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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (416402)	6/18/2003 4:52:58 PM
From: jlallen	Respond to of 769670

Nice work...... 'Ace of Diamonds' Captured in Iraq Wednesday, June 18, 2003 WASHINGTON — The No. 3 man in Saddam Hussein's deposed government has been captured in Iraq, U.S. officials confirmed Wednesday. Gen. Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti (search), the Ace of Diamonds in U.S. Central Command's (search) deck of cards, was taken into custody, Pentagon officials said. Mahmud, Saddam's personal secretary, national security adviser and senior bodyguard, was No. 3 in the Iraqi government, behind Saddam and his younger son Qusai. He was No. 4 on Central Command's 55-most-wanted list, behind Saddam, Qusai and Saddam's older son Odai. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mahmud controlled access to Saddam and was one of the few people the former dictator was said to have trusted completely. Intelligence reports indicated that Mahmud managed access to Saddam by diplomats, media and even doctors, a U.S. defense official said. Only Saddam's sons could see the Iraqi president without going through Mahmud, the official said. Qusai, in particular, avoided befriending Mahmud so Saddam would not think they were conspiring against him, the official said. U.S. officials told Fox News that the catch is "very significant" because Mahmud, a distant cousin of Saddam, was in Saddam's inner circle. Mahmud may have information on the fate of Saddam and his sons, and he is thought to have details of Iraq's alleged weapons programs, since he officially had a say in when and where weapons of mass destruction were released. U.S. officials have said they want to try Mahmud for war crimes or crimes against humanity for activities associated with his senior position in the Iraqi regime. In the 1990s, Mahmud was put in charge of several security portfolios, including responsibility over places Iraq has been accused of hiding weapons programs. He started his career as a non-commissioned officer in Saddam's bodyguard, eventually being promoted to lieutenant general. It is unclear whether Mahmud's capture was related to U.S. raids near Saddam's hometown of Tikrit. American troops raided two farmhouses and found $8.5 million in American cash, 300 million to 400 million Iraqi dinars and an undetermined amount of British pounds and Euros, said Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of the Army's 4th Infantry Division (search). The troops also found more than $1 million worth of gems and jewels, he said. The troops captured one of Saddam's bodyguards and up to 50 other people believed to be tied to Saddam's security or intelligence forces or paramilitary groups, Odierno told Pentagon reporters in a video news conference from his headquarters in Tikrit. The troops also found Russian-made night-vision goggles and other military equipment, as well as various Saddam paraphernalia. Odierno said he did not know whether the cash was intended to pay bounties for attacks on American troops or to provide the Saddam loyalists with luxuries while they were in hiding. Fox News' Bret Baier and the Associated Press contributed to this report. foxnews.com

To: tejek who wrote (416402)	6/18/2003 5:18:01 PM
From: PROLIFE	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Times ignored scandals to interview Clinton? Ex-adviser says N.Y. paper's editor pulled coverage to get exclusive Posted: June 18, 2003 © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com The New York Times virtually ignored Bill Clinton's Arkansas scandals in exchange for an exclusive interview with the president during the 1996 election campaign, according to former presidential adviser Dick Morris. New York Times Executive Editor Joseph Lelyveld The implied commitment to pull coverage of the scandals came directly from the paper's new executive editor, Joseph Lelyveld, who held that position prior to Howell Raines, Morris says in a column today in the New York Post. Raines, accused by some critics of moving the paper further to the political left, resigned earlier this month in the wake of a devastating scandal in which reporter Jayson Blair was found to have falsified and plagiarized dozens of stories despite repeated warnings about his work. But Morris insists with Lelyveld's return, Times readers should expect more of the same. "Anyone who thinks that Howell Raines' resignation will restore editorial balance to the New York Times is in for a sad disappointment," Morris writes. In his newly released book, "Off with Their Heads: Traitors, Crooks and Obstructionists in American Politics, Media and Business," Morris said Lelyveld came to him for help after failing for many months to land an exclusive interview with President Clinton. When Morris spoke of Clinton's sensitivity to criticism from the Times, Lelyveld's "sunny face" turned to a worried frown. Morris says Lelyveld then assured him with sotto voice: "You know, we don't think that the public cares about what happened back in Arkansas." Indeed, writes Morris, "in the two months before Election Day '96, the Times ran no stories on its front page about Paula Jones, the Rose Law Firm, Hillary's billing records and only lightly covered Whitewater." The next day, Morris says, he informed Clinton of the conversation. The president was skeptical, but "somehow the interview got granted." 'Obedient' reporter The reporter assigned to the interview called Morris, asking if he could meet for a chat before talking to Clinton. "After some light chatter over drinks, he began, casually, to tell me the questions he was going to ask," Morris says. "'I'll ask him what are his proudest achievements, what he's most ashamed of, why he thought he lost the Congress [in the 1994 elections], what he proposed to do about Bosnia . . .'" Dick Morris Morris says he couldn't believe his luck -- "a reporter briefing a presidential aide on the questions he was preparing to ask the president." "Pushing my luck," he says, "I prompted him: "Why don't you ask him about . . . " Morris says his "obedient reporter/friend" responded, "Good idea" and jotted down notes. The briefing of the president before the interview was easy, Morris says. Clinton wondered: "What if he asks about Whitewater?" "He won't," Morris assured him. "He's told me exactly what he's going to ask." worldnetdaily.com