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Biden Blasts Hillary, Obama, Edwards

Sen. Joe Biden, who is announcing his candidacy for president this week, has gone on the attack – not against President Bush and the Republicans, but against his rivals for the Democratic nomination.

In an interview with Jason Horowitz of the New York Observer, the Delaware Democrat didn’t mince words when discussing former Sen. John Edwards, who is also seeking the nomination.

"I don’t think John Edwards knows what the heck he is talking about,” Biden said, referring to Edwards’ call for the immediate withdrawal of about 40,000 U.S. troops from Iraq.

"John Edwards wants you and all the Democrats to think, ‘I want us out of there.’ But when you come back and you say . . . ‘what about the chaos that will ensue? Do we have any interest, John, left in the region? . . . How do you protect those interests, John, if you are completely withdrawn?’”

Biden called Sen. Hillary Clinton’s proposal to cap U.S. troops and threaten Iraqi leaders with cuts in funding "a very bad idea.”

Biden told the Observer: "The part of Hillary’s proposal, the part that really baffles me is, ‘We’re going to teach the Iraqis a lesson.’ We’re not going to equip them? O.K. Cap our troops and withdraw support from the Iraqis? That’s a real good idea."

The result, said Biden, would be "nothing but disaster.” Biden has himself opposed President Bush’s plan for a troop surge in Iraq.

He acknowledged that another Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, is "articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” But he didn’t stop there, saying he doubted that American voters would elect a "one-term, a guy who has served for four years in the Senate. I don’t recall hearing a word from Barack about a plan or a tactic.”

Obama, a first-term-senator, while calling him "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

Biden told reporters that he'd used the word "clean" to describe Obama as "fresh and new," and that the choice of words was not meant to disparage other black candidates who'd run for president in the past, such as civil rights leaders Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

Obama, Biden said, "is probably the most exciting candidate the Democratic or Republican parties have produced since I've been around. He's fresh, new, smart, insightful. Lightning in a jar."

An Obama spokesman responded that he "has articulated clear principles [on] how to address the tragic mistakes President Bush has made” in Iraq. The press offices for Clinton and Edwards had no comment.

Biden favors a plan – derided by many in the foreign policy establishment – to split Iraq into autonomous Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish regions.

Late Nite Jokes

Leno

Congress began hearings today on the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina. Today? They’re just investigating Hurricane Katrina now? You know, that’s pretty sad when the government’s investigation to the government’s slow response to Katrina is slower than the government’s response to Katrina.

Paris Hilton has filed a lawsuit demanding the closure of a Web site where visitors can pay money to view her naked photos of her. Which is pretty amazing — you know, that there are still people out there who haven’t seen Paris Hilton naked.

Michael Jackson’s brother Jermaine says that he wants Michael to convert to Islam. Islam? How about converting to the human race — try that first.

Conan

Michael Jackson in the news. Jermaine Jackson said on Monday he wants his brother Michael to convert to Islam. Michael said, "No thank you, I’ve already had 72 virgins.”

Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who plays Harry Potter is causing a controversy because he’s appearing completely nude in a play. Critics say it’s a bold move for Radcliffe — especially since the play is "Oklahoma.”

Lindsay Lohan had her appendix removed recently, and reportedly she was so worried it would be sold on eBay, she asked her doctor if she could take it with her. Unfortunately the doctor put the appendix in alcohol and Lindsay chugged it on the way home.

Ferguson

We crowned a new Miss America last night. Miss Oklahoma. It’s getting tougher at these beauty pageants now, because of recent events . . . you have to do well in the talent competition, the swimsuit competition, pass a sobriety test, a steroid test, you have to pass the gender test . . .

Happy birthday today to Vice President Dick Cheney. He is 66 today. It was an awkward moment at the party when the stripper jumped out of the cake and he shot her in the face.

The new Windows operating system is out today. It’s called Vista. That’s Spanish for "the view.” And it’s like the show "The View.” It’s like "The View” because the computer is part lesbian. There are lesbian computers! I’ve got a lesbian computer. I can’t turn it on.

Kimmel

Today was a big day for computer users around the world. Microsoft’s new operating system Windows Vista came out today. People lined up to buy it at midnight, partly because they want to be the first ones to check out the new features and partly just to hang out with other virgins.

Millions of copies are being sold, but Microsoft says don’t worry, every single person in India is standing by waiting by their phones to do tech support if needed.

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla paid a rare visit to the United States this weekend. They went to Harlem on Sunday. While he was there, believe it or not, he played basketball at a local school. I’ve been hoping the phrase "When Prince Charles plays basketball in Harlem,” would replace the phrase, "When hell freezes over,” but oh well.

'Cold, Aloof Persona' Hurts Hillary

Hillary Clinton’s lead in the polls in the race for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008 is "far more fragile” than commonly believed, according to respected political pundit Larry Sabato.

Sabato – director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia – acknowledges that it’s still too early to predict with any certainty who will win the Democratic nod.

But he writes in his "Crystal Ball”: "[Clinton’s] fairly consistent lead in the polls is far more fragile than most observers appear to realize. Democrats undeniably like and respect her, but they also sense that she will have a difficult time winning in November, absent an irresistible Democratic tide.

"Her cold, aloof persona, combined with the dozens of major controversies that have enveloped her since the 1980s, are off-putting to a significant slice of the electorate, including the critical independents and moderates who produced the 2006 Democratic victories . . .

"Do Democrats need to burden their campaign of restoration with Clinton scandals, old and new?”

Sabato also raises this question: "Should only two families supply all the U.S. Presidents between 1989 and 2017? This is the American Republic, not a banana republic.”

As for the two leading "non-Hillary” candidates, Sabato writes that Sen. Barack Obama "lacks broad experience” and "has never been tested,” while former Sen. John Edwards "has about as thin a record as Obama, and can be considered yesterday’s man.”

However, Sabato opines that if the war in Iraq is still being waged through 2008, and is "still as much of a policy disaster as it is at present, the Democrats will have to try hard in order to lose the presidential election.”

Late Nite Jokes

Leno

As you know, Hillary Clinton has decided to run for president. She’s thrown her hat into the ring. And then bill threw his ring into the drawer. Party! Party!

The knock against Hillary running for president is that she’s smart, but not electable. Or as political experts call that: a Democrat.

John Edwards, who is also running for president, is being criticized because the new house he just moved into is one of the biggest in North Carolina. It’s 28,000 square feet on 102 acres. See, Edwards became famous for talking about the two Americas. Now both of them can fit into his backyard.

According to the British Journal of Psychiatry, marijuana can cause panic attacks. I don’t know . . . The only time I have ever seen a marijuana user look panicky is when they are out of marijuana.

Conan

On a campaign trip yesterday Hillary Clinton suggested that she knows how to deal with evil and bad men because she had to put up with her husband which . . . explains why Hillary wants to look for bin Laden at the nearest Hooters.

Iran is getting more involved in Iraq. Officials in Iran say they are planning to open a branch of the Iranian national bank in Baghdad. That’s right. Anyone who opens a new account in the Baghdad branch will receive 72 virgins and a toaster.

This is weird. I saw a picture of this in the paper yesterday. Prince Charles was in town, and he went up to Harlem and played basketball. Spectators said it was the worst display of an obscenely rich non-athlete playing basketball since the Knicks game the night before night.

Police in Kentucky arrested a man who had over 80 lbs. of marijuana hidden in his tires. Police became suspicious when they saw [rapper] Snoop Dogg chasing the car for two miles.

Ferguson

We are going to Super Bowl this weekend! We are taking the whole show to South Florida or as some people would call it, North Cuba.

Everyone’s running for President! Hillary’s running, Obama’s running, McCain, Little Miss Sunshine — everybody! John Kerry announced he won’t run. And everybody went, "OK.”

The caffeinated doughnut! This is sensational! This is the greatest invention since Gold Bond Medicated Powder. This took years of research. Scientists finally stopped wasting their time curing disease to get something important done. Finally, you can be restless and overweight.

Speaker Pelosi Reaches Out to Bloggers

Shortly after her swearing-in as the first female House speaker, Rep. Nancy Pelosi took time to field questions from a few dozen Internet bloggers on a conference call that was off limits to mainstream media.

Last week, Pelosi's aides arranged for bloggers to question two Democratic House leaders on another conference call shortly before President Bush's State of the Union speech.

Pelosi also hired a full-time staff member this month dedicated to blogger outreach, and is making plans to launch a blog of her own. The day she was sworn in, bloggers were given special accommodations at the Capitol to cover the event, and fed lunch.

It's all evidence of the newfound attention bloggers from left-leaning Web sites are commanding on Democratic-run Capitol Hill, especially from the new speaker, a San Franciscan with an appreciation for the power of the Internet and grass-roots activism.

Schooled by evidence of what Internet-driven politics can accomplish - from fueling Howard Dean's presidential campaign in 2004 to propelling Ned Lamont to victory over Joseph Lieberman in Connecticut's Democratic Senate primary last year - Pelosi and other politicians have realized bloggers are too important to ignore.

"They've gone from an initial writing blogs off, then moving to skepticism, then moving to, 'OK, maybe we can find a way of working with these guys,'" said John Aravosis, who runs Americablog.com.

"It's a power base and it's influential and it's an opportunity. And you know what? It exists," Aravosis added.

"It should only scare you if you're on their bad side."

Blogs also are a way for Pelosi and others to communicate directly with a politically engaged audience, without filtering by traditional media. She promoted the Democrats' agenda for their first 100 legislative hours in a posting on Huffingtonpost.com.

Democrats, in turn, credit bloggers with helping marshal successful opposition to President Bush's 2005 plan to overhaul Social Security by adding private accounts, a fight Pelosi led.

"It's a mistake to think that these people just sit behind their machines and don't do anything other than talk to each other and send money," said Joe Trippi, who managed Howard Dean's Internet-driven campaign. "These people are very active in their precincts, in their communities."

Schooled by evidence of what Internet-driven politics can accomplish - from fueling Howard Dean's presidential campaign in 2004 to propelling Ned Lamont to victory over Joseph Lieberman in Connecticut's Democratic Senate primary last year - Pelosi and other politicians have realized bloggers are too important to ignore.

"They've gone from an initial writing blogs off, then moving to skepticism, then moving to, 'OK, maybe we can find a way of working with these guys,'" said John Aravosis, who runs Americablog.com.

"It's a power base and it's influential and it's an opportunity. And you know what? It exists," Aravosis added.

"It should only scare you if you're on their bad side."

Blogs also are a way for Pelosi and others to communicate directly with a politically engaged audience, without filtering by traditional media. She promoted the Democrats' agenda for their first 100 legislative hours in a posting on Huffingtonpost.com.

Democrats, in turn, credit bloggers with helping marshal successful opposition to President Bush's 2005 plan to overhaul Social Security by adding private accounts, a fight Pelosi led.

"It's a mistake to think that these people just sit behind their machines and don't do anything other than talk to each other and send money," said Joe Trippi, who managed Howard Dean's Internet-driven campaign. "These people are very active in their precincts, in their communities."

Friendly bloggers can help defuse attacks. Liberal bloggers rose to Pelosi's defense when she was criticized after the November election for employing nonunion workers at her vineyard. Thinkprogress.org trumpeted Pelosi's side of the story: Growers are prohibited by law from meddling in union contract issues before workers vote to organize.

Republicans are stepping up their involvement with blogs as well, and Pelosi's aides are planning new media training sessions for Democratic lawmakers and aides partly to expand use of blogs - one more sign that Congress' presence in the blogosphere will only grow.

"The speaker will be blogging," promised Karina Newton, Pelosi's director of new media.

"She understands the power that the netroots have."

Questions Surround Reid Land Deal

NewsMax - New Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid bought undeveloped land in Arizona far below its assessed value, then introduced legislation that could have aided the seller of the property.

Revelations about the land deal follow last year’s reports that Reid, a Nevada Democrat, had collected a $1.1 million windfall on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn’t personally owned the property for three years.

In the newly disclosed land deal – uncovered during an investigation by the Los Angeles Times – Reid paid $10,000 to gain control of a 160-acre parcel in Bullhead City, Ariz., in 2002.

The money was paid to a pension fund controlled by Clair Haycock, a Los Vegas lubricants distributor and Reid’s friend for 50 years. The deal gave Reid – who had already owned a five-eighths interest in the property, equivalent to 120 of the 160 acres – full control of the parcel.

The purchase price for the remaining three-eighths, or 60 acres, breaks down to just $166 an acre, less than one-tenth of the value an assessor had placed on it at the time, according to the Times.

Six months after the deal closed, Reid introduced legislation that sought to protect lubricants distributors from abrupt cancellations by their suppliers.

The Haycock family had lost business in 1994 when Mobil Oil Co. canceled the family’s distributorship of lubricants.

The Times noted: "It is a potential violation of congressional ethics for a member to accept anything of value – including a real estate discount – from a person with interests before Congress.”

But Reid’s spokesman, Jon Summers, insisted that the transaction was not a gift and the Senator paid a fair price for the pension fund’s minority interest.
And Clair Haycock told the Times that Reid "has never taken any official action to provide personal financial benefit to me, and I would never have asked him to.”

Nevertheless, Prof. Crocker H. Liu, chair of real estate at Arizona State’s University W.P. Carey School of Business, told the Times that the price Reid paid to gain control of the parcel "strikes me as low. But I don’t know what other considerations – valuable or otherwise – were part of this transaction. Usually when a purchase price is that low, there is other juice in the deal.”

Footnote: Since taking full control of the property, Reid has urged federal funding for a new bridge over the Colorado River – a few miles from his Arizona property.

Democrats: Put the 'ic' in Democratic

President George W. Bush did not intend to insult Democrats by failing to pronounce their party's full name in his State of the Union address, spokesman Tony Snow said on Monday.

In his speech last Wednesday, Bush declared to a joint session of the U.S. Congress that "I congratulate the Democrat majority." Some Democrats were incensed he did not say "Democratic." The party's proper name is the Democratic Party.

Republicans for years have dropped the last two letters of the name as a slight to the party. Bush's prepared text of his speech had the proper pronunciation, but when he delivered it he made the mistake.

Snow said Bush meant no slight.

"I want to thank everybody for making three mountains out of a mole hill. The president, when we asked him about it, said, 'What?... I didn't mean anything by it,'" Snow said.

In his speech, Bush went out of his way to praise California Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the new speaker of the House of Representatives, and declared his intent to work with Democrats in the majority of the House and Senate.

Late Nite Jokes

Leno

Speaker of the House Nanci Pelosi is now in Iraq; she made a surprise visit to Iraq . . . Well, you thought Bush wanted to bomb the place before . . .

She didn’t say how long she was staying in Iraq, and President Bush said he was against setting any timetables for Pelosi to return. He said to bring her back prematurely would send the wrong message.

In his State of the Uniion address president Bush said the economy is on the move . . . it’s moving to India.

The political experts are asking what role Bill Clinton will play in Hillary’s campaign. I’m guessing the cheating husband?

Letterman

(Previously recorded) New York City has banned trans fat from fast food. Don’t worry. You can still get E. coli.

You folks been to Taco Bell Lately? They have a wonderful new item . . . the Taco Apocalypto.

Tonight’s the first night of Hanukkah. Down in Washington D.C., a confused George Bush was out hunting for colored eggs . . .

Everyone’s in the Hanukkah spirit. Earlier today a Giants receiver dropped a matzo ball.

Kimmel

After hitting record high temperatures earlier this month, New York has now hit a record low. It was 9 degrees in Central Park today. They’re warning New Yorkers now not to leave their middle fingers exposed for more than a couple of seconds.

Michael Jackson’s back home in the USA. Parents are being warned to keep their children away from cotton candy machines, bounce houses and the circus.

An exciting breakthrough in science today, a doctor name Robert Bohannon has developed a caffeinated doughnut. We’re officially too lazy to dunk anymore. He figured out a way to inject caffeine into the doughnut without ruining the taste and he’s trying to sell it to Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts or somebody, so finally we can all be fat and jittery at the same time.

Hillary Fibs in Iowa About Ethanol, Voted Against It

During her first visit as a presidential candidate to early-caucus state Iowa, Sen. Hillary Clinton spoke out strongly in favor of boosting the production of ethanol in the United States.

But that’s a complete turnaround from her earlier actions regarding the alternative fuel, which is made from corn – and could provide a big boost to the economy of agricultural Iowa.

At a town hall meeting in Des Moines, the state capital, on January 27, Clinton said: "I believe we’ve got to take a strong stand on limiting our dependence on foreign oil. And we have a perfect example here in Iowa about how it can work with all of the ethanol that’s being produced here.”

According to an article in the Chicago Tribune cited in a release from the Republican National Committee, Clinton "took questions and spoke of boosting production of ethanol.”

And the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Clinton "genuflected before ethanol, which is big business in Iowa.”

But as a Senator from New York, Clinton has voted at least 17 times against measures promoting ethanol production, the RNC noted.

During a question-and-answer session in 2004, Clinton was asked about "her outspoken opposition to legislation that would double the use of ethanol as a gasoline additive,” the Des Moines Register reported at the time.

"She was momentarily stumped by a question as to why she opposed the ethanol mandate, but then said she was concerned that it would raise gasoline prices for her constituents.”

Clinton reportedly said: "I have to look to first protecting and supporting the needs of the people I represent right now.”

In 2002, Clinton even signed a letter that read in part: "There is no sound public policy reason for mandating the use of ethanol.”

It’s not surprising that Clinton would have a change of heart regarding ethanol when addressing Iowa voters, considering that the ethanol industry generates $2.49 billion in total sales back to local communities, according to the Iowa Corn Growers Association.

Also, "more than 14,750 Iowa jobs are affected by ethanol,” the Association notes, "including 2,550 directly related to ethanol production.”

Late Nite Jokes

Leno

I guess you heard by now, Sen. John Kerry announced yesterday he will not run for president, in 2008. He said the time is just not right. You know why it’s not right? It’s an election year.

President Bush said he’s going to ask Congress for 10 billion dollars more for Afghanistan. Ten billion dollars. I got a solution for the people in New Orleans. Put on turbans; throw rocks at each other; change your name to Kabul . . . you’ll get 10 billion dollars just like that.

Arizona parents are still wondering how a 29-year-old adult sex offender was able to pass himself off as seventh grader for four months . . . four months . . . this guy shaved all his hair off, put on makeup . . . four months he passed himself off as a seventh grader. He faces up to 15 years’ detention.

A recent survey of drivers and their distractions found that 68 percent of drivers eat meals while driving; 73 percent talk on the phone while driving. Here’s the scary part: 98 percent filled out the survey while driving.

Letterman

Have you seen the new Mel Gibson movie "Apocalypto?" Well, the whole movie is in ancient Mayan. And I’m thinking to myself, if I want to see a movie that is incomprehensible in language, well I’ll just go see "Rocky Balboa."

Did you hear about this controversy in the NBA? They introduced a synthetic ball. Were you aware of this? A brand new synthetic ball. People hated it; the players all hated it. So the league announced that they were going back to the old ball. Coincidently, that’s what Larry King’s wife says when she goes home.

Anyone here from Ohio? Well, Dennis Kucinich has announced that he is running for president in 2008. In a related story, somewhere a tree fell in the forest.

Former Chilean Dictator Augusto Pinochet was buried yesterday. I believe his last words were, "Maybe I’ll have just one more chalupa.”

Letterman's Top Ten

Top Ten Signs You Are Not One of the Most Fascinating People of 2006

10.You’re 37, but you still answer the phone, "Hello, Mommy”

9. The only person who’ll interview you is Barbara Walters’ nephew, Duane Walters

8. You spend your paycheck on strippers and Slim Jims

7. Favorite topic of conversation? Thumbtacks

6. Al Gore told you to stop droning on and on

5. Proudest day was when you unscrambled "DGO” in the "Jumble”

4. Your catch phrase is "Can’t, I’m allergic”

3. The public adores you — "the public” being your garage full of raccoons

2. You convened the Iraq Study Group to determine the state of underpants

1. You’re in charge of onions at Taco Bell /font>

Kimmel

The X Games started today in Aspen Colo. The X Games are of course is competition in which young healthy people try their best to hurt themselves very very badly.

Ford has reported huge losses this year. Ford Motor Cars lost 12.7 billion dollars in 2006. That’s the biggest annual loss in their 103-year history. They’re blaming a lot of their losses on the launch of their unpopular new economy car, the Ford Federline. I guess there were engine problems, one of them got a whole bunch of Mini Coopers pregnant . . .

John Kerry announced that he will not run for president in 2008, which leaves only several hundred Democratic candidates for president . . .

A lot of Republicans running . . . some familiar names and some new ones too: Republican favorites include John McCain and Rudy Giuliani, as well as Flavor Flav, runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks, and because he just doesn’t understand, President Bush.

Bush Speech Outdraws American Idol

President Bush's call for bipartisan support on a range of domestic issues while sticking to his guns on Iraq played well in the TV ratings, at least compared with his last two State of the Union speeches.

The live, hourlong broadcast of Bush's address Tuesday night to a joint session of the newly Democratic-controlled Congress averaged nearly 45.5 million U.S. viewers, Nielsen Media Research reported Wednesday.

That was up considerably from the 41.7 million who watched last year's State of the Union, in which Bush defended warrantless U.S. wiretaps of domestic phone calls and urged new energy initiatives, warning that America had become "addicted to oil."

Even fewer, 38.4 million viewers, tuned in to his 2005 speech - the least watched of his State of the Union addresses - which dwelt at length on Bush's proposals to revamp Social Security.

Bush tallied his biggest State of the Union audience, 62 million viewers, with a speech he gave in January 2003 as the nation geared up for war in Iraq.
On Tuesday night, Bush defended his unpopular decision to send more U.S. troops to Iraq while urging bipartisan action on such issues as energy, health care and immigration.

The Nielsen tally for his latest speech included viewers on the four major broadcast networks - ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox - as well as the three leading cable news outlets and Spanish-language broadcasters Telemundo and Univision.

By comparison, the most watched broadcast in terms of regularly scheduled commercial programming on U.S. television Tuesday was the Fox network's hit talent show "American Idol," which drew more than 31 million viewers.

U.S. Eyes Heat-Beaming Weapon

The U.S. Defense Department Wednesday unveiled what it called a revolutionary heat-beaming weapon that could be used to control mobs or repel foes in conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan.

The so-called Active Denial System causes an intense burning sensation causing people to run for cover, but no lasting harm, officials said.

"This is a breakthrough technology that's going to give our forces a capability they don't now have," Theodore Barna, an assistant deputy undersecretary of defense for advanced systems and concepts, told Reuters. "We expect the services to add it to their tool kit. And that could happen as early as 2010."

The weapon, mounted on a Humvee, uses a large rectangular dish antenna to direct an invisible beam toward a target. It includes a high-voltage power unit and beam-generating equipment and is effective at more than 500 meters.

Existing counter-personnel systems designed not to kill - including bean bag munitions and rubber bullets - work at little more than "rock-throwing distances," said Marine Col. Kirk Hymes, director of the Pentagon's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate.

In increasingly complex military operations, the technology provided a much-needed alternative to just going from "shouting to shooting," said Hymes, who is responsible for the weapon's five-year, $60 million advanced development.

Variations of the system could help in peacetime and wartime missions, including crowd control and mob dispersal, checkpoint security and port protection, officials said. It could also help in conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Raytheon Co., which has worked to develop the technology, has built a prototype called Silent Guardian, that it hopes to sell in the United States and abroad in what could become a multibillion market.

The weapon was shown off publicly for the first time at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, where it has been undergoing operational tests by the 820th Security Forces Group, which protects Air Force assets.

The directorate invited reporters to be zapped as part of what its spokeswoman, Marine Maj. Sarah Fullwood, called an effort to "demystify" the technology at issue.

At a distance of several football fields, the sensation from the exposure was like a blast from a very hot oven, too painful to bear without scrambling for cover.

The burning sensation is achieved by high-power energy waves that heat the skin to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. The pain ended as soon as the target jumped from the line of fire.

Documents given out during the demonstration said more than 10,000 people had been exposed to the weapon since testing began more than 12 years ago. They said there had been no injuries requiring medical attention during the five-year advanced development program.

Bush Will Attack Iran If Necessary

One of America's most influential neocons says President Bush is prepared to use military force against Iran if he believes it will acquire nuclear weapons.

This past Sunday, Richard Perle, speaking in Israel at the Herzliya Conference, said he had no doubt of President Bush's intentions.

"President George Bush will order an attack on Iran if it becomes clear to him that Iran is set to acquire nuclear weapons capabilities while he is still in office," Haaretz reported of Perle's remarks.

Perle, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, served as chairman of the Bush administration's Defense Policy Board. Perle had been a strong advocate for the liberation of Iraq in the early days of the Bush administration.

Recently, Perle has been critical of the administration's handling of the war after the successful removal of Saddam Hussein.

Perle argued that sanctions against Iran, pushed by European nations, will do little to stop Iran's ambition to become a nuclear power.

Perle was joined at the conference by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu called for a phased program to address the Iran menace, beginning with economic sanctions and divestment from companies doing business with Iran.

"I call on the world that did not stop the Holocaust to stop investing in Iran to prevent genocide," Netanyahu said, referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments that the Jewish state should be wiped from the map.

Liberal PAC to Democrats: Listen or Leave

Looking to instill discipline among Democrats, a coalition of labor, trial lawyers and liberal groups is launching lobbying and campaign organizations this week to keep Democratic lawmakers from straying on populist issues.

Democrats who don't hew to this agenda could find themselves facing well-funded primary opponents - an aggressive strategy to counter moderate and conservative blocs within the party.

The groups have organized as two entities - a lobbying wing called They Work For Us and a campaign arm called Working for Us PAC.

"Our PAC will encourage Democrats to act like Democrats - and if they don't - they better get out of the way," Steve Rosenthal, one of the coalition's main organizers, wrote in a memorandum describing the organization.

The new effort is emerging as House Democrats conclude the first stage of their legislative agenda - a two-week rush of legislation that had wide appeal within the party and even among Republicans.

"Now we move into issues like improving access to health care, fighting jobs moving overseas, protecting rights of workers to organize," Rosenthal, a leading labor political strategist, said in an interview. "It's really going to take a very strong effort for Democrats to keep people in line."

Rosenthal founded America ComingTogether, a political organization that mobilized Democratic voters in the 2004 presidential election.

In addition to Rosenthal, the two groups are led by some of the most influential organizers in labor and liberal politics, including Anna Burger, the secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union; Eli Pariser, the executive director of MoveOn.org Political Action, and Linda Lipsen, a senior vice president at the American Association for Justice, formerly the American Trial Lawyers Association.

The lobbying arm is organized as a non-profit organization and already has raised $200,000 toward a goal of more than $3 million for the next two years, Rosenthal said. It would concentrate on certain key congressional districts to pressure moderate or conservative Democrats to vote with the party's leadership.

The labor wing of the Democratic Party has been especially frustrated by Democrats who have voted in favor of trade deals that union leaders said hurt U.S. workers by driving jobs overseas. The new political action committee, Rosenthal said, would be ready to recruit more liberal Democrats to run against them.

"If Democrats in Congress don't stand strong and fight for the goals we are supposed to share, then progressives need to agitate so they will, or work hard to replace them," said Donna Edwards, a member of the They Work for Us board who unsuccessfully challenged Democrat Al Wynn, a 14-year House veteran from Maryland, in last year's Democratic primary.

Keeping the party unified won't be easy for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California as she moves ahead with the rest of the Democratic agenda. Many of the new Democratic lawmakers elected in November replaced incumbents in typically Republican districts. That could make it difficult for many to support some of the party's stances on economic and social issues.

Rosenthal said the new coalition would not single out members with moderate to conservative constituencies. Instead, it will target lawmakers who coalition organizers believe are out of step with their voters.

"We're not trying to force people to the left of their districts," he said. "We want to make sure that Democrats primarily represent their districts."

Hillary's Agenda: 'We Start With Health Care'

Starting her first full week as a presidential contender, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed confidence she can win the 2008 Democratic nomination.

Clinton, speaking publicly for the first time since declaring her candidacy on her Web site, said Sunday she decided to run after doing a "thorough review" of the challenges facing the country. She said she is the best candidate for the job and is eager to begin campaigning.

"It'll be a great contest with a lot of talented people and I'm very confident. I'm in, I'm in it to win and that's what I intend to do," she said.

The former first lady was vying to be the first woman and first presidential spouse to win the White House. Polls show her leading a crowded field of Democratic candidates that includes Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who hopes to become the first black president.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll released Sunday shows Clinton is the favorite of 41 percent of Democrats, more than double the support of any of her rivals.
Despite abundant strengths, Clinton remains a polarizing figure to many voters and faces questions about her ability to win a general election. Her position on the Iraq war - she voted to authorize the invasion in 2002 and has refused to call for a date-certain removal of troops - has alienated many Democratic activists, who vote heavily in primaries.

Clinton was to start a three-day series of Web chats with supporters Monday evening, and travels to Iowa, site of the first nominating caucuses, next weekend.

"I want to have a conversation with our citizens about what we want for our country," Clinton said.

Clinton's comments came during a visit to a Manhattan community health clinic, where she was promoting a federal children's health-care program.

Clinton said she would introduce legislation to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program to all families who need it, regardless of income. Aides said Clinton was determined to attend to her Senate duties throughout the campaign.

Reflecting her new status as a leading presidential contender, the room was packed with media - some two dozen television camera crews jockeyed for position with scores of reporters from as far away as Germany. Photographers waited outside in chilly temperatures for over an hour to snap pictures of Clinton's arrival.

Clinton said she decided to run after talking to family, friends and supporters since her re-election in November.

"I concluded, based on the work of my lifetime and my experience and my understanding of what our country has to confront in order to continue to make opportunity available to all of our citizens here and to restore our leadership and respect of America around the world, that I would be able to do that - to bring our country together to meet those tough challenges," she said.

The former first lady answered questions after promoting the CHIP legislation. She appeared onstage gripping the hands of 1-year-old Olivia and 3-year old Camilla Harden, whose parents said they relied on CHIP for their daughters' health care. The girls looked bewildered as hundreds of flashbulbs popped and cameras whirred throughout the room.

"It's simply wrong for any child to lack health care in America. That's where we start," Clinton said.

Clinton and Obama are the most visible candidates in a field that includes the 2004 vice presidential nominee, John Edwards. Other candidates include Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson jumped in Sunday; Delaware Sen. Joe Biden has said he is running and would formalize his decision soon.

Chavez to U.S.: 'Go to Hell, Gringos!'

President Hugo Chavez told U.S. officials to "Go to hell!" on his weekly radio and TV show Sunday for what he called unacceptable meddling after Washington raised concerns about a measure to grant Venezuela's fiery leftist leader broad lawmaking powers.

The National Assembly, which is controlled by the president's political allies, is expected to give final approval this week to what it calls the "enabling law," which would give Chavez the authority to pass a series of laws by decree during an 18-month period.

On Friday, U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said Chavez's plans under the law "have caused us some concern."

Chavez rejected Casey's statement in his broadcast, saying: "Go to hell, gringos! Go home!"

Chavez, who was re-elected by a wide margin last month, has said he will enact sweeping reforms to remake Venezuela into a socialist state. Among his plans are nationalizing the main telecommunications company and the electricity and natural gas sectors.

The president's opponents accuse him of using his political strength to expand his powers.

Relations between Caracas and Washington have been tense since Chavez was briefly ousted in a 2002 coup that he claimed the U.S. played a role in. The Bush administration has repeatedly denied being involved, although it recognized an interim government established by coup leaders.

Since then, Chavez has consistently accused the U.S. of conspiring to oust him and often asserts the CIA is working to destabilize his government. U.S. officials have denied trying to overthrow Chavez, but they have labeled him a threat to democracy.

Criticizing excessive consumption and self-indulgence, Chavez also announced plans in his broadcast to raise domestic gasoline prices and approve a new tax on luxury goods such as private yachts, second homes and extravagant automobiles.

He did not give details on the gas price hike, which he said would not affect bus drivers who provide public transportation, or the luxury tax. He said revenue from the new measures would be put toward government social programs.

Venezuela is one of the world's leading petroleum exporters and gasoline now costs as little as 12 cents a gallon due to government subsidies.

In typical style, Chavez spoke for hours Sunday during his first appearance on the weekly program in five months. He sent his best wishes to the ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro, his close ally and friend who has been sidelined since intestinal surgery last summer.

Chavez also remarked on the hanging of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein: "They took out Saddam Hussein and they hanged him, for good or worse. It's not up to me to judge any government, but that gentleman was the president of that country."

Bush Tops 2006 Quotables List

President Bush scored high Thursday on a list he may not be keen to top.

Three of Bush's quotes, led by his "I'm the Decider" remark in April, head 2006's most notable quotations compiled by Fred R. Shapiro, editor of the Yale Book of Quotations.

Bush's comment that "I'm the decider, and I decide what is best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the secretary of defense" is followed by his State of the Union address quote that "America is addicted to oil" and by his comment on Hurricane Katrina to high school students in New Orleans: "I take full responsibility for the federal government's response."

The "decider" quote was also named "Bushism" of the year by the Global Language Monitor, which issues a list of best George Bush quotes each year. The monitor's Paul JJ Payack said No. 2 on that list was "I use The Google."

Other notable quotes of the year compiled by Shapiro include British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's explanation about his movie "Borat," in which he plays a boorish Kazakh TV journalist:

"The joke is not on Kazakhstan. I think the joke is on people who can believe that the Kazakhstan that I describe can exist."

Cohen's quote was followed in fifth place by another comic's remark --- Stephen Colbert's comment on Bush at the White House correspondents dinner: "The greatest thing about this man is he's steady. You know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday."

The quotes are not chosen because they are eloquent or admirable, Shapiro said, but "because they are important or they are particularly revealing of the spirit of our times."

Right-wing polemicist Ann Coulter made the list for her attack on the widows of men who died in the World Trade Center on September 11:

"These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by grief-arrazies. I have never seen people enjoying their husbands' death so much."

In seventh place was a line from the Will Ferrell film, "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Rickey Bobby," "If you ain't first, you're last."

Eighth was a quote from embattled Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany about statements made about the economy to win an election: "We lied morning, noon and night."

No list would be complete without a comment from Paris Hilton: "When I was a kid I had no idea I lived in a mansion. Then I went to a friend's house and I was like -- 'Oh."'

Israel to Use 'Code' to Prevent 9/11 Attacks

Israelis are taking steps to prevent any 9/11-style attacks from perpetrators using aircraft.

A simple but technologically sophisticated ID system will guarantee that the man at the controls of aircraft is the pilot and not a suicide hijacker.

The "Code Positive" system uses a credit-card-sized device personally and exclusively issued to pilots that will enable them to identify themselves and assure security officials that they are in full control of their aircraft, according to Danny Shenar, who heads security at Israel's Transportation Ministry.

"Using this card, it will be possible to verify that the person flying the aircraft is indeed the person qualified to fly it," Shenar told Israel's Army Radio, according to Reuters.

"This system was developed to prevent aviation mega-terror over Israel, in the form of a plane coming through one of the borders and crashing into a target in Israel," he said. "The system should be operational by the end of the year."

Shenar added that it would be impossible for a hijacker to force a pilot to hand over identifying details, or otherwise pose as a legitimate member of the flight crew. "You can't bluff this system," he said.

An Israeli security official told Reuters that a deadline would be set for all airlines that travel to Israel to ensure their pilots had Code Positive.

"If they don't, their planes will not be allowed into our air space, and we will respond accordingly to any planes that don't turn back in time," the official said, referring to Israeli regulations allowing suspected enemy aircraft to be fired upon.

A U.S. government inquiry into the 9/11 attacks said ground radio overheard orders apparently given by hijackers to their captive passengers over aircraft public address systems, Reuters recalled.

Aviation security experts have speculated that the U.S. military might have responded to the threat more quickly were it not for delays such as in the time it took to determine that the voices were not those of the original pilots.

Bush Won't Reauthorize NSA Program

President George W. Bush has decided not to reauthorize the controversial domestic warrantless surveillance program for terrorism suspects and to put it under the authority of a secret special court, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said on Wednesday.

"The president has determined not to reauthorize the Terrorist Surveillance Program when the current authorization expires," Gonzales wrote in a letter to Senate leaders.

"Any electronic surveillance that was occurring as part of the Terrorist Surveillance Program will now be conducted subject to the approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court," Gonzales said.

The program, adopted after the September 11 attacks, allowed the government to eavesdrop on the international phone calls and e-mails of U.S. citizens without obtaining a warrant, if those wiretaps are made to track suspected al Qaeda operatives.

Critics have said the program violated the U.S. Constitution and a 1978 law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which made it illegal to spy on U.S. citizens in the United States without the approval of the special court.

Doomsday Clock Pushes Forward

The scientists who mind the Doomsday Clock - symbolizing the annihilation of civilization - moved it two minutes closer to midnight on Wednesday adding the perils of global warming for the first time to acute nuclear threats.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which created the Doomsday Clock in 1947, advanced the clock to five minutes until midnight. It was the first adjustment of the clock since 2002.

"We stand at the brink of a second nuclear age," the group said in a statement.

They pointed to North Korea's first test of a nuclear weapon last year, Iran's nuclear ambitions, U.S. flirtation with "bunker buster" nuclear bombs, the continued presence of 26,000 nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia, and inadequate security for nuclear materials. But the scientists also said the destruction of human habitats wreaked by climate change brought on by human activities is a growing danger to humankind.

"Global warming poses a dire threat to human civilization that is second only to nuclear weapons," they said.

The announcement was made in news conferences held in London and Washington.

"We foresee great peril if governments and societies do not take action now to render nuclear weapons obsolete and to prevent further climate change," famed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking of the University of Cambridge, a member of the bulletin's board of sponsors, told reporters in London.

In 2002, the bulletin's scientists moved the clock two minutes forward in 2002, to seven minutes until midnight following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

The Bulletin was founded in 1945 by University of Chicago scientists who had worked on developing the first nuclear bomb, and it is now overseen by some of the world's most prominent scientists.

The bulletin created the clock in 1947, two years after the United States ushered in the nuclear age by dropping atomic bombs on two Japanese cities at the end of World War II.

U.S. Needs 'Stomach' to Win in Iraq

Vice President Dick Cheney said on Sunday the United States must show it has the "stomach" to win in Iraq or it will confirm al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's view that Americans can be pressured to leave.

U.S. allies helping in fighting terrorism - Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states and Egypt - must have confidence that the United States will stay until a successful outcome, he said.

"If the United States doesn't have the stomach to finish the task in Iraq, we put at risk what we've done in all of those other locations," he said on "Fox News Sunday."

Bin Laden's strategy is to push U.S. presence out of the region through terrorism and Iraq is currently at the center of that battle, Cheney said. "It's absolutely essential that we win there, and we will win there," he said.

Cheney defended the new plan by President George W. Bush to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq and said critics had not produced an alternative proposal.

Democrats, who took control of Congress this year after winning November elections largely due to growing public anti-war sentiment, are planning a non-binding resolution to reflect opposition to the new troop deployment.

Cheney said such a gesture would not prevent the president from carrying out his policy.

"Congress, obviously, has to support the effort through the power of the purse, so they have got a role to play and we certainly recognize that," Cheney said. "But also, you cannot run a war by committee."

Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, said he opposed withholding defense funding to signal opposition to the president's plan

"I don't support using the power of the purse because I think that sends the wrong message to our troops," Levin said on CNN's "Late Edition."

Cheney said while Democrats have criticized Bush's plan and advocated withdrawal, they have not offered an alternative strategy to the president's proposal.

He said the president did not conduct policy based on public opinion polls, which have shown increasing dissatisfaction with U.S. involvement in the Iraq war.

"You cannot simply stick your finger up in the wind and say, 'Gee, public opinion's against, we better quit,'" Cheney said. Doing that would just "validate the al Qaeda view of the world," he said.

Cheney said criticism from members of their own Republican Party had not made him or the president feel embattled. "I've seen embattled administrations. This isn't one of them."

Tensions in the Middle East were raised after the U.S. military's arrest of five Iranians in Iraq, accusing them of providing arms and money to militants. Iran called them diplomats and demanded their release, and Iraqi officials also said they should be freed.

"We've asked for their release," Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on CNN. He said while the Iranians had been working from an office that was not formally a consulate, it had been doing some consular services such as offering travel permits.

Cheney said Iran has created tensions throughout the region by pursuing nuclear weapons, supporting extremists, and providing improvised explosive devices inside Iraq.

"It's been pretty well known that Iran is fishing in troubled waters, if you will, inside Iraq, and the president has responded to that," Cheney said.

The United States was not getting ready for a military conflict with Iran, White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley said.

"The president has said very clearly that the issues we have with Iran should be solved diplomatically in terms of the nuclear issue," Hadley said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Rice: Single Women Can Understand War

Condoleezza Rice let out a heavy sigh when asked Saturday whether as a single woman with no children she had difficulty appreciating the ramifications of war. It's a topic that has inflamed the Internet and talk radio in the U.S. since a Democratic senator challenged the secretary of state's personal stake in the Iraq war.

"No," Rice answered when asked if her status hinders her understanding of the sacrifices involved. "I also think that being a single woman does not in any way make me incapable of understanding not just those sacrifices but also that nothing of value is ever won without sacrifice."

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., told Rice during a testy Senate hearing on Thursday that without an immediate family Rice will pay no personal price for the Bush administration policy in Iraq.

Rice has said she was at first perplexed by the exchange, and later told Fox News, "Gee, I thought single women had come further than that."

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh accused Boxer of hitting "below the ovaries."

Standing with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Rice jokingly noted that as a woman with children, Livni is qualified to "make the decisions."

Livni leapt to Rice's defense, saying Rice's strong emotions about the Iraq war toll are clear during their private conversations.

Rice, 52, has never married. She is an only child and her parents are dead.

Boxer's comment came during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in which Rice was questioned about President Bush's new war plans.

"Who pays the price?" Boxer asked Rice. "I'm not going to pay a personal price. My kids are too old and my grandchild is too young. You're not going to pay a particular price, as I understand it, with immediate family.

"So who pays the price? The American military and their families."

Boxer, D-Calif., defended herself in a statement Friday.

"I spoke the truth at the committee hearing, which is that neither Secretary Rice nor I have family members that will pay the price for this escalation," she said. "My point was to focus attention on our military families who continue to sacrifice because this administration has not developed a political solution to the situation in Iraq."

Pelosi Snared in Wage-Hike Tuna Net

Republicans say there’s something "fishy” about the House Democrats’ minimum wage hike, which exempts employers in American Samoa – site of a StarKist Tuna packing plant – from paying the increase.

What does StarKist have to do with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats? StarKist’s parent company, Del Monte Corp., happens to be headquartered in Pelosi’s San Francisco congressional district.

"I am shocked,” declared Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., who pointed out that Pelosi campaigned on promises of honest government. "We find out that she is exempting hometown companies from minimum wage. This is exactly the hypocrisy and double talk that we have come to expect from the Democrats.”

The House on Wednesday voted to gradually raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 by 2009.

The bill includes, for the first time, employers in the U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands, but it exempts American Samoa, another Pacific island territory.

More than 5,000 Samoans – nearly 75 percent of the island’s work force – work in two packing plants there, one operated by StarKist Tuna and the other by California-based Chicken of the Sea, according to the Washington Times.

Some GOP House members who voted in favor of the wage hike bill didn’t learn until after the vote that the legislation did not include American Samoa.

"My intention was to raise the minimum wage for everyone,” Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, R-Ill., told the Times. "We shouldn’t permit any special favors or exemptions that are not widely discussed in Congress. This is the problem with rushing legislation through without full debate.”

After the exemption came to light, Pelosi said she had asked the Education and Labor Committee "as we go forward with the legislation to make sure that all of the territories comply with the U.S. law on the minimum wage.”

She also said she has never received any campaign contributions from Del Monte.

In addition to the Del Monte-San Francisco connection, there is a link between the company and another prominent Democrat: Following a 2002 business deal, about 75 percent of Del Monte stock is owned by shareholders of the H.J. Heinz Company – whose heirs include Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Massachusetts Democrat - and failed 2004 presidential candidate - Sen. John Kerry.

White House, Rice Hit Back at Boxer

White House spokesman Tony Snow and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have fired back at Sen. Barbara Boxer over the California Democrat’s comments about Rice’s family life.

When Rice appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday to discuss U.S. policy in Iraq, Boxer noted that Rice has no children of her own to lose overseas.

"Who pays the price?” for the war, Boxer demanded. "You’re not going to pay a particular price, as I understand it, with an immediate family. So who pays the price? The American military and their families.”

Rice commented on the exchange during an interview Friday with Fox News Channel's Jim Angle.

"I guess that means I don't have kids. Was that the purpose of that?" Rice said. "Well, at the time I just found it a bit confusing frankly. But in retrospect, gee, I thought single women had come further than that. That the only question is are you making good decisions because you have kids?"

Earlier Friday, Snow responded to Boxer’s remarks.

"I don’t know if she was intentionally tacky, but I do think it’s outrageous. Here you have a professional woman, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Barbara Boxer is sort of throwing little jabs because Condi doesn’t have children, as if that means that she doesn’t understand the concerns of parents,” he told FOX News Talk. "Great leap backward for feminism.”

A spokeswoman for the Family Research Council, Charmaine Yoest, also took issue with Boxer’s comments.

"I think it’s offensive to the millions of Americans who don’t have a direct relative serving overseas to suggest that somehow they’re not connected to the men and women in our military who are putting their lives on the line,” she said.
Boxer, in a statement provided to Fox News, stood by her original comments:

"I spoke the truth at the committee hearing, which is that neither Secretary Rice nor I have family members that will pay the price for this escalation. My point was to focus attention on our military families who continue to sacrifice because this [Bush] administration has not developed a political solution to the situation in Iraq."

L.A. Needs 'Marshall Plan' to Stop Gangs

Plagued by an out-of-control crime problem - sparked by 720 street gangs with a mind-boggling 39,000 members - Los Angeles needs a billion dollar Marshall plan to stop the epidemic of gang crime, a new study suggests.

"This epidemic is largely immune to general declines in crime," according to the report by the Advancement Project, a $593,000 study commissioned by the L.A. City Council. "And it is spreading to formerly safe middle class neighborhoods. Law enforcement officials now warn that they are arriving at the end of their ability to contain it to poor minority and immigrant hot zones."

According to the Los Angeles Times, city officials revealed the shocking statistics of the extent of gang related crime, including assaults and robberies, which rose 14 percent last year. Moreover, 56 percent of the city’s 478 homicides last year were gang-related.

The report called for a significantly greater investment, as much as $1 billion during the first 18 months, project director Connie Rice said. She described the program as a comprehensive mix of programs that include gang intervention and prevention and economic development. Rice explained that much of that money may be in the city budget for such programs but not as part of a focused, comprehensive strategy.

Noting that nearly 75 percent of youth gang homicides in California occurred in Los Angeles County, the report warned that violence would continue to spread without effective countermeasures.

Just how badly a new approach to the problem is needed is obvious from the failure of past approaches.

"After a quarter-century of a multibillion-dollar war on gangs, there are six times as many gangs and at least double the number of gang members in the region," the report states.

The $1-billion potential cost would include all programs in a comprehensive strategy, including job creation, economic development and after-school intervention programs for at-risk youths, Rice said.

Among the findings of the report:

A department of neighborhood safety should be created, headed by a "high-powered, politically skilled" gang czar to recast and run the city's scattered 23 anti-gang programs that cost $82 million annually.

The Los Angeles Police Department needs to get smarter at gang enforcement.

"Los Angeles needs a Marshall Plan to end gang violence," the report concludes. "City approaches must address the conditions in neighborhoods and the unmet needs of children that allow gangs to take root, flourish and expand."

The study identified 12 hot zones of poverty and gang crime. About 300,000 at-risk young people live in neighborhoods with high rates of poverty and/or gang activity, the study found.

Because the city's gang crime costs victims and taxpayers $2 billion a year, the report suggests that a research and policy institute be formed to determine whether gang programs are working.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa embraced the report's findings in general, but did not commit Friday to any specific recommendations, the Times reported.

"Gangs are public enemy No. 1 in Los Angeles. Gang crime will not be tolerated," the mayor told the Times. "We agree with Connie Rice. We need to develop a comprehensive strategy — one that takes into account prevention, intervention and suppression."

Both the mayor and police chief William J. Bratton have said in recent days that they were developing a new strategy for battling gang violence, including a focus on the city's 10 most dangerous gangs.

Along with then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former New York City Police Commissioner Bratton is largely credited with cleaning up his city’s notorious crime problems.

According to Rice, a civil rights lawyer, hers was the third city-commissioned report in two decades to determine why Los Angeles is failing to reduce gang violence.

"And it is the third time that experts have recommended that smarter suppression be linked to comprehensive prevention and intervention and that above all, the city end the conditions that spawn and sustain gangs and neighborhood violence," the report concluded.

The challenge for the city is for its leaders to have the political will to tackle what has become an entrenched problem, the report said.

"In the meantime," the report concluded, "residents of Los Angeles' most dangerous neighborhoods continue losing children to senseless violence, and residents of safe areas are beginning to see that the threat could spread to them."

U.S. Will Not 'Pull the Plug' on Iraq

Americans' skepticism about Iraq will not change until they see progress, but the U.S. will not "pull the plug" on the war, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.

Rice, at the start of a Mideast trip, would not detail any backup strategy if President Bush's updated war plan comes up short or if the Iraq government fails to hold up its end.

"We're going to get an opportunity to see whether or not this is working, whether or not the Iraqis are living up to their obligations," Rice said Friday.

The top U.S. diplomat decried what she called "the notion ... that, 'Are you just going to pull the plug?'"

"We're not pulling the plug on Iraq," she said.

Most Americans say today they do not support the war or approve of how Bush has handled it.

"What will convince the American people that there's going to be a good outcome here is changes on the ground," Rice said. "No poll is going to change until there is something to show."

Rice arrived in Jerusalem on Saturday on a trip designed partly to prod Iraq's neighbors to lend more help to the struggling government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The Bush administration is relying on al-Maliki for the success of the plan Bush announced Wednesday to make Baghdad safer from sectarian violence.

Bush sought support for the U.S. military buildup in telephone calls Friday to Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Rice is scheduled to see both leaders in the next few days.

Rice also is testing possible initiatives to nudge Israel and the Palestinians closer to a political accommodation. The United States wants to move more swiftly to shore up Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, locked in a power struggle with the Islamic militant group Hamas.

"I'm not coming with a proposal, I'm not coming with a plan," Rice said.

Ahead of Rice's visit to the Palestinian territories, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas contended Saturday that Israel and the United States were trying to fan the flames of a Palestinian civil war.

On Iraq, Bush's move to send an additional 21,500 U.S. troops to the country is running into the stiffest congressional opposition since the war began almost four years ago.

At a tense hearing this past week where Rice testified, furious senators referred to sinking public support for a war that has cost nearly $400 billion and taken more than 3,000 U.S. lives.

The reception was more hostile than the administration had expected, but Rice had a ready reply.

"I heard skepticism. I didn't hear alternatives that one can really pursue," she said Friday.

Rice said flagging support for the war at home does not weaken her hand abroad.

Arab allies regularly urge the U.S. to reinvigorate Israeli-Arab peace efforts as a start toward addressing problems elsewhere, including in Iraq and Iran.

Although Rice seemed eager to switch focus from Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian problems may prove equally difficult.

Careful to avoid sounding too optimistic, Rice said there is a new opportunity for progress and suggested she will reward Abbas for standing firm against Hamas. The Bush administration soon will ask Congress to approve $85 million to train and equip Abbas' security forces. Also, Rice did not rule out a bold stroke to propose rough boundaries of an eventual Palestinian state.

Abbas has said he needs to be able to offer Palestinians a vision of a political future that makes the frustrating effort to seek peace seem worthwhile. Abbas has pledged to seek peace with Israel and last month held a much-anticipated meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

U.S officials are dismayed at the yearlong drift in peace efforts since Hamas won parliamentary elections and took control of much of the Palestinian government. Hamas refuses to renounce violence or recognize Israel, leading the West to cut off vital international aid.

Abbas was elected separately and retains his post, but he has limited power. He has been unable to negotiate a compromise unity government with Hamas, but he has improved his international standing.

The U.S. money for Abbas' security services would be a significant vote of confidence because those forces have a troubled history of corruption and rights violations under Abbas' predecessor, the late Yasser Arafat.

Hamas accuses Washington of trying to provoke a broader intra-Palestinian military confrontation between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah faction, and Hamas points to the money for arms as evidence. Rice stressed that the money would pay for training and other things apart from weaponry, and that it comes with strings attached.

Haniyeh said in a televised speech Saturday that one of the foundations of the U.S. and Israeli policies "is to trap the Palestinian people in the flames of civil war and an unstoppable Palestinian-Palestinian conflict, to transform this conflict from a Palestinian-Israeli one into a Palestinian-Palestinian conflict."

Haniyeh did not elaborate, but urged the Palestinians to end weeks of deadly internal fighting.

Bloggers Gain Access to 'Scooter' Libby Trial

Internet bloggers will be allowed to cover the criminal trial of former White House staffer Lewis "Scooter" Libby alongside reporters from traditional media outlets, a court spokesman said Thursday.

Bloggers will control at least four seats during the high-profile trial in which Libby's former boss, Vice President Dick Cheney, is expected to testify, said Sheldon Snook, a spokesman for the U.S. District Court in Washington. Jury selection begins Tuesday.

The arrangement is believed to be a first for a high-profile court case, although trade shows and political conventions have issued media passes to bloggers in the past several years.

"Bloggers are part of the media landscape and if we were to ignore bloggers, we would be ignoring reality," Snook said.

The rise of Internet blogs, or Web logs, has led to debates on whether bloggers, who often operate independently and with little editorial oversight, are entitled to the same access and protection as traditional print, radio and television journalists.
Two seats will be controlled by members of the nonpartisan Media Blogging Association, a trade group that provides legal advice and promotes increased access for its 1,000 members.

While members adhere to standards of fairness and accuracy, the 12 who will rotate through the two seats during the trial will include political perspectives from the left and the right in their coverage, association President Robert Cox said.

"Our members are not going in there to file wire service copy or be pool reporters -- they're going to express opinions," Cox said.

Two more seats will be controlled by writers for several liberal-leaning blogs, including Firedoglake, The Huffington Post and DailyKos, said Firedoglake founder Jane Hamsher.

"This case shows how the blogosphere has had an impact on how the news was covered," Hamsher said. "During Watergate, there was no place for people to meet and say, 'This story makes no sense."'

Bloggers likely will file reports from an overflow room that will be set up with wireless Internet service, although like other media outlets they will be prohibited from transmitting video or audio of the trial.

Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff, is charged with obstruction of justice and lying to FBI agents as they sought to determine who leaked the name of a CIA employee whose husband had criticized the Bush administration's use of intelligence in the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Richard Armitage, the former No. 2 official at the State Department, has since said he was the first to mention inadvertently the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame to reporters.

Knowingly disclosing the identity of a covert CIA agent is against the law but neither Armitage nor anyone else has been charged with leaking Plame's identity to the media in 2003.

The Plame case has been subject to especially intense, and often speculative, coverage in media outlets and online blogs.

Blogger Jason Leopold, writing for the left-leaning blog truthout.org, reported last May that White House top political adviser Karl Rove had been indicted as part of the investigation and planned to resign.

Rove's lawyer said no indictment had been served, and said several weeks later that Rove was cleared by Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald.

Leopold is not a member of the Media Bloggers Association, Cox said.

'Routine Cowardice' Threatens U.S.

Americans must steel themselves for a long and arduous war against the "irreconcilable wing of Islam," which could last anywhere from 30 to 70 years, according to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Addressing a free-market group in Baltimore, Md., Gingrich said the current generation of Americans could witness the destruction of U.S. cities in their lifetime, since Islamic extremists have openly expressed their desire to obtain and use both nuclear and biological weapons.

He singled out the "elite media" and "left-of-center" politicians for embracing a "level of routine cowardice" that works to embolden America's enemies.

Gingrich said policymakers would do well to follow the example of President Reagan who steered America out of the "malaise" of the late 1970s and toward victory in the Cold War.

At a time when Soviet Communism was on the offense, Reagan defied the elite opinion of his time, the former House Speaker argued.

With an eye toward history, Gingrich invoked the "long night in Baltimore" during the War of 1812, applying it to the contemporary struggle against terrorism. Americans have not yet come to terms with the "level of ferocity" that is being directed against them, he argued.

Citing the plot uncovered last summer to blow up U.S.-bound transatlantic flights, Gingrich recalled that the British authorities had arrested a couple with an eight-month-old baby who allegedly planned to disguise bomb material as baby food.

"There are people out there who hate you so much that they are willing to kill their own baby, so long as they can kill you too," he said.

Gingrich said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should be taken at his word when he says he wants to "defeat Anglo-Saxon civilization" and "wipe Israel off the face of the earth."

Gingrich expressed support for many of the initiatives President Bush has outlined for Iraq but said it was necessary to do "far more."

The federal bureaucracy now in place was obsolete and ill-suited for the challenges of the 21st century, he said. Without fundamentally overhauling the current homeland security apparatus, the U.S. could face "significant defeats."

Gingrich said a national police force should be created in Iraq, since in his view the local police forces are riddled with corruption. He also called for an end to "catch and release" policies which allow criminals, terrorists and insurgents in Iraq to go free after being detained for a limited period of time.

Gingrich cautioned that a defeat for America in Iraq would energize rogue nations like Iran, Syria, North Korea and Venezuela and terrorist organizations like al Qaeda and Hizballah.

On the domestic policy front Gingrich said it was necessary to "move conservatism to a new plateau" where ideas were translated into tangible policy solutions.

Gingrich credited the Harbour League, the host of Wednesday's event, for entering the political fray in the "blue state" of Maryland, where liberal ideology and the Democratic Party have long held sway.

While they should expect to encounter stiff opposition, Gingrich told his audience to take heart from his experiences in Georgia.

When Gingrich was initially elected to the House in 1978, he was the only Republican member of his state's congressional delegation, and Georgia was one of the most Democratic states in the union.

The situation was completely reversed thanks to efforts of a core-group of committed conservatives, Gingrich explained.

The Harbour League was founded a year ago with the goal of "filling a void" in the public discourse over public policy. Its membership includes "liberty minded" professionals and activist who support free market reforms.

Majority Believe Iraq Coverage Biased

Most Americans are convinced that media coverage of the conflict in Iraq is inaccurate and portrays the situation as being worse than it actually is, a new survey shows.

According to the Gallup News Service, a December survey of a representative sample of 569 adult Americans revealed that fully 56 percent believe that major news media coverage of the situation in Iraq is generally inaccurate while only 4 out of 10 Americans agree that it is accurate.

Moreover, the survey showed that by a 61 percent to 36 percent margin, those who feel that the Iraq coverage is inaccurate say it is because the media make the situation there appear worse than it actually is.

Responses from survey participants showed that two-thirds of Republicans believe that the news media's coverage of Iraq is both inaccurate and makes the situation there appear worse. Only one-quarter say that news media coverage is accurate.

On the other hand, a majority of Democrats (55 percent) say that news media coverage of the situation there is accurate, with most of the rest saying that it is inaccurate and biased toward making the situation there appear better than it really is.

Other survey results:

56 percent believe the news media provide an inaccurate account of the situation in Iraq while 41 percent see it as accurate.

35 percent believe the media makes the situation appear worse than it is, while only 20 percent think it makes the situation better than it is. Three percent had no opinion and 1 percent were unsure.

Hillary Plotting to Derail Obama Plans

NewsMax - Hillary Clinton regards fellow Senator Barack Obama as her biggest obstacle to the Democratic nomination for president in 2008, and is already mapping out strategy to derail an Obama campaign.

Clinton believes enthusiasm for an Obama run would diminish as voters get the message about his lack of experience in government and foreign affairs.

In meetings with fellow Democrats, Clinton and her aides – without mentioning Obama by name – stress that experience will be a major factor in determining a successful candidate during difficult times, "an argument that her team will no doubt make in a stronger way against Mr. Obama if they both jump into the race,” the New York Times reports.

Clinton also considers John Edwards a potentially strong candidate, but discounts the threat from Al Gore and John Kerry, according to political insiders she has spoken with.

Before Congress reconvened, Clinton was engaged in nearly nonstop political consultations, seeking feedback for her campaign strategy. She has spoken in person or by telephone with influential Democrats in early-decision states including Iowa and Nevada – which have early caucuses – and New Hampshire, the first primary state.

But she told one New Hampshire Democrat that she would like to delay the formal start of her campaign until later this year and concentrate on her work in the Senate.

"I recommended that she didn’t need to jump in early, that I would like to see some progress in the Senate, and she said she felt the same way,” William Shaheen, a senior New Hampshire aide to Gore in 2000 and Kerry in 2004, told the Times.

"But sometimes events come into it, other people start beating the drum quicker, and you can lose key people if you wait.”

U.S. Finds Iran's 'Smoking Gun' in Iraq

American forces have found a "smoking gun” that proves Iran is supporting the insurgency in Iraq — captured Iranian documents showing the country is abetting both Sunni and Shiite terrorists.

News that U.S. forces had captured Iranians in Iraq was reported in December. But now it’s come to light that the Iranians were carrying documents revealing their country’s activities in Iraq. An American intelligence official confirmed that Shiite Iran "is working closely with both the Shiite militias and Sunni Jihadist groups,” The New York Sun reported in an article headlined "Iran’s Secret Plan for Mayhem.”

The documents disclosed how the Quds Force — Iran’s elite revolutionary guard unit that supports Shiite Hezbollah and Shiite death squads — also supports individuals associated with al-Qaida in Iraq and the Sunni terror group Ansar al-Sunna.

Another U.S. official, who termed the captured documents a "smoking gun,” said: "We found plans for attacks, phone numbers affiliated with Sunni bad guys — a lot of things that filled in the blanks on what these guys are up to.”

According to the Sun, one document concludes that "Iraq’s Sunni neighbors will step up their efforts to aid insurgent groups and that it is imperative for Iran to redouble efforts to retain influence with them, as well as with Shiite militias.”

News that the Quds Force is actively supporting Sunni terrorists could threaten the close ties between Iraq’s ruling Shiites and Tehran. But U.S. policy-makers should be mindful of the new revelations that Iran is supporting Sunnis in Iraq as well as Shiites, according to Wayne White, a former State Department senior analyst on Iraq and Iran.

He told the Sun: "One example of a mindset that may hinder analysis of Iranian involvement is the belief that Iran would never have any dealings with militant Sunni Arabs. But they allowed hundreds of al-Qaida operatives to escape from Afghanistan across their territory in 2002.”

Bill Clinton's Rest Room Revelation

The Clinton who turned heads in the Senate Thursday was not Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, notwithstanding all the speculation about her running for president.

Former President Clinton cheerfully called out, "Hi, everybody!" as he strolled through the Senate Press Gallery past correspondents for The Associated Press, The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.

He was surrounded by a security entourage, but wasn't really seeking publicity. Something more mundane, actually. A bathroom, and then the swearing in of his wife for the new 110th Congress.

Then he headed for the men's room - followed by his Secret Service agents and a cadre of reporters.

The questions were obvious:

"Do you want to live in the White House again?

"I would like not to talk about it today," he said.

"Is Mrs. Clinton going to run for president?

"Ask her."

"All I know is, this is a happy day," Clinton added. "It's a great day for the largest number of women we've ever had in the Congress, a lot of new people coming in, I think it will be good. I'll be surprised if we don't see a lot of interesting, bipartisan things happening over the next six months."

War Protesters Shout Down Democrats

Congressional Democrats stepped hungrily to the brink of power on Wednesday, promising immediate action to limit the influence of lobbyists and pledging to constantly prod the Bush administration to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.

President Bush pushed back against the political opposition as he contemplated divided government for his final two years in the White House. He said he would soon propose a five-year plan to balance the budget, and he challenged Democrats to avoid passing "bills that are simply political" statements.

"There is nothing political about finding a policy to end the war in Iraq, raising the minimum wage, achieving energy independence or helping kids afford college," shot back Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, due to become majority leader at the stroke of noon on Thursday. "In fact, politics has prevented progress on these issues for too many years."

Even as they prepared to take control of Congress, Democrats received a brusque reminder that they face pressure from the political left as well as resistance from Republicans.

At one point during the day, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, a member of the Democratic leadership, was addressing reporters when he was loudly interrupted by Cindy Sheehan and other anti-war activists. "De-escalate, investigate, troops home now!" they shouted, while he smiled gamely.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, in line to become the nation's first female House speaker, spent much of her day at ceremonial events. She attended a Catholic Mass in remembrance of the children of Darfur and Katrina, then a tea in her honor.

That left it to her lieutenants to outline plans for the Democrats' initial stretch in the majority.

Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the incoming majority leader, said the first six bills and a series of stiffer ethics rules would be passed within two weeks.

The first step, he said, would take place by early evening on Thursday, and consist of several measures crafted in response to the scandals that weakened Republicans in last fall's elections.

In addition to expanding restrictions on privately financed trips enjoyed by lawmakers, House Democrats said they will prohibit travel on corporate jets and require greater disclosure of earmarks, the pet projects inserted into legislation at the behest of individual lawmakers.

The rules do not prohibit lawmakers from taking trips financed by foundations that seek to influence public opinion. Those trips will require pre-approval from the ethics committee.

Current rules ban congressional travel paid for by lobbyists or foreign governments, and violations of t he existing restrictions played heavily in the scandal involving Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Democrats appeared to backtrack from their campaign-season pledge in at least one area. They were sharply critical of Republicans for keeping a roll-call vote open for hours so leaders could find enough votes to pass Medicare legislation in late 2003. But rather than ban the practice, the proposed rule declares that a vote "shall not be held open for the sole purpose of reversing the outcome."

Two months after the voters ordered a change in congressional control, Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate, as well as Bush, pledged to work in a bipartisan spirit.

"Democrats are committed to working with Republicans to get results," Reid wrote in a memo distributed to the party's rank-and-file. He said an unprecedented all-senators meeting set for Thursday morning would "allow us to start off on the right foot, as colleagues instead of adversaries."

Those promises could scarcely obscure the political jockeying under way.

After long pledging a new era of civility and openness in the House, Democrats said they would not allow Republicans the chance to amend any of the first half-dozen bills to be brought to a vote during the first 100 hours of the new Congress. The measures relate to the minimum wage, stem cell research, energy, student loans and recommendations by the commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of 2001.

"We view the first 100 hours as essentially a mandate from the American people," Hoyer told reporters, explaining the decision to safeguard those measures from Republican attack.

Republicans were quick to complain - after spending years ignoring Democratic complaints along the same lines. Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., sent Democrats a letter saying they were violating promises Pelosi had made to allow a "fair debate consisting of a full amendment process that grants the minority the right to offer its alternatives, including a substitute."

More broadly, Republican leaders lined up to support Bush's call for a balanced budget by 2012 while protecting tax cuts passed while they held power.

"In February, the president will submit a budget to Congress that will grow the economy by making tax cuts for working families permanent, and I support those efforts," said Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the incoming Republican leader.

Bush said at the White House that his proposal "will restrain spending while setting priorities. It will address the most urgent needs of our nation, in particular the need to protect ourselves from radicals and terrorists, the need to win the war on terror, the need to maintain a strong national defense and the need to keep this economy growing by making tax relief permanent."

"We welcome the president's newfound commitment to a balanced budget, but his comments make us wary," said Rep. John Spratt of South Carolina, the incoming Democratic chairman of the House Budget Committee. "We will simply have to scrutinize the president's budget when it comes next month to see if the rhetoric matches reality."

CNN Apologizes for 'Where's Obama?' Gaffe

CNN apologized Tuesday for mistakenly promoting a story on the search for Osama bin Laden with the headline "Where's Obama?" A spokesman for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama said the apology was accepted.

The blunder came Monday evening on Wolf Blitzer's news show "The Situation Room." Both Soledad O'Brien and Blitzer offered separate apologies during CNN's morning show Tuesday.

CNN called it a "bad typographical error" by its graphics department.

"We want to apologize for that bad typo," Blitzer said. "We also want to apologize personally to Sen. Barack Obama. I'm going to be making a call to him later this morning to offer my personal apology."

Tommy Vieto, Obama's press secretary, said he appreciated the bloggers and activists who brought the error to light so quickly and helped make sure it was corrected.

"Though I'd note that the `s' and `b' keys aren't all that close to each other, I assume it was just an unfortunate mistake, and don't think there was any truly malicious intent," Vieto said.

Reporters May Testify in CIA Leak Case

Some journalists who made careers out of questioning government officials and bearing witness to history may soon find themselves answering questions from prosecutors as key witnesses in the CIA leak case.

Ten or more reporters from some of the most prominent news organizations could be called to testify in the perjury and obstruction case of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. It's rare enough for reporters to become witnesses. But the Libby case is even more unusual because journalists will be dueling witnesses - some called by the defense team, some by prosecutors.

"It will be unprecedented and, as far as I'm concerned, horrifying," Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said of the case, for which jury selection begins in two weeks.

Prosecutors want to show that Libby lied to investigators about his conversations with journalists regarding outed CIA officer Valerie Plame, and they are expected to rely on former New York Times reporter Judith Miller, Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper and NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert to make their case.

Libby, the former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, has said he had no reason to lie and simply didn't remember those conversations. His attorneys have said they will call as many as seven unidentified journalists to testify about their conversations with Libby to bolster his case.

The Libby case has rankled news agencies for nearly three years, since Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald began subpoenaing journalists to testify before a grand jury. Fitzgerald said it was the only way he could thoroughly investigate whether any laws were broken.

After a lengthy court fight that included an 85-day jail term for Miller, Fitzgerald won cooperation from journalists. When Libby was indicted, it was clear reporters would be key witnesses.

That puts them in the awkward position of aiding a criminal investigation, something journalism groups say erodes the wall between the government and an independent press.

Plame's identity was first revealed by syndicated columnist Robert Novak. She believes she was outed as retribution for her husband's criticism of the Bush administration's prewar intelligence on Iraq.

Jurors likely won't hear much about the leak itself because the original source, former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, has already confirmed his role and Libby is not charged with the leak. But the trial is certain to renew questions about whether the administration used reporters to drum up support for the war.

Roy Peter Clark, a scholar at the Poynter Institute, a school and resource center for working journalists, said he worries about the fallout from the trial. If it's perceived that reporters grant anonymity to officials engaged in political gamesmanship, prosecutors might be more likely to subpoena them in cases where anonymity was granted in serious issues of public importance.

"This case, it's magnified by the fact that it's in Washington and the status of the players," Clark said. "It's a bizarre and I'd say dangerous case."

Justice Department policies require prosecutors to exhaust other remedies before sending subpoenas to reporters, and each decision is reviewed by the attorney general, although U.S. investigators and prosecutors occasionally have violated these rules. In the past 15 years, only 13 media subpoenas have been granted involving confidential sources, Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty told Congress in September.

"This record reflects restraint," he said. "We have recognized the media's right and obligation to report broadly on issues of public controversy and, absent extraordinary circumstances, have committed to shielding the media from all forms of compulsory process."

Libby's attorneys have not publicly named the reporters they expect to be defense witnesses. Two reporters have said they will fight subpoenas, but defense attorney William Jeffress said he expects that will be resolved before trial. Because Libby is calling them to testify about his own conversations with reporters, Jeffress said there should be no confidentiality concerns.

President Bush did not include Libby on his list of pre-Christmas pardons, and the Justice Department said he does not have a pending pardon application on file.