Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (242800)	3/19/2008 2:52:36 PM
From: FJB	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 794050

Obama mocks McCain, Clinton on Iraq by Mike Dorning weblogs.chicagotribune.com FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Sen. Barack Obama mocked rivals Sen. John McCain and Sen. Hillary Clinton as he delivered a speech here today highlighting his early opposition to the Iraq war on the fifth anniversary of the conflict’s start. Speaking at a community college near Fort Bragg, home of the 82nd Airborne Division and the Army Special Operations Command, the Illinois Democrat honed in on McCain’s mix-up in the Middle East yesterday in which the Arizona senator said that Iran was providing support to Al Qaeda in Iraq, one of the Sunni insurgent groups there. In fact, U.S. intelligence agencies believe Iran is providing assistance to Shia militias, which are struggling against Sunni insurgent groups including Al Qaeda in Iraq. “Just yesterday, we heard Senator McCain (R-Ariz.) confuse Sunni and Shia, Iran and al Qaeda,” Obama said. “Maybe that is why he voted to go to war with a country that had no Al Qaeda ties. Maybe that is why he completely fails to understand that the war in Iraq has done more to embolden America’s enemies than any strategic choice that we have made in decades.” Likewise, Obama targeted McCain’s frequent promise that as president he would follow Osama bin Laden “to the gates of Hell,” arguing that the promise is meaningless given McCain’s focus on the conflict in Iraq rather than devoting greater military resources to Afghanistan along the Pakistani border where bin Laden is believed to be hiding. “We have a security gap when candidates say they will follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of Hell, but refuse to follow him where he actually goes,” Obama said. Without naming Clinton, he suggested that her decision in 2002 to vote in favor of authorizing the war in Iraq was governed more by polls than by hard evidence. (Obama on the anniversary of war. Photo by Brad Coville/AFP/Getty Images) “There were too many politicians in Washington who spent too little time reading the intelligence reports, and too much time reading public opinion,” Obama said. Clinton (D-N.Y.) has acknowledged that she, like most members of Congress, did not read the full National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq made available to Congress before the war vote. At the time, polls showed strong public support for war. Noting that the war in Iraq now has lasted longer than either of the World Wars or the American Civil War, Obama argued that the Iraq War in addition to the lives lost and treasure spent has opened a “security gap” for the United States by weakening its strategic position. “There is a security gap in this country – a gap between the rhetoric of those who claim to be tough on national security, and the reality of growing insecurity caused by their decisions,” Obama said. “The war in Iraq has emboldened Iran, which poses the greatest challenge to American interests in the Middle East in a generation, continuing its nuclear program and threatening our ally, Israel,” he added. “Instead of the new Middle East we were promised, Hamas runs Gaza, Hizbollah flags fly from the rooftops in Sadr City, and Iran is handing out money left and right in southern Lebanon.” But the crux of Obama’s case was the familiar argument he has made throughout the campaign that his judgment in opposing the war from the start leaves him best-suited to bring the U.S. intervention to an end and make a “clean break” with the Bush Administration’s foreign policies. “Since before this war in Iraq began, I have made different judgments, I have a different vision, and I will offer a clean break from the failed policies and politics of the past,” Obama said. “Ask yourself,” he added, contrasting his record with Clinton’s record, “Who do you trust to end a war – someone who opposed the war from the beginning, or someone who started opposing it when they started preparing a run for President?”

To: LindyBill who wrote (242800)	3/19/2008 2:53:38 PM
From: FJB	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 794050

Man dies after police use stun gun Tribune staff report 1:48 PM CDT, March 19, 2008 By Jeremy Gorner Tribune reporter A man died Tuesday night after Chicago police shocked him with a Taser stun gun because he was combative during an arrest on the West Side, authorities said Wednesday morning. Police sources say the man was on drugs and "acting suspiciously," walking away from police near the 2600 block of South Trumbull Avenue in the South Lawndale neighborhood. When police tried to stop him, he was combative, and was sprayed with a chemical spray and shocked with the gun, sources said. Officer John Henry said the man "was Tasered on the West Side after resisting arrest, and becoming combative and violent while being taken into custody." Roberto Gonzales, whom the Cook County medical examiner's office said was 24, but police and neighbors said was 37, was pronounced dead at 8:15 p.m. in Mt. Sinai Hospital. The man has a criminal history and was a known gang member, police sources said. Ilana Rosenzweig, chief of the Independent Police Review Authority, an agency that probes possible misconduct of Chicago police officers, said the agency was notified of the incident Tuesday night and was identifying witnesses. "We will not be able to complete our investigation until we get a complete autopsy report," Rosenzweig said. An autopsy for Gonzales is scheduled for later Wednesday. The Taser used was one of the department's newer models, equipped with a camera that allows the incident to be videotaped. Investigators will be reviewing that tape, said Monique Bond, spokeswoman for the Chicago Police Department. chicagotribune.com