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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TideGlider who wrote (66488)	6/9/2009 2:46:42 PM
From: Oral Roberts	3 Recommendations Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 224713

Folks like Kenneth don't get the big picture. Warm in the UK doesn't mean global warming any more then cold in WI means global cooling. NASA however is proving rather conclusively that man caused global warming is a farce. People like Kenneth look at the cooling data and then scream we must pass cap and trade or we will all die. It's really quite curious actually.

To: TideGlider who wrote (66488)	6/9/2009 3:38:05 PM
From: lorne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224713

US frees Iraqi accused in 5 soldier deaths Jun 9 By KIM GAMEL Associated Press Writer breitbart.com BAGHDAD (AP) - The U.S. military has released a Shiite militant accused of being involved in one of the most brazen attacks of the war that killed five American soldiers in 2007, the Iraqi government said Tuesday. Laith al-Khazali's release comes amid reports of negotiations with his militia group to free at least one of five British hostages who were seized in a separate attack. But government officials insisted the release was just part of national reconciliation efforts. Al-Khazali and his brother Qais, who were both detained in March 2007, are accused of organizing a bold raid on a local government headquarters in Karbala in which the attackers were disguised as U.S. soldiers and killed five Americans on Jan. 20, 2007. The brothers are leading members Asaib al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, which is allegedly backed by Iran. Danny Chism, who lost his son, Spc. Johnathan Bryan Chism, in the attack, expressed shock that al-Khazali was released without a trial. "Somebody needs to answer for it," the Donaldsonville, Louisiana man said. The Iraqi government said al-Khazali was freed Sunday after he was handed over to them by the U.S. military but insisted the release was not part of the hostage negotiations. "His release is part of the national reconciliation effort," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said. "We are not part of these negotiations but we do support the release of the hostages." The U.S. military has been releasing detainees or transferring them to Iraqi custody as part of a security pact that took effect on Jan. 1. Al-Khazali's release takes on added significance because it follows reports of an agreement that one of five British hostages would be freed in exchange for the release of 10 members of Asaib Ahl al-Haq. The U.S. military believes the extremist network is one of the main so-called Iranian-backed "special groups" that have refused to adhere to a cease-fire called by al-Sadr. The other is Kataib Hezbollah or Brigades of the Party of God. Iran's government denies having any links to Shiite extremists in Iraq, but American officials believe the two groups are controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Brigade, which trains Shiite militants from various Middle Eastern countries. In Washington, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said the U.S. had already handed al-Khazali over to the Baghdad government and did not handle his final release. Lt. Col. Brian Maka, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, was quoted by The New York Times as saying Asaib al-Haq had pledged "an unconditional cease-fire." But he refused to comment on the statement when contacted by The Associated Press. A follower of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr also said that al-Khazali has returned home to Baghdad's mainly Shiite district of Sadr City. The Sadrist official spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to comment on the issue. The killings in Karbala were among the boldest attacks since the war began in 2003. Several gunmen speaking English, wearing U.S. military uniforms and carrying American weapons killed one American soldier during that attack, then carried off four captured soldiers and later shot them to death about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Karbala. The attackers traveled in black GMC Suburbans—the type of SUV used by U.S. government convoys. An initial statement by the U.S. military on the day of the raid said five soldiers were killed while "repelling" the attack on the compound in Karbala. But after an AP report, the military reversed itself and confirmed that four of the guards had been abducted before being slain in a neighboring province. The five Britons—a management consultant named Peter Moore and four of his security guards—also were seized by heavily armed men in police uniforms in May 2007 from the Finance Ministry. They were driven away toward Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Sadr City. In March, the widely read Saudi-owned news Web site Elaph quoted an Asaib Ahl al-Haq leader as saying one of the five Britons would be freed "very soon" in exchange for 10 of its members. If that exchange goes according to plan, the other hostages would be released in stages in exchange for the freedom of more detained Shiites, according to the report. The first group of detainees would include Laith al-Khazali, it said. The British Embassy received a new video showing one of the hostages, who was not identified, as recently as March. Moore, who worked for BearingPoint, a U.S.-based management consulting firm, also appeared in a video that was aired on the pan-Arab station Al-Arabiya in February. At that time, he called on British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to accede to the kidnappers' demand for a trade for Iraqi prisoners. "It's as simple as that," he could be heard saying. "It's a simple exchange of people." The attacks occurred during a period of intense sectarian bloodshed. Violence has tapered off but several high-profile bombings recently have raised concerns that militants are regrouping ahead of a June 30 deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from cities. A roadside bomb struck a U.S. patrol in the mainly Shiite southern city of Amarah on Tuesday, wounding two American soldiers, the military said. ___