried dozens of houses.

Ali put the death toll at 150 and rising. Thousands of others were homeless, he said.

Ten hours after the quake, the rescue operations continued with the Pakistani army sending helicopters to ferry in blankets and relief supplies and airlift the scores of wounded

From Fox News (Iraq):

The U.S. military on Wednesday handed over security responsibilities for the southern province of Wasit to Iraqi authorities in a move that signals the growing capabilities of the country's fledgling security forces.

Wasit province is the 13th of Iraq's 18 provinces to return to full government control. Iraqi authorities are now in charge of security throughout the mostly Shiite south of Iraq.

U.S. forces will remain in the mostly Shiite province to assist the Iraqis when needed.

Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwaffak al-Rubaie lauded Wasit's Iraqi security forces when he addressed the handover ceremony in the provincial capital Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad.

"Security forces in Wasit from the police and army have reached a reliable level of training and skill that they are able to take over security responsibility in the province." he said.

Wasit borders Iran and was a stronghold of militant Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army before U.S.-backed Iraqi forces cracked down on the militia this year.

The No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, told the handover ceremony that Wasit seven months ago saw a weekly average of up to 18 attacks but now goes for weeks without an incident.

More to follow:

God Bless America

Bryan Sphere: Related Content

Flex Screen Technology

I don't spend much time on Tech issues on this blog, but I think this is important. Yes, that is a realistic photo of a proto-type of a flexible screen that HP had shown in 2004. Today, on the DOD Bloggers Round Table we got to speak to a number of gentlemen who are working this for the United States Army. Today on the round table we were joined by Dr. David C. Morton, U.S. Army Research Laboratory Cooperative Agreement Manager for the Flexible Display Center; Dr. Gregory B. Raupp, Director, Flexible Display Center at Arizona State University; and Dr. Nicholas Colaneri, Associate Director, Flexible Display Center at Arizona State University.

The US Army and the US Army Research Labs have teamed up with Arizona State University to help develop this flexible screen technology. Now I am not an expert on this, but what I did hear today that was important was this.

1. This technology could be field tested within three years, and place maps and situational awareness down to individual soldier level.
2. It has reduced power consumption 2 to 3 times from normal levels. To me, that means I don't have to lug around 10 million double A Batteries:)
3. They are working on making this touch screen capable, in order to increase user compatibility.
4. Its day light visible and night visible.
5. It could fit on a soldiers wrist or forearm and be combat toughened to withstand daily operations and survive.

To me, as an infantryman, there have been various pieces of equipment over the last decade that didn't do much for me; except add weight in batteries to my assault pack. This is not one of those projects. Talking to these gentlemen, they are keenly aware of this problem, and striving to make this a product that soldiers want and need to have. My hats off to them. This is something that would be greatly valuable to the individual soldier, and not add more useless weight in batteries to his assault pack.

Great Job Gentlemen, and I cant wait to see it in testing.

God Bless America

Bryan

Link to the transcript: Sphere: Related Content

Talking with the Taliban?

I heard this news today, and honestly my reaction was, well good. I was surprised at the talking heads on TV today though. Well, not really, I was surprised by Shepherd Smith's reaction at Fox News but that's another story. Here's why its a good idea though.

First off, no-one has said they want to sit down and talk to the extreme hard liners of the Taliban that are in bed with Al Qaeda. Yes, I meant that pun, but anyway. This is an initiative aimed at the moderate elements within Afghanistan that can be swayed to putting down their weapons and joining the legitimate government. This would effectively eliminate a large percentage of the Taliban fighters, and bring them into the government where they could legitimately voice their opinions. I think I remember hearing this called democracy.

The hard liners and Al Qaeda members who only want to inflict pain and suffering on the Afghan people and ourselves, well nothing changes there. We hunt them down and destroy them. Enough said.

But, as I said above, many of the talking heads within the MSM were aghast about this. I am not at all though. If you can convince someone that fighting is not the answer, and come on in from the extremism and work together....well why not. If you want to remain an extremist then you can remain set in your ways, and we will help you along with your goal of dying. No problem.

But, the majority of these men who are fighting in Afghanistan are ethnic Afghans that through one reason or another feel disenfranchised and disconnected from the rest of their Afghan brethren. Well, honestly, come on in and join party. While your at it, tell us what you know about the leadership across the border, and you know what, run for office. Become a district leader, a local Imam, or a police chief and help your country.

Not everyone is an evil person. Yes, there are many out there, and it is our job to rid the world of them, but not all of these men are. Recognizing that difference is only a sign of intelligence. Not recognizing that is only a sign of ignorance.

God Bless America

Bryan Sphere: Related Content

Today's News Update 28 October 2008

Update as of 0800 Eastern Time:

Bottom Line Up Front:
1. Taliban
2. Mosul
3. North Korea

From Fox News (Taliban):

The U.S. is actively considering talks with elements of the Taliban, the armed Islamist group that once ruled Afghanistan and sheltered Al Qaeda, in a major policy shift that would have been unthinkable a few months ago.

Senior White House and military officials believe that engaging some levels of the Taliban — while excluding top leaders — could help reverse a pronounced downward spiral in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan. Both countries have been destabilized by a recent wave of violence.

The outreach is a draft recommendation in a classified White House assessment of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, according to senior Bush administration officials. The officials said that the recommendation calls for the talks to be led by the Afghan central government, but with the active participation of the U.S.

The idea is supported by Gen. David Petraeus, who will assume responsibility this week for U.S. policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Gen. Petraeus used a similar approach in Iraq, where a U.S. push to enlist Sunni tribes in the fight against Al Qaeda in Iraq helped sharply reduce the country's violence. Gen. Petraeus earlier this month publicly endorsed talks with less extreme Taliban elements.

From NY Times (Mosul):

A new Iraqi military offensive is under way in this still violent northern city, but the worry is not only the insurgents who remain strong here. American commanders are increasingly concerned that Mosul could degenerate into a larger battleground over the fragile Iraqi state itself.

The problems are old but risk spilling out violently here and now. The central government in Baghdad has sent troops to quell the insurgency here, while also aiming at what it sees as a central obstacle to both nationhood and its own power: the semiautonomous Kurdish region in the north and the Kurds’ larger ambitions to expand areas under their control.

The Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is squeezing out Kurdish units of the Iraqi Army from Mosul, sending the national police and army from Baghdad and trying to forge alliances with Sunni Arab hard-liners in the province, who have deep-seated feuds with the Kurdistan Regional Government led by Massoud Barzani.

The Kurds are resisting, underscoring yet again the depth of ethnic and sectarian divisions here and the difficulty of creating a united Iraq even when overall violence is down. Tension has risen to the point that last week American commanders held a series of emergency meetings with the Iraqi government and Kurdish officials, seeking to head off violence essentially between factions of the Iraqi government.

“It’s the perfect storm against the old festering background,” warned Brig. Gen. Raymond A. Thomas III, who oversees Nineveh and Kirkuk Provinces and the Kurdish region.

Worry is so high that the American military has already settled on a policy that may set a precedent, as the United States slowly withdraws to allow Iraqis to settle their own problems. If the Kurds and Iraqi government forces fight, the American military will “step aside,” General Thomas said, rather than “have United States servicemen get killed trying to play peacemaker.”

The competing agendas of the Kurds and central government have nearly provoked violence before, but each side eventually grasped the risks. That may be the case now. At the moment, the Americans are hoping to refocus each side on fighting the insurgency rather than each other.

But the tensions underline that achieving basic security is only the first step toward deeper progress in Iraq — and that much remains, bitterly, unresolved.

From Fox News (North Korea):

North Korea's military warned Tuesday it would attack South Korea and turn it into "debris," in Pyongyang's latest response to what it says are confrontational activities by Seoul against the communist country.

The threat comes a day after military officers from the two Koreas held brief talks at the heavily fortified border, their second official contact since the North broke off inter-Korean relations in February.

The North threatened to cut off all ties if the "confrontational racket" continues, citing a South Korean general's recent threats to launch a pre-emptive strike against its nuclear sites and the refusal of civic activists in the South to heed Pyongyang's demands to cease distribution of propaganda leaflets critical of its leadership.

"The puppet authorities had better remember that the advanced pre-emptive strike of our own style will reduce everything opposed to the nation and reunification to debris, not just setting them on fire," the North's military said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Relations between the two Koreas have been tense since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's administration took office earlier this year pledging to get tough with Pyongyang.

More to follow:

God Bless America

Bryan Sphere: Related Content

Can anyone explain this?

I'm just wondering why the US Secret Service or some other law enforcement agency is not investigating this.....

From Reuters:

An effigy of U.S. Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin hanging by a noose as part of a Halloween display drew complaints on Monday, but local officials said the homeowner was covered by free speech rights.

A mannequin dressed to resemble the Alaska governor, with her trademark beehive hairdo and glasses, was hung by the neck from the eaves of the home in famously liberal West Hollywood.

On the roof, a mannequin of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, protruded from the chimney surrounded in flames, holding his head as he was apparently burned alive.

"We have been getting some phone calls this morning complaining about it but if (the homeowner) isn't in violation of municipal code we have no reason to cite them," West Hollywood spokeswoman Helen Goss said.

"People have First Amendment rights (to free speech)," Goss said. "I would speculate that if it's part of a Halloween display then its political satire."

Maybe I'm mistaken but I thought a threat of bodily harm to a sitting President / VP, a past President / VP, or a candidate for that office was considered a very serious matter to the tune of a felony?

Either way....Its flat out wrong, despicable, and un-American. We don't run around threatening bodily harm to our elected officials, especially a Presidential or VP Candidate. That is not who we are. I don't care if it's a Republican or Democrat, its just plain wrong and criminal.

God Bless America

Bryan Sphere: Related Content

Syria

Well, some very large actions within Syria today, very early our time here in the United States.

From Fox News:

From CNN:

Some background on the situation:
1. There are two main routes into Iraq for Al Qaeda...Iran and Syria.
2. Terrorists such as Al Qaeda are using Syria as a safe haven to commit attacks into Iraq.
3. The Syrians have not done as much as they could be doing.
4. One of these attacks resulted a short time ago in Iraqi Police being killed from terrorist elements operating in Syria and fleeing into Syria.
5. Syria harbors and supports terrorist organizations.

Pro's to conducting the attack:
1. Destroys or captures a known high value target.
2. Prevents Al Qaeda from using Syria as a safe haven.
3. Sends a message that they can not hide.

Con's to conducting the attack:
1. Violates Syrian Sovereignty.
2. Places Iraq in a perilous position with its neighbor.
3. May cause Syria to not want to work with us in the future and or impact issues with Israel.

The problem with this discussion is, it is very academic. While on the surface, looking at the public information, I would say if I was the decision maker I would have gone a different route, I wasn't there. That is the problem with many of the talking heads on TV right now discussing this. They were not there.

All we know right now is a high value target was killed or captured aprox 8 KM inside Syrian territory. We don't know if this had WMD implications. We don't know what he was planning or what time sensitive intel he might have had. We don't know if MNC-I tried to work with the Syrians before this strike and they refused to. There are a lot of unknowns out there right now.

The truth of the matter is, we may never know. They may never declassify what was really happening. I can say this though. Operations like this are not undertaken lightly. They are always thought through, and verified and approved at the highest possible levels. I'm personally giving the benefit of the doubt here, and making the assumption that there is a lot that all of us do not know, and that played a crucial part in the go, no-go criteria for this mission.

God Bless America

Bryan Sphere: Related Content

Today's News Update 27 October 2008

Update as of 0800 Eastern Time:

Bottom Line Up Front:
1. Afghanistan
2. Syria
3. Pakistan

From Fox News (Afghanistan):

Insurgents shot down a U.S. helicopter after exchanging fire with its crew in central Afghanistan on Monday, while a homicide bomber in the north killed two American soldiers inside a police station, officials said.

The crew of the helicopter, forced down in a province neighboring Kabul, were rescued and troops were "in the process of recovering" the aircraft," said Lt. Cmdr. Walter Matthew, a U.S. military spokesman.

"The helicopter crew exchanged fire with the enemy before the damage brought the helicopter down," Matthews said.

At least four militants were killed in the exchange, said Fazel Karim Muslim, the chief of Sayed Abad district.

Wardak province has seen an increase in insurgent activity the last two years, and its main highway is now extremely risky to travel on, particularly at night. In mid-October, a U.S. Special Forces raid freed a kidnapped American working for the Army Corps of Engineers who had been held by his captors in Wardak for two months.

The U.S. and other foreign forces rely heavily on helicopters for transportation around Afghanistan, which is covered by rough mountains and long stretches of desert and has few decent roads. Insurgents rarely bring down military helicopters, though they have hit several in recent years.

From CNN (Syria):

Syrian officials lashed out at Washington Monday for a "sheer violation of international law," accusing the U.S. of attacking a target inside Syria, killing eight people and wounding one.

The U.S. military in Iraq said it had no information about the Syria incident.

"The U.S. is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, so this is an outrageous crime for a country who is responsible for maintaining peace and security in the whole world to act this way," Jihad Makdissi, a spokesman for the Syrian embassy in London, told the BBC.

Syria's state news agency SANA said four U.S. helicopters crossed the border and struck a farm about 8 kilometers (5 miles) inside Syria before returning to Iraqi airspace. The raid occurred about 4:45 p.m. (1345 GMT), the agency said.

It said the helicopters hit a civilian building under construction on the farm, killing a father and his four sons, a married couple and another man.

Syria's deputy foreign minister contacted the U.S. embassies in Damascus and Baghdad, SANA said.

Sgt. Brooke Murphy, a U.S. military spokeswoman, told CNN that military officials were investigating.

"Unfortunately, we cannot confirm anything at the moment," she said.

The attack occurred near Al-Bukamal, a town home to a Red Crescent camp for Iraqi refugees. The town is across the border from the western Iraqi city of Qaim, a major route for Sunni Arab fighters battling U.S. troops in Iraq.

Syria has said it has made efforts to secure the 600-kilometer desert border, but Maj. Gen. John Kelly, the U.S. commander in western Iraq's sprawling Anbar province, told reporters last week that much of the border is "uncontrolled."

From NY Times (Pakistan):

An American drone aircraft hit a militant compound in South Waziristan Sunday night, killing 20 people, including two important local Taliban commanders known for their attacks against American soldiers in Afghanistan, a senior government official and a local resident said.

One of the dead commanders, Eida Khan, was wanted by the Americans for his cross-border attacks from bases in Waziristan, the government official said. Another, Wahweed Ullah, worked with Arabs who were part of Al Qaeda, the local resident said.

Mr. Ullah, in his late 20s, was known as an ideologically committed fighter who specialized in attacks against Americans in Afghanistan, the resident said.

The drone launched a missile attack on a compound in the village of Manduta, close to Wana, the capital of South Waziristan, about 20 miles from the Afghanistan border.

Mr. Khan and Mr. Ullah, as well as two brothers of Mr. Khan, were affiliated with the militant network of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a senior Taliban figure with close connections to Al Qaeda, said the official and the local resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The strike was part of an escalating campaign by the Bush administration to hit the Taliban and their Al Qaeda backers at their bases in the tribal belt.

God Bless America

Bryan Sphere: Related Content

Today's News Update 26 October 2008

Update as of 2000 Eastern Time:

Bottom Line Up Front:
1. Syria Strike
2. Iran

From Fox News (Syria):

U.S. military helicopters struck a network of foreign fighters in Syria, a U.S. military official said Sunday, killing eight people and earning recrimination from Damascus, which condemned the raid as "serious aggression."

The official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the special forces action within Syrian territory close to the Iraqi border, was meant to send a message. The Americans have been unable to shut the network down in the area because Syria was out of the military's reach.

"We are taking matters into our own hands," the official said.

The attack came just days after the commander of U.S. forces in western Iraq said American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, which he called an "uncontrolled" gateway for fighters entering Iraq.

Ninety percent of foreign fighters enter Iraq through Syria, according to U.S. intelligence estimates. Foreign fighters often enter Iraq in order to bring cash to Al Qaeda in Iraq's chief. They also are deadly — trained in bomb-making and willing to sacrifice themselves in suicide attacks.

A senior U.S. military intelligence official said that in July only about 20 foreign fighters were entering the country each month, down 50 percent from six months earlier, and just a fifth of the estimated 100 foreign fighters who were infiltrating Iraq a year ago.

From NY Times (Iran):

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday he is suffering from exhaustion and two allies said he was suffering under the strain of his job, in a rare disclosure apparently designed to combat rumors the hardline leader is more seriously ill.

A parliament member who confirmed Ahmadinejad's illness accused opponents of using it as an excuse to cast doubt on whether the increasingly unpopular president will run for a second term next year.

''Those who use such a natural issue for psychological warfare will fail'' to gain support in public opinion, said Parliament member Mohammad Ismail Kowsari. Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, every Iranian president has been re-elected to a second term, except the first one, Abolhasan Banisadr, who fled the country in 1981.

The months ahead are critical for Ahmadinejad if he wants to try to rebuild his political base and rebut critics who point to his unfulfilled campaign promises, including his pledge to extend Iran's oil revenues to poorer provinces around the country.

With more than 10 percent unemployment and 30 percent inflation, Iran was unable to bask in record-high oil prices earlier this year. And now with oil prices falling, Iran is certain to face a budget squeeze that could severely complicate Ahmadinejad's last months before he faces re-election.

Ahmadinejad is also confronting questions about his uncompromising stance with the West over Iran's nuclear program, which has severely soured international relations. The U.N. has also placed three rounds of sanctions against Iran since Ahmadinejad took office in 2005 over Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment.

Rumors that Ahmadinejad was seriously ill have been popping up on some Iranian Web sites affiliated with the president's opponents for several months. A cleric who supports him, Ayatollah Abolqasem Khazali, had even warned Ahmadinejad that his work habits could lead to hospitalization.

But a flurry of new rumors appeared after Ahmadinejad, who turns 53 on Monday, canceled a speech on Wednesday and did not attend a Cabinet meeting the same day.

God Bless America

Bryan Sphere: Related Content

Today's News Update 24 October 2008

Update as of 0800 Eastern Time:

Bottom Line Up Front:
1. OPEC
2. US Economy

From Fox News (OPEC):

The OPEC cartel on Friday decided to slash oil production by 1.5 million barrels a day as of next month in an attempt to stem plunging prices for crude.

The size of the cut reflected concerns within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries that the bottom appears to be falling out of the market. Crude is selling for 50 percent less than this year's historic heights because the worldwide economic crisis has put a huge crimp in demand.

But prices sagged, suggesting that the market was more concerned with the economic turmoil reaching into all corners of the globe than crude availability. If economies in the U.S. and other leading crude consumers continue to deteriorate, industries will use less oil, making it a buyer's market.

Despite the OPEC cut, benchmark crude futures fell $3.99 to $63.85 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore. The contract overnight rose $1.09 to settle at $67.84.

The language of an OPEC statement announcing the decision also reflected how seriously the producers' cartel viewed the erosion of its revenues, as did the unusually short deliberations leading to the decision.

From CNN (Economy):

A wave of anxiety about a global recession was set to reach the United States at Friday's Wall Street open, with limits imposed on futures trading after they fell more than 6%.

Futures followed the lead of plunging markets worldwide, with Japan's Nikkei index ending down 9.6% and European markets down almost as sharply.

"Today might be the day where everybody throws in the towel," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist for Avalon Partners. "People are saying 'I've had it, I can't take it anymore, I'm selling everything.'"

Futures trading limits were imposed before 7 a.m. ET, when Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 548 points. The futures for the S&P 500 were down 60 and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 84. Futures measure current index values against the perceived future performance and can indicate how markets open when trading begins in New York.

Economists said that even commodities were selling off, including a $18 drop in gold and a 6% decline in copper, with oil trading below $65 a barrel. The dollar rose against the euro and the British pound, but plunged against the yen.

"It's across-the-board global liquidation of stocks," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co.

Hogan cited a 0.5% drop in the United Kingdom's third-quarter GDP as one key reason for the selloff.

The gloom followed a positive Thursday for Wall Street. The Dow and S&P 500 both advanced while the Nasdaq slipped. But trading has been volatile lately amid uncertainty about how deep the economic crisis will be and how long it will last.

More to follow, I'm watching the opening bell closely this morning.

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Soldier's Prevented from Voting in VA

I just read this, I was behind on reading from my fellow bloggers. If you haven't seen this already it is an absolute travesty. One question I am left with, why isn't ACORN jumping up and down to help military members? I wonder......

Great job CJ, thanks for posting this.

The link is below with a quick excerpt.

From A Soldier's Perspective:

The Fairfax County Registrar—and possibly other Registrars in Virginia—is rejecting most Federal Write-in Absentee Ballots (FWAB) cast by our men and women in uniform.

The FWAB is a federally mandated write-in ballot that allows military servicemembers and their dependents to cast an absentee ballot when they have not received a ballot before the election. It is a safety net that allows a servicemember to vote even if the mail truck hasn't reached his or her remote base in Iraq or Afghanistan in time to cast a regular absentee ballot.
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What's Coming Next for the Economy

I'm watching this closely. In about eight hours, if my time conversion is correct, OPEC will begin meeting to debate cutting production of oil. It is being speculated that some countries within OPEC are already reducing production by themselves without OPEC's guidance.

Read on below:

From the Wall Street Journal:

OPEC ministers on Friday face their toughest decision in at least a decade as they weigh the depth of a likely cut in oil exports to reverse falling oil prices, even as the U.S. and Europe wrestle with the increasing likelihood of a wrenching recession.

The difficulty of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' challenge is apparent in some of the unusual theater of the cartel's emergency gathering here. Anticipating a long debate, the group's 13 ministers plan to meet early Friday, a departure from their more leisurely midday powwows.

All the delegates appear to favor an output cut, but intense haggling is sure to ensue over who should bear the brunt of reduced exports. OPEC furnishes the world with about 40% of its oil needs.

U.S. benchmark crude rose 3.7% to $69.20 at midday Thursday, up $2.45 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, in part in anticipation of an OPEC supply cut and amid a general recovery in assets of all stripes.

Iran and Venezuela have built their budgets around oil at roughly $80 a barrel, while even the flush Saudi Arabia is estimated to require around $55 a barrel to avoid deficit spending.

Iran's OPEC governor Mohmammad Ali Khatibi told reporters it was imperative for the cartel "to manage the market. ...When the price of oil is down more than 50%, if there is no management, I don't know what will happen."

The biggest wild card going into next year is China, whose heady economic growth now appears to be cooling. Any evidence of a sharper slowdown in China would likely send oil prices plunging even in the face of sharp OPEC cuts.

Mr. Khelil, who also serves as OPEC's president, joined a chorus of industry voices who are now warning that the credit crunch combined with low prices will cause a wave of delayed and shelved oil projects. Many observers fear the world could face a serious supply crimp within the next couple of years when a revived world economy begins to ask for more oil.

From the Telegraph (UK):

But fears of a deep cut in production receded amid signs that some members of the 13-strong group believe that a higher oil price will reduce further demand by the major consumer nations.

Opec president Chakib Khelil said on Thursday that his organisation, which accounts for about 40pc of oil production, would take care not to worsen the global financial crisis.

He said: “It’s a concern that we could make the financial crisis worse by taking too strong a reduction,” adding that the decision “should not impact the world economy which is already in pretty bad shape.”

Thursday’s talks in Vienna will be followed by a further meeting Friday to ratify the agreement. It is thought that Opec hawks such as Iran and Venezuela are pushing for 3m barrel a day reduction, taking daily output down to about 43m.

But Opec kingpin Saudi Arabia wants a smaller cut, believing that a jump in the oil price will be self-defeating and force consumers in Europe and America to reduce demand.

Analyst John Hall, of John Hall Associates, said: “My feeling is that there will be a cut of 1m-1.5m barrels, leaving Opec to sit back and watch what happens to the price. I would not expect the price to react strongly to such a cut.”

The price of crude has more than halved since it reached a record $147.2 a barrel in July. Some Opec members, especially Iran, fear that their economies will suffer through the drop in revenues.

As you can read above, the main advocates for steep cuts are Iran and Venezuela. I'm not surprised. Saudi Arabia is the voice of semi-reason, again not surprising. But, this is bigger then all of that. The sheer fact that our transportation industry, our economy in general, and our very livelihood depends on a group of foreign nations, that many of which hate us, is completely wrong.

It is time for this nation to get off our addiction to foreign oil, and move forward with other resources that we have plenty of. Our own oil, our own natural gas, ethanol, wind, hydro, solar, and nuclear are imperative to develop.

We had a President once, who through sheer will committed us to a Space Race and won. Why can we not have a governmental initiative that states in 5 years we will reduce our imported oil demand by 40%, and within a decade by 80%. Everyone of our auto industries must produce a compact, mid size, and large car that gets at a minimum 50 MPG. I want them hybrid at a minimum and preferably developed to be fuel cell long term. Here's a catch also, you produce it, Ill guarantee you I'll retool the entire federal fleet of vehicles with these new vehicles. Ill buy your first 200,000 off the assembly line.

What if we developed wind farms, solar farms, and safe nuclear plants around the nation, that produced 50% of our power demand? What if we switched over to clean coal in the short term?

All of this can be done. It takes someone to say do it though. The one thing that is sure though, if we continue leaving ourselves open to OPEC, it will be our Achilles heal. It is a Vital National Security Interest to get off foreign oil.

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Today's News Update 23 October 2008

Update as of 0800 Eastern Time:

Bottom Line Up Front:
1. US / Iraq SOFA
2. Iran
3. Pakistan

From Fox News (US / Iraq SOFA):

The Bush administration on Wednesday warned of "real consequences" for Iraq if it rejects a newly negotiated security pact.

Without a deal, the United States could be forced to end its military operations.

The White House said Iraqi security forces are incapable of keeping the peace without U.S. troops, raising the specter of reversals in recent security and political gains if the proposed security deal is not approved by the time the current legal basis for U.S. military operations expires Dec. 31.

"There will be no legal basis for us to continue operating there without that," White House press secretary Dana Perino said. "And the Iraqis know that. And so, we're confident that they'll be able to recognize this. And if they don't, there will be real consequences, if Americans aren't able to operate there."

At the Pentagon, press secretary Geoff Morrell said the U.S. fallback position is to extend the U.N. Security Council mandate authorizing U.S.-led coalition operations in Iraq, but he emphasized that the Bush administration's preference is to complete a bilateral U.S.-Iraqi agreement.

From Fox News (Iran):

Iran's oil minister says OPEC should take 2 million barrels a day off the market when it meets Friday.

Gholam Hossein Nozari was speaking a day ahead of the meeting of ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The gathering appears set to agree on reducing output in an attempt to stem steep falls in oil prices, but still needs to decide on the size of the cut.

Just as Americans are finally beginning to reap the benefits of plunging gasoline prices — including more money in their pockets — the 13-nation gobal oil cartel is getting ready to squeeze them once again by cutting production and driving up prices to refineries.

Iran is a traditional OPEC hardliner on prices and production and is the second largest producer within the organization. In contrast, Saudi Arabia which leads OPEC production, is expected to act as the brakes on demands of deep cuts.

"The era of cheap oil is finished," Iran's Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari boasted earlier this week.

When asked what price Iran would want for its oil, Nozari declared, "The more the better."

From CNN (Pakistan):

Pakistan sought help from the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday to avoid defaulting on billions of dollars in loans and skirt a financial crisis brought on by high fuel prices, dwindling foreign investment and soaring militant violence.

Pakistani officials had previously said turning to the IMF would be a last resort.

Aid from the agency often comes with conditions such as cutting public spending that can affect programs for the poor, making it a politically tough choice for governments.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the fund, said in a statement that an IMF mission will begin discussions with Pakistani authorities in the next few days "on a program aimed at strengthening economic stability and enhancing confidence in the financial system. The amount of (IMF) financing under a stand-by arrangement has yet to be determined."

He said Pakistan has requested discussions with the IMF "to meet the balance of payments difficulties the country is experiencing as a result of high food and fuel prices and the global financial crisis."

Iceland, Hungary, Serbia and Ukraine have also turned to the IMF for financing to ease the current crisis.

Created in 1944 to rebuild the world financial system after World War II, the IMF initially helped developed nations lend to one another. By the 1990s, it had evolved into a rescue fund for troubled emerging economies -- but gave them little say on the terms of their loans.

Pakistani economists say up to $5 billion is needed to avoid defaulting on sovereign debt due for repayment next year, but that $8 billion more may be need overall.

More to follow:

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The Weather Underground and Ayers

I'm sure by now, everyone in America has heard about Bill Ayers due to Senator Obama running for President. But this is not about that. This is rather about the fact that today over 3,200 academics put their names on a petition basically saying he was a great guy. Read on....

From Fox News:

More than 3,200 supporters -- most of them educators -- have signed a petition protesting what they say is the "demonization of Professor William Ayers," asserting that his violent actions as the co-founder of the Weather Underground were just "history."

Barack Obama's ties to Ayers have been questioned during the presidential campaign by critics who call the professor a "domestic terrorist."

Among the people who signed the petition are No. 5, Columbia University professor of Arab studies Rashid Khalidi, and No. 814, former University of Colorado at Boulder professor Ward Churchill.

Churchill made headlines when he called the victims of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center "little Eichmanns" and compared them to Nazis in an essay. He was fired from his job in Boulder for plagiarism.

Khalidi, a Palestinian activist, was a director of the Palestinian Liberation Organization's press agency in 1982, according to The New York Times, when the PLO was still designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization.

Obama spent time with Khalidi when the two were professors in Chicago, and paid him a special tribute during a farewell dinner for the firebrand professor in 2003, reminiscing about meals prepared by Khalidi's wife, according to the LA Times.

Obama has distanced himself from Khalidi, whom he called an academic acquaintance. "He is not one of my advisers. He's not one of my foreign policy people. He is a respected scholar, although he vehemently disagrees with a lot of Israel's policy," he said during a campaign event.

The petition, circulated online, asserts that Ayers is a well-respected, nationally-known figure in the education world, and critics who call him an "unrepentant terrorist" and "lunatic leftist" are "part of a pattern of 'exposes' and assaults designed to intimidate free thinking and stifle critical dialogue."

It is unclear who wrote the petition; its first signatory, Professor Gloria Ladson-Billings of the University of Wisconsin, could not be reached for comment.

The petition does acknowledge Ayers' participation in the anti-war movement, but makes no mention of his ties to Weather Underground or to the group's bombings of public buildings.

"It's true that Professor Ayers participated passionately in the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s, as did hundreds of thousands of Americans. His participation in political activity 40 years ago is history; what is most relevant now is his continued engagement in progressive causes, and his exemplary contribution -- including publishing 16 books -- to the field of education," it reads.

Ayers' next book, "Race Course Against White Supremacy," will publish on June 1, 2009, according to Amazon.com.

I honestly don't know whats worse, the fact that these people signed this, or the fact that many of them are the educational establishment in Universities and Colleges nationwide.

These are literally the people who are teaching, or as Bill Ayers would say, indoctrinating our youth. Thats right, Bill Ayers has said a number of times that the purpose of Universities was to indoctrinate the youth to oppose the government. By signing this petition, these people have just cast their lots in the same group.

But then again this is the same guy who bombed numerous locations including the Pentagon. This is signed by Ward Churchill, and Khalid. Two other absolutely stellar individuals. I hope you can feel my sarcasm through the words.

In short, Bill Ayers is a scum bag. He was a domestic terrorist. In my opinion he still is. He is also, even more dangerously, considered an educator. An educator who feels it is his job to indoctrinate students and turn them into left wing radicals. The last time I checked, a teacher is there to help instruct, and assist a student in learning complex problems as appropriate for their age and academic level. Not to try to grow them into another home grown terrorist.

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Today's News Update 22 October 2008

Update as of 0800 Eastern Time:

Bottom Line Up Front:
1. OPEC
2. US / Iraq SOFA
3. Afghanistan
4. Iraq Haifa Street: Baghdad Bureau Blog

From Fox News (OPEC):

Oil prices fell below $70 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as investors shrugged off a looming OPEC production cut after company forecasts suggested the U.S. may be headed for a severe economic slowdown that crimps crude demand.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery dropped $2.73 to $69.45 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore.

The November contract expired Tuesday and fell $3.36 to settle at $70.89. Last Thursday, that contract had declined as low as $68.57 a barrel, the lowest since June 2007.

Crude investors have followed equity markets this week, looking for signs on how the U.S. economy will weather the current global financial turmoil. On Tuesday, DuPont Co., Sun Microsystems and Texas Instruments Inc. reported disappointing earnings and bleak forecasts, sending the Dow Jones industrials average down 2.5 percent.

"Oil is now highly correlated with the stock market," said Clarence Chu, a trader with market maker Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore. "People are looking to the Dow for sentiment on the economy."

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which accounts for about 40 percent of global oil supply, has signaled it plans to announce an output quota reduction at an emergency meeting Friday in Vienna.

But investors are skeptical about how much of the cut will be implemented, given the history of OPEC members exceeding their production quotas.

"There should be a short-term boost to prices when they announce a cut on Friday," Chu said. "But OPEC production has always been above their quotas, so there's a credibility problem."

Crude oil is down 52 percent from its peak of $147.27 reached in mid-July.

A stronger dollar this week has also pushed oil prices lower. Investors often buy commodities like crude oil as an inflation hedge when the dollar weakens and sell those investments when the greenback rises.

From CNN (US / Iraq SOFA):

The Iraqi government has unanimously agreed that a security pact with the United States lacks "some necessary amendments," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Tuesday.

Iraqi and U.S. negotiators recently finalized the text of the status-of-forces agreement, which would set the terms for U.S. troops in Iraq after the United Nations mandate on their presence expires at the end of this year. The agreement is now under consideration by the U.S. and Iraqi governments for final approval.

Iraq's Cabinet discussed the draft agreement during its regular session Tuesday. Al-Dabbagh said he called upon the ministers to submit their amendments so they can be included in the negotiations with the Americans.

The Iraqi government spokesman did not say what parts of the agreement the ministers want changed.

A senior U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions, said parts of the agreement could be reopened because of Iraqi objections to the language on jurisdiction for U.S. troops, the troop pullout dates and the conditions for troop pullout.

But Defense Secretary Robert Gates said there was "great reluctance" to make any more changes to the agreement.

"If [Baghdad] were to come up with something we haven't thought of, or identify problems we missed some way, we would have to take that seriously," he said. "So I don't think you slam the door shut. But I would say it's pretty far closed."

The draft status-of-forces agreement, according to a copy obtained by CNN, calls for U.S. combat troops to be out of Iraqi cities and villages by July 30, 2009, and out of the country entirely by December 31, 2011. The agreement allows for an earlier withdrawal or an extension of the U.S. forces' stay in Iraq by agreement of both parties.

It also allows the Iraqi government to ask "the United States government to leave certain forces for training and for support purposes for the Iraqi forces."

Legal jurisdiction over U.S. forces in Iraq has been a sticking point in the negotiation, with the United States preferring that its troops and contractors remain immune from Iraqi law.

Baghdad had sought the power to arrest and try Americans accused of crimes not related to official military operations, plus jurisdiction over troops and contractors who commit major crimes in the course of their duties.

Under the draft agreement, U.S. forces or contractors who commit "major and premeditated murders" while off duty and outside U.S. facilities would fall under Iraqi jurisdiction, according to the copy obtained by CNN

From NY Times (Afghanistan):

The Afghan authorities said on Wednesday that an airstrike by coalition forces killed nine Afghan Army soldiers overnight in what the United States-led coalition said may have been “a case of mistaken identity on both sides.”

Gen. Zahir Azimi, the spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, said the air strike took place at 2 a.m. in Khost Province in eastern Afghanistan.

The strike killed nine soldiers and wounded three others, one seriously, he said. Other officials in the area said the attack may have been carried out by helicopter gunships.

In a statement, the coalition said a convoy of its troops was returning from an operation and was “involved in multiple engagements” that led to the deaths of the Afghan government troops. “Initial reports from troops on the ground indicate that this may be a case of mistaken identity on both sides,” the statement said.

The statement did not confirm the number of dead or identify the nationality of the force responsible for the airstrike. Most of the airstrikes in the Khost area are carried out by American forces, according to news reports.

Col. Greg Julian, a spokesman for American forces in Afghanistan, said the fighting erupted as coalition troops approached an Afghan Army position

In June 2007, American forces called in air support when Afghan police opened fire on them during a hunt for Taliban militants. Seven Afghan police were killed. There have also been reports in recent weeks that Afghan officers have opened fire on coalition troops amid concerns that militants have infiltrated Afghan forces.

The latest incident came as fighting in Afghanistan reached its highest level since the U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001.

In recent years, the Taliban has staged a dramatic revival, claiming responsibility for attacks reaching into Kabul itself. On Monday, a 34-year-old British-South African aid worker was shot to death in Kabul as she walked to work. The Taliban accused her of trying to convert Afghans to Christianity.

From Baghdad Bureau Blog / NY Times (Haifa Street):

Mohammad Raheem looked out the window of his home and showed me where the blast shattered his windows four years ago to the day. The shards went flying through the room where he slept on the floor with his wife and three children between them, he told me.

Mohammad’s face was cut by the glass and so were the legs of his small daughter. He sat down on the simple wooden bench looking shattered by the memory of the blast.

In 1/30th of a second the moment passed. Teba, Mohammad’s nine-year-old daughter, ran from behind her mother, who was listening out of sight in the hall, to her father. I raised my camera in anticipation of human contact.

Mohammad embraced his daughter and was momentarily relieved of the burden of his experience. My gut told me of the intimacy of the moment I had witnessed and I knew I had what my crew and I had spent all day looking for.

Eight hours earlier while I had coffee that morning, I talked to our security adviser about where I might photograph that day.

When war was in full rumble we just planned to cover the worst of conflict on any given day.

Now in 2008, with most of Baghdad open once again due to improved security, the wealth of opportunities makes planning a convoluted task.

It is still unreasonable to risk the life of the Iraqis we must work with in order to properly interact and interpret their country to us, so venturing out requires knowing where you are going.

More to follow:

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More on Petro-Authoritarianism and OPEC

This is a developing story, and one that is vitally important for all of us here in the United States. If after reading these stories today, you don't believe we need to get off of foreign oil, well I don't know what else I can say. Making our country energy independent is a vital security strategy for us. We can no longer be held ransom by outside oil producing nations. We need our own domestic oil, and we need hybrid, alternate energy supplies such as electric, water, wind, and nuclear.

If I could be King for a day, one of the first parts of an administration would be an energy independant United States. We went to the moon with John F Kennedy, can someone explain to me why the greatest nation on the face of the earth is still tied to a barrel of oil.

Yes there is a lot that politicians need to worry about today. It is a dangerous world we live in. But, creating an energy independant United States is one way, that we can defend ourselves from these threats to our freedom.

From Fox News:

Just as Americans are finally beginning to reap the benefits of plunging gasoline prices — including more money in their pockets — OPEC is getting ready to squeeze them once again by cutting oil production and driving up prices to refineries.

The 13-nation global oil cartel — which includes Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Iran and Hugo Chavez's Venezuela — will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna Friday to discuss the steep and rapid decline in oil prices.

"The era of cheap oil is finished," Iran's Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari boasted on Tuesday.

When asked what price Iran would want for its oil, Nozari declared, "The more the better."

"A few member nations have voiced their intentions of pushing for a cut in production, including Qatar, Iran, as well as OPEC's president Chekib Khelil, who said that output could be slashed by as much as 2 million barrels a day," analysts for Raymond James & Associates told MarketWatch.com.

When oil peaked at more than $147 a barrel in July, gas prices soared to above $5 a gallon in some parts of the U.S., and Americans were forced to cut back on driving. With the price of oil at about $73 a barrel on Tuesday, pump prices have fallen to as low as $2.30 a gallon.

The price dip in oil — and gasoline — finally is working its way into the beleagured American economy, putting a few extra dollars in the hands of consumers just as the home heating and holiday shopping seasons begin.

Sam Gault, president of Gault Inc., a fifth-generation, family-owned oil business in Westport, Conn., said the drop in oil prices is helping his customers, his business and his community.

"Obviously a down market helps the consumer," Gault said. "When the price of oil is less, it’s a good thing for everyone. It's good for the consumer. It's good for us as an oil company. It just puts more disposable income back into the economy because it's not used for household expenses."

When oil costs more, Gault said, "people need to make different choices. But you have to heat your home."

OPEC, however, wants prices to climb — and quickly.

Khelil on Monday even urged non-OPEC oil producers, such as Russia, Mexico and Norway, to follow the cartel's lead and cut production, Reuters reported.

Such a coordinated move is sure to drive prices back up over $100 a barrel — and hit Americans where it hurts.

"OPEC doesn't care about anybody. They don't care about the United States. They don't care about our consumers," said Ross Dibono, executive director of the Pennsylvania Gasoline Retailers Association.

"They're very small countries that just happen to be sitting on an unlimited wealth of oil and they're going to extract as much out of the ground as they feel comfortable with," he said. "Why sell 200 gallons for $100 a barrel when you can sell 100 gallons for $200 a barrel?"

"Saudi Arabia doesn't care about you or me or anybody else," he said. "They've got a taste of the expensive barrel of oil."

Iran's oil minister told Reuters he would push to cut production by up to 2.5 million barrels per day.

Iran has taken a liking to astronomical oil prices, using its newfound wealth to fuel its nuclear program in defiance of the U.S. and the global community. But the country would need oil prices to stay above $85 per barrel to balance its books, according to a report released in August by the International Monetary Fund, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

Venezuela's capitalism-bashing Chavez has used his country's oil windfall to buy Russian weapons, going as far as to let the Russian navy practice in its waters. Russia reportedly is also helping Venezuela develop nuclear power.

Chavez said on Saturday that oil at $80 to $90 a barrel would be good enough to keep Venezuela going, Reuters reported, but analysts say the country has billions stashed away and will be able to withstand a price drop.

Gault, however, said the key to whether American consumers are once again going to have to worry about heating their homes and how far they drive is going to come down to one country.

"Its really going to come down to whether Saudi Arabia wants to cut production, because they're the ones that can afford to cut production," Gault said. "A lot of times the different members of OPEC wind up cheating on their quotas."

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Petro-Authoritarian

Some more very interesting information on not only Russia, but also Venezuela, and Iran.

From NY Times:

As the price of oil roared to ever higher levels in recent years, the leaders of Venezuela, Iran and Russia muscled their way onto the world stage, using checkbook diplomacy and, on occasion, intimidation.

Now, plummeting oil prices are raising questions about whether the countries can sustain their spending — and their bids to challenge United States hegemony.

For all three nations, oil money was a means to an ideological end.

President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela used it to jump-start a socialist-inspired revolution in his country and to back a cadre of like-minded leaders in Latin America who were intent on eroding once-dominant American influence.

Iran extended its influence across the Middle East, promoted itself as the leader of the Islamic world and used its petrodollars to help defy the West’s efforts to block its nuclear program.

Russia, which suffered a humiliating economic collapse in the 1990s after the fall of communism, recaptured some of its former standing in the world. It began rebuilding its military, wrested control of oil and gas pipelines and pushed back against Western encroachment in the former Soviet empire.

But such ambitions are harder to finance when oil is at $74.25 a barrel, its closing price Monday in New York, than when it is at $147, its price as recently as three months ago.

That is not to say that any of the countries is facing immediate economic disaster or will abandon long-held political goals. And the price of oil, still double what was considered high just a few years ago, could always shoot back up.

Still, Russia, Iran and Venezuela have all based their spending on oil prices they thought were conservative but are now close to the market level. Significant further drops could tip the three countries into deficit spending or at least force them to choose among priorities. A worldwide recession, which many economists say is likely, would worsen matters, dampening energy demand and holding down prices.

It is not clear whether the new pressures could create opportunities for the United States to ease tensions, or whether the three countries’ leaders will rely more on angry words even if they cannot afford provocative actions. Mr. Chávez has continued his overtures to Russia. He, Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran may now see the United States, hobbled by financial crisis, as even more vulnerable.

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More on Russia

Interesting Opinion Piece on Russia and Ukraine. After what happened this summer....It bears very close watching. The amount of oil and natural gas in the region to include Georgia and Azerbaijan exacerbates the situation.

From Ithaca Journal:

Without question the next tempting dish for Russia is Ukraine.

However, unlike its “over the top” military actions in Georgia, Russia's advances toward Ukraine, so far, have been both subtle and enticing.

In the grand scheme of things Ukraine has always been more important to Russia than Georgia. Georgia was an irritant to the Russians, with a president who even made it more so. However, Georgia was never of major strategic importance.

Ukraine on the other hand is of enormous strategic value to Russia. The Ukrainian port city of Sebastopol is home to Russia's Black Sea naval fleet, where some 50 Russian ships and 80 aircraft are stationed. Also, rather embarrassingly, Russia has been forced to rent the space for its Black Sea naval base from Ukraine. Certainly, it is always nicer to be your own landlord.

Also, whereas Georgia was an easy-to-conquer nation of five million, Ukraine has a population of 47 million. To humble a nation of this size would clearly fit nicely into the restorative Soviet dreams of Russia's true leader, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Putin has not been idle. Consistent with Russia's new velvet glove offensive, he recently held a cordial meeting in Moscow with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. This in turn was followed by a late night chat with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The fiery Tymoshenko is an important person for Russia to entertain and to woo. She was the co-leader, with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, of Ukraine's historic “Orange Revolution” in 2004. As the world watched, this event dramatically replaced a Russian-leaning government with a Western-style democracy.

Tymoshenko and Yushchenko now, however, are bitter enemies. The split between the two became evident when the prime minister declined to accompany the president to Georgia while the war was raging. Rather she stayed home, calling simply for a cessation to the hostilities.

Also, whereas President Yushchenko has been strident in calling for Ukraine to become a member of NATO, Prime Minister Tymoshenko has been far more muted in favoring such a step. Her position reflects a recent poll, reported in the UK Times, that found that Ukrainians by a margin of three to one did not wish to join the military alliance. On the other hand Ukrainians do want to join the European Union to take advantage of the benefits that this 27-nation trade alliance could provide.

Greatly acerbating the split between the two leaders, in September Prime Minister Tymoshenko successfully sponsored a measure in the Ukrainian parliament that diluted the powers of Yushchenko's presidency. She pulled this off by enlisting the support of the parliamentary group that represents the Russian speakers in the country. This pro-Moscow group is one of the three major voting blocs in the parliament. The other two are those members loyal to the president and those loyal to the prime minister.

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Today's News Update 21 October 2008

Update as of 0800 Eastern Time:

Bottom Line Up Front:
1. Iraq
2. Afghanistan
3. US / Russia

From Fox News (Iraq):

Iraq's Cabinet on Tuesday reviewed a proposed security pact with the United States as key officials expressed doubt that parliament would ratify the agreement before next month's U.S. presidential election.

Opposition is growing to the deal, which would keep American troops in the country for at least three more years, after texts of the draft agreement were circulated last week.

Parliament must approve the agreement before the U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year, after which there would be no legal basis for the U.S.-led military mission.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wants his coalition Cabinet to sign off before sending it to parliament. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said no decision was expected Tuesday.

On Sunday, al-Maliki's own Shiite coalition expressed reservations about the agreement and called for unspecified changes to the draft agreement, hammered out after months of intensive negotiations.

The agreement would call for U.S. troops to leave the cities by the end of June and withdraw from the country by Dec. 31, 2011, unless the government asked them to stay. The agreement would also provide limited Iraqi jurisdiction over soldiers and contractors accused of major, premeditated crimes committed off post and off duty.

Al-Maliki aide Sami al-Askari said several members of the Shiite coalition wanted to remove language allowing the government to ask U.S. forces to stay beyond the end of 2011 and wanted clarification of some parts of the jurisdiction clause.

On Tuesday, the chairman of parliament's foreign affairs committee, Shiite cleric Humam Hmoudi, told reporters that there was broad agreement that parts of the draft needed changing.

"What they (the Americans) gave by their right hand, they took it away by the left," Hmoudi said. "They brought new conditions and limits such as in the article about leaving the cities. They are still agreed to leave by next June but added that this will be connected to the security situation on the ground."

From CNN (Afghanistan):

Aid agencies say they will review their presence and security arrangements in Afghanistan after the killing of a foreign relief worker.

Gayle Williams, 34, who had dual British and South African nationality, was shot dead on Monday by gunmen on a motorbike in Kabul.

She worked for SERVE Afghanistan (Serving Emergency Relief and Vocational Enterprise), an inter-denominational Christian charity that helps the disabled, the organization's chairman said in a statement.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the death, saying on its Web site it killed the "foreign woman" for preaching Christianity in the country, adding that it had been following the woman for some time.

Relief charities in Afghanistan, who said in August that attacks on aid workers were forcing them to scale back relief work, said Tuesday that they would look again at increasing protection.

Matt Wilson, deputy program director at War Child, warned that if the situation became more dangerous, then the charity may withdraw its team.

"We are monitoring the situation, and are reviewing whether they need to be in Kabul," he told the UK's Press Association.

"If it became much worse, then we would look at pulling back to somewhere like Turkmenistan and continue our work."

Williams was shot in the western part of the city, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said, while walking to work. She died shortly after the attack, SERVE Afghanistan chairman Mike Lyth said.

From NY Times (US / Russia):

The United States and Russia on Tuesday sent their top military officers here for an unannounced meeting to seek common ground and to try to move bilateral relations back on track, American officials said.

The meeting was arranged with great secrecy and was the first time that Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had met his counterpart, Gen. Nikolai Makarov, since the Russian was appointed chief of the General Staff this summer.

The two spoke by telephone during the August crisis in which Russian military forces overran areas of the former Soviet republic of Georgia and threatened relations between Moscow and Washington.

American military officers said Tuesday’s session in Helsinki, a city with a rich legacy of hosting numerous Cold War-era negotiations, came at the request of the Russians.

“It is important that we have a dialogue with Russia and sustain a meaningful relationship,” said a senior American military officer.

The officer spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the meeting, held at the Königstedt Manor along the Vantaa River just outside Helsinki.

American officials said they anticipated that the war in Georgia would be high on the list of issues to be discussed.

But other topics also have bruised bilateral relations. The recent agreements with Poland and the Czech Republic to host American missile defense sites have brought outrage from the Kremlin despite repeated statements from the United States that the modest system of radars and 10 interceptors poses no threat to the vast Russian nuclear arsenal.

Senior military officers said that the Russians would be reminded that the missile defense system in Europe was being designed to counter a potential threat from Iran, and that Russian territory falls well within the range of Iranian missiles.

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Today's News Update 20 October 08 Part Two

Update as of 1230 Eastern Time:

I know this has not been in our news stories here in the United States for the past few weeks, but it's still ongoing. This issue is far from over with.

From Bloomberg (Russia / Georgia):

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said Russia has failed to meet its obligations under a European Union-brokered cease-fire that ended a five-day war with Georgia in August.

``The cease-fire accord negotiated by Sarkozy requires Russian armed forces to withdraw to their positions before the outbreak of hostilities,'' Fried told reporters today in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. ``The Russians haven't done so. They're in compliance with some of it,'' he said, referring to the cease-fire.

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, which holds the rotating EU presidency, brokered the cease-fire that ended Russia's five-day war with Georgia over the separatist region of South Ossetia. Russia later recognized the independence of South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, from Georgia, a move condemned by the U.S. and many European countries.

Fried echoed comments made by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner during a trip to Georgia on Oct. 10. President Dmitry Medvedev said the same day that Russia had done everything required of it. ``We have met all the obligations we accepted in the first document, the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan, and the second document, which was agreed on not long ago in Moscow,'' he said.

The original cease-fire required Russian forces to return to their pre-conflict positions. Russia sent about 10,000 soldiers into Georgia during the fighting, according to state- run news service

Under a subsequent deal reached by Medvedev and Sarkozy, Russia agreed to withdraw its forces from ``Georgian territory outside South Ossetia and Abkhazia,'' Sarkozy said on Sept. 8. He said the agreement was ``the maximum we could get.''

Fried visited the central Georgian city of Gori, though he wasn't allowed to enter the disputed town of Akhalgori, located inside South Ossetia. The situation in this area is ``far from satisfactory,'' he said. Georgia insists that Russian troops must relinquish control of the town.

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Boston Red Sox

Yes, we lost last night. Most on ESPN and CNN are talking about how great the Rays were. I can't take anything away from the Rays either, they played a great game, and I hope they win it all. But, my hat is off to you Boston. You had a great regular season. You played a great Division Series, and you played a great Pennant. You never stopped fighting, and you fought to the very last out. You came back from a 3-1 deficit, and missed by one or two hits winning it. As always, you guys make me proud to be a Red Sox Fan. Have a great off season, you deserve it; and lets come back next year and win it all again.

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Today's News Update 20 October 2008

Update as of 0800 Eastern Time:

Bottom Line Up Front:
1. Economy
2. Iraq
3. Afghanistan

From Fox News (Economy):

Like several times in the past month, U.S. stock markets are taking their Monday trading cues from overseas – as European governments backed yet another financial institution combined with two moves by Asian governments overnight.

In the U.S., investors will have another slurry of earnings reports to work through combined with testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at 10 a.m. EST in front of the House Budget Committee.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 171 points to 8941 as of 8:15 a.m. in New York. The S&P 500 futures, a better gauge of the broader market, were up 21.40 points to 954.70 while the Nasdaq 100 futures gained 29.50points to 1340.25. Fair value for the Dow futures is around -90 points, which would make the Dow open up +80 at the 9:30 a.m. opening.

Early Monday morning The Netherlands' government injected 10 billion Euros, or $13.4 billion, into insurance and banking giant ING Groep(ING: 10.65, -4.05, -27.55%) on Monday. It sent shares of the bank up more than 30% in Amsterdam trading.

The injection is to help increase ING’s tier-one capital ratio, a common indicator of a bank’s health and liquidity, to 8%.

ING said last week that it expected to post a loss of 500 million Euros when it formally announces earnings next month. It would also write down about 1.6 billion Euros-worth of investments as well, the company said.

ING is one of Europe’s largest financial firms and is commonly known in the U.S. for its high-yield online savings accounts and insurance products. The $13.4 billion injection is part of a larger liquidity plan created by The Netherlands after that country had to nationalize the financial firm Fortis. Shares of ING are down more than 70% this year alone.

The announcement helped push European markets broadly higher. London's benchmark index was up 2.14% while Germany's stocks rose 1.4%.

From CNN (Iraq):

U.S. troops or contractors who commit "major and premeditated murders" in Iraq while off-duty and outside U.S. facilities would fall under Iraqi jurisdiction, according to a copy of a draft U.S.-Iraq agreement obtained by CNN.

All other crimes -- including murders committed inside U.S. facilities or by on-duty forces -- would fall under American jurisdiction, according to the draft, which would govern U.S. troops' presence in Iraq.

The issue of whether U.S. troops would remain immune from Iraqi prosecution has been a sticky one for negotiators crafting the Status of Forces Agreement draft, which Iraqi lawmakers are reviewing. The United States had preferred its troops and contractors retain immunity.

The draft also calls for U.S. troops to be out of Iraqi cities by July 30, 2009, and out of the country entirely by December 31, 2011. The agreement allows for an earlier withdrawal or an extension of the U.S. forces' stay in Iraq, by agreement of both parties.

It also allows the Iraqi government to "request from the United States government to leave certain forces for training and for support purposes for the Iraqi forces."

The governments have been trying to get a deal before December 31, when a U.N. mandate authorizing the U.S. troop presence in Iraq expires.

Iraq's ruling Shiite parliamentary bloc said Sunday it needs more time before it can approve the draft

From CNN (Afghanistan):

Gunmen on a motorbike fatally shot a foreign aid worker Monday who was on her way to work in Kabul, the Afghan Interior Ministry said.

There were conflicting reports about the aid worker's nationality.

The British Foreign Office identified the woman as a British citizen named Gayle Williams. The Afghan Interior Ministry said she was South African.

The South African Department of Foreign Affairs said it was trying to confirm the report. The country does not have a presence in Afghanistan and was working through its mission in Islamabad, Pakistan.

The woman worked for SERVE (Serving Emergency Relief and Vocational Enterprise), an inter-denominational Christian charity that helps the disabled, Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary.

She was shot in the western part of the city, Bashary said.

SERVE says it employs 23 expatriates and 450 Afghans in the country.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the death, saying on its Web site that it killed the "foreign woman" for preaching Christianity in the country.

The Taliban added that its members had been following the woman for some time.

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Today's News Update 17 October 2008

Update as of 0800 Eastern Time:

Bottom Line Up Front:
1. Boston Red Sox: Never stop believing Red Sox Nation!
2. Economy
3. Afghanistan

From ESPN (Boston):

The Boston Red Sox have pulled off this type of baseball miracle before, thanks to Dave Roberts' legs and Bill Mueller's bat and David Ortiz's power and heart. They've done it against the likes of Mariano Rivera and CC Sabathia. So when they found themselves trailing 7-0 in the seventh inning against Tampa Bay with the season about to expire, they had a wellspring of positive experiences to tap into.


As catcher Jason Varitek so aptly put it, "You can't take away belief."

So here are a few things to believe after Boston pulled off the second biggest postseason comeback in major league history:

You finish off defending champions when you have a foot on their throat, because hope leads to momentum, and momentum becomes contagious in the dugout, and who knows what can happen when a team starts grinding out a few marathon at-bats?

When some Boston diehards joked that the Red Sox had the Rays right where they wanted them trailing 3-1 in the American League Championship Series, it might not have just been idle talk borne out of desperation.

Contrary to all logic, the ALCS will resume with a Game 6 Saturday night at Tropicana Field, when Tampa Bay's James Shields takes on Boston's Josh Beckett. If Game 5 is any indication, they might want to keep the defibrillators handy.

From CNN (Economy):

Wall Street braced for a lower start Friday as investors resumed a cautious stance ahead of the latest economic readings.

S&P, Nasdaq and Dow Jones futures - which indicate how markets will perform - were lower about 90 minutes before the opening bell, indicating a possible selloff at the open. But the futures were off their lowest levels of the morning.

Peter Cardillo, analyst for Avalon Partners, said he expects a negative open, but stocks have potential for recovery later in the session, given the direction that futures are headed in.

"During the course of the day, we should expect more volatility, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Dow added to its gains," said Cardillo.

That follows a volatile Thursday, which ended with Dow surging 401 points, driven by the lowest oil prices in more than a year, after having plunged as much as 380 points earlier in the day.

Economy: All eyes will be on the hard-hit housing market at 8:30 a.m. ET, when the Commerce Department was expected to release its September reports for housing starts and building permits.

Housing starts were expected to plunge to an annual rate of 870,000 residential units, according to a consensus of economists provided by the Briefing.com. That compared to an 895,000-unit rate in the prior month.

Building permits, or permits that are taken out to allow construction, were expected to fall to 840,000 in September, according to the economist consensus from Briefing.com. That compared to 854,000 permits in August

From Fox News (Afghanistan):

An Afghan policeman hurled a grenade and opened fire on a U.S. military foot patrol in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing an American soldier and raising fears that insurgents have infiltrated the police.

It was the second attack by a policeman on U.S. soldiers in eastern Afghanistan in less than a month.

The patrol was returning to a base in Bermel district of Paktika province when they were attacked by the policeman, who was standing on a tower, the military said. The soldiers returned fire, killing the officer.

Training of the police force and the Afghan national army are key elements in the U.S. strategy of dealing with a vicious Taliban-led insurgency that has spread in many parts of the country.

Militants in Afghanistan have in the past disguised themselves in police or army uniforms when attacking Afghan and foreign troops, but real policemen were responsible for the attacks Thursday and last month. Then, an officer opened fire at a Paktika police station, killing a soldier and wounding three before he was fatally shot.

The two provinces with similar names are both close to the lawless Pakistani border area and are the site of nearly daily clashes between insurgents and American troops.

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Today's News Update 16 October 2008

Update as of 0800 Eastern Time:

Bottom Line Up Front:
1. Presidential Debate
2. Pakistan and China
3. Azerbaijan

From Fox News (Debate):

The presidential candidates and their running mates are hitting the battleground states running Thursday, as Barack Obama tries to maintain his lead and John McCain tries to shake it following last night's final debate.

With fewer than three weeks to go until Election Day, McCain tried to recharge his campaign Wednesday with a volley of allegations directed at his rival's honesty, judgment and empathy for tax-burdened Americans.

Seated just a few feet from McCain, Obama calmly attempted to deflect every charge, accusing McCain of going negative in the final weeks of the campaign and distorting the facts about his past associations and record.

McCain plans to build on his argument Thursday in Pennsylvania, while his running mate Sarah Palin hits Maine and North Carolina. Obama starts his day in New Hampshire.

Reviews of the debate were mixed. McCain was widely seen as the aggressor, but it was unclear whether that was enough to change up the race.

Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor and McCain's former GOP primary rival, told FOX News he expects the momentum to shift, and that McCain will see a "slow but sure increase" in the polls.

But conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer said, "(The debate) was a dead draw, which means Obama won resoundingly."

He said Obama was "remarkably unruffled" by McCain's steady jabs at the debate.

The debate Wednesday was far more combative than the previous two -- likely a reflection of the fact it was a key opportunity for McCain to halt Obama's growing momentum in the polls.

But although the recent economic turmoil seems to have hurt McCain's standing, the Republican nominee used the intimate format Wednesday to challenge Obama's economic ideas directly and rebut the Democratic campaign's central argument, that McCain stands for four more years of Bush administration policies.

"Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you want to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago," McCain said.

But Obama responded: "If I've occasionally mistaken your policies for George Bush's policies, it's because on the core economic issues that matter to the American people -- on tax policy, on energy policy, on spending priorities -- you have been a vigorous supporter of President Bush."

Obama stuck with the argument, saying in his closing statement that the "biggest risk" American voters could take is adopting the "same failed policies and the same failed politics" of the last eight years.

Both candidates accused each other of turning negative in the closing weeks of the campaign, and of allowing harsh and offensive comments from supporters to go unchallenged.

McCain complained Obama was giving Democratic Georgia Rep. John Lewis a pass after Lewis over the weekend suggested McCain was fostering a climate of intolerance similar to that stoked by segregationist George Wallace.

"That to me was so hurtful, and Senator Obama, you didn't repudiate those remarks," McCain said, calling segregation the "worst chapter in American history."

Obama said it was inappropriate for Lewis to draw that comparison but said the congressman was not prompted by the Obama campaign. And he accused McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, of permitting audience members to shout things like "terrorist" and "kill him" at their rallies.

From CNN (Debate):

Sen. John McCain played offense against Sen. Barack Obama during much of the final presidential debate as he challenged his rival on his policies, judgment and character.

Obama said he is the candidate who can bring "fundamental change" to the country and continued to try to link McCain to President Bush.

In one of the more forceful moments of the debate, McCain turned to Obama and said, "I am not President Bush."

"If you want to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago. I'm going to give a new direction to this economy and this country," the Arizona senator said.

McCain aides said they had been working on him to be more explicit in drawing a distinction between himself and Bush.

With less than three weeks before the election, it was one of several jabs McCain took at his opponent, who is leading the race in most national polls and has an 8-point lead in CNN's average of national polls.

A CNN/Opinion Research poll of people who watched the debate found 58 percent said Obama did the best job while 31 percent said McCain did

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, and the sample of debate-watchers in the poll were 40 percent Democratic and 30 percent Republican.

McCain touted what he called his "long record of reform" and said to Obama: "You have to tell me one time when you have stood up with the leaders of your party on one single major issue."

Obama said he has a "history of reaching across the aisle" and pointed to his support for charter schools, pay for performance for teachers and clean coal technology

From CNN (Pakistan and China):

Pakistan's president was set to meet with China's premier Thursday, a day after clinching agreements boosting Chinese involvement in his country's ailing economy.

Asif Ali Zardari was also scheduled to hold talks with top legislator Wu Bangguo and other senior Chinese leaders, along with major figures in finance, infrastructure, energy and telecommunications.

On Wednesday, Zardari met with President Hu Jintao and highlighted the historic friendship between his country and China. Such ties loom ever larger, as Pakistan seeks assistance in alleviating an economic crisis brought on by higher food and energy prices.

Agreements signed between the sides included deals on economic and technical cooperation, minerals, environmental protection, agricultural research, and electricity.

Specifics on the deals were not immediately available. But the state-run China Daily newspaper said Thursday one of the agreements was for China to launch a telecommunications satellite for Pakistan in the first half of 2011 from a launch center in Sichuan, in China's southwest.

A possible deal between the countries on civilian nuclear power was not mentioned. Such an agreement would have served as a counterpoint to a recent deal between India and the United States that cleared the way for American businesses to sell nuclear fuel and technology to India for use in its civilian programs.

Ties between Pakistan and China have long been founded on mutual suspicion of joint neighbor India, against which both have fought bloody border wars.

From CNN (Azerbaijan):

The president of oil-rich Azerbaijan has been re-elected to a second five-year term by landslide, according to early official returns released Thursday.

With 70 percent of precincts counted, Ilham Aliyev won 89.04 percent of Wednesday's vote, Central Election Commission chief Mazahir Panahov said.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which sent more than 400 election observers, has criticized the government for election campaign irregularities, including a ban on public opposition meetings and apparent efforts to coerce students and government workers into attending pro-Aliyev rallies.

Aliyev, who has led the oil-rich Caspian nation since 2003 succeeding his late father, faced six opponents in Wednesday's vote, none of whom was considered a true challenge. Aliyev's rivals rushed to congratulate him on the victory after the early returns were announced.

"These elections have opened a new stage in the country's development and open a new chapter in relations between the government and the opposition," said one of them, Iqbal Aga-Zade.

The top five opposition parties all boycotted the ballot, claiming official fraud and pointing at a history of closing independent media and imprisoning opposition figures.

But despite the lack of suspense, the mood in the capital was buoyant, in marked contrast to the violence that marred the aftermath of the 2003 presidential elections.

Hundreds of the president's jubilant supporters streamed into the streets shortly after polls closed at 7 p.m. local time Wednesday and celebrated his victory late into the night. Caravans of cars flying Azeri flags and bearing portraits of the president clogged traffic near the boardwalk along the Caspian Sea.

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