IRAQ -- LUGAR AND HAGEL POUND BUSH INCOMPETENCE: Senior senators from President
Bush's own party continue to pound the White House for the slow pace of
reconstruction in Iraq. Among those harshly criticizing the White House at a
hearing Tuesday were the two top Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee: Chairman Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE). Of the $18.4
billion Congress approved last year for Iraqi reconstruction, only $1.14 billion
has been spent because of violence, corruption and bureaucracy:
(http://www.csis.org/isp/pcr/iraq_funds.pdf) Hagel called that record ' beyond
pitiful and embarrassing; it is now in the zone of dangerous
(http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002037010_senateiraq16.html)
.'" Lugar, "not usually given to strong rhetoric, said the failure to inject
funds into the Iraqi economy quickly was 'exasperating for anybody looking at
this from any vantage point.'"
EDUCATION -- LYNNE CHENEY DECIDES HISTORY CURRICULUM FOR KIDS: Lynne Cheney has
won a battle to ensure booklets designed for parents to help their children
learn history emphasize "American achievements" to her satisfaction. According
to the LA Times, upon Cheney's request, "The Education Department this summer
destroyed more than 300,000 copies" of the booklets, after Cheney complained
they included references to the National Standards for History, which she has
long opposed. The National Standards for History were created in the mid-1990s
by scholars and educators to help school officials design better history
courses. But, at the time, Ms. Cheney "led a vociferous campaign complaining
that the standards were not positive enough about America's achievements
(http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-history8oct08,1,993774.story?coll=la-home-headlines)
and paid too little attention to figures such as Gen. Robert E. Lee, Paul Revere
and Thomas Edison." Retired UCLA professor Gary Nash, who helped develop the
standards, said destroying the booklets was "a pretty god-awful example of
spending the taxpayers' money and also a pretty god-awful example of
interference — intellectual interference."
HOMELAND SECURITY -- CYBERSECURITY CHIEF RESIGNS...AGAIN: Computer Weekly
reports the head of cybersecurity efforts at the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security (DHS), Amit Yoran, has resigned
(http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=133941&liArticleTypeID=1&liCategoryID=2&liChannelID=28&liFlavourID=1&sSearch=&nPage=1)
"because of a lack of priority for cybersecurity within DHS." He was reportedly
so upset with the lack of attention the area was receiving from the Bush
administration that he gave just one day's notice. The resignation is especially
troubling given new reports that al Qaeda and other terrorists, denied their
home base in Afghanistan, are increasingly dependent on the Internet
(http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1007/dailyUpdate.html) . The Taipei Times reports
that al Qaeda has a " virtual university
(http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/10/06/2003205773) " that
teaches "electronic jihad." Yoran is the second U.S. cybersecurity czar to
resign in less than two years over frustration with the Bush administration's
lack of support. "In January 2003, White House cybersecurity czar Richard Clarke
resigned, citing frustration with the Bush administration's lack of progress in
cybersecurity."
LIBYA -- THE PROFITS OF DISARMAMENT: As in Iraq, Halliburton is leading the pack
of U.S. oil companies profiting handsomely from disarmament in Libya. Petroleum
World reports, with national leader Moammar Gadhafi dramatically boosting oil
production, " Which U.S. oil services giant corporation looks best placed to
reap the bonanza? None other than Halliburton
(http://www.petroleumworld.com/issues703.htm) ... Halliburton, formerly helmed
by Vice President Dick Cheney, has quietly held prime position in Tripoli all
along. Even in the days of the U.S. embargo on Libya, they maintained their
presence there operating through their German subsidiary." Cheney not only did
business with Libya (http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040216fa_fact)
while it was on the U.S. terror watch list, he lobbied for the U.S. to lift the
anti-terror sanctions
(http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=8498)
which prevented him from doing even more business. He called the sanctions,
which were largely responsible for Gadhafi's decision to let inspectors back in
(http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20031222_394.html) , "ineffective...a bad
policy." |
