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NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY OF BAHY KANSAN
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14,2006
IRAQ WAR
Panel exchanges ideas with Bush
BY TOM RAUM AND ANNE PLUMMER FLA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — President Bush traded ideas on Iraq with a bipartisan commission Monday and promised to work with the incoming Democratic majority toward "common objectives." At the same time, he renewed his opposition to any timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops.
As Bush met with the Iraq Study Group, the Democrat in line to lead the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin of Michigan, said the administration didn't see that "we're getting deeper and deeper into a hole."
Levin and other Democrats called for some troops to come home right away, suggesting that would pressure the Iraqi government into assuming more responsibility.
President Bush meets with a bipartisan commission to discuss strategies for the Iraq war on Monday at the White House. Even before the Iraq Study Group's work is finished, the panel's report is widely seen as an opportunity to give the campaign-weary Democratic and Republican parties a chance at consensus — or at least a framework for agreement.
Bush in turn had stern words for the Democrats, less than a week after they won control of both chambers of Congress in midterm elections in which the Iraq war figured prominently.
While Democrats agree that troops should leave Iraq sooner rather than later, they remain divided on the specifics. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a contender to become the next majority leader, supports an
immediate withdrawal of all troops, whereas Levin and others favor a slower phased withdrawal and have been reluctant to suggest a firm timetable.
Baker's panel has been briefed on the Democrats' proposals and is considering a range of options. In addition to considering whether there should be any timetable to pull out troops, the panel is studying many other options, including whether to solicit Iran and Syria to help stop the fighting.
Whereas Murtha and some others contend violence in Iraq will continue so long as U.S. troops are present, Levin and others warn that any withdrawal of troops must be done slowly to avoid a collapse in security.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The president met for more than an hour with a 10-member panel headed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton. He was joined by Vice President Dick Cheney, Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley.
The panel then stayed around for a longer session that included other members of the president's national security team, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and outgoing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
Michael Browning/THE LOGAN BANNER
Gunman holds up pharmacy for drugs
West Virginia State Police and Logan, W.Va., City Police officers stand behind a police cruiser outside the Family Discount Pharmacy in Stollings, W.Va., on Monday during a robbery attempt-turned hostage situation. Police were able to get all six of the hostages out of the building and the suspect, Jeffrey Harvey, 31, of Logan, was arrested.
CRIME
Suspect said medicine was too expensive, didn't plan to harm hostages in store
BY TOM BREEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
STOLLINGS, W.Va. - Four people taken hostage by a gunman at a pharmacy overpowered their captor Monday after he demanded prescription drugs and fired several shots, authorities said.
None of the hostages was harmed, but the suspect was taken to a hospital, Ferrell said. The nature of his injuries was not immediately clear, but a witness said he had taken a painkiller and an anti-anxiety drug.
The 90-minute standoff ended when the hostages, who were barricaded inside the store with the gunman, hit him with something, Sheriff's Deputy B.E. Ferrell said.
The gunman arrived with a handgun and a saeed-off shotgun, taking six people hostage
Workers told the man there were more drugs in an adjacent building, Thompson said. She told the suspect she was going to get the keys to the other building but ran for help instead.
"I was just afraid he would hurt the rest of them that were in there," she said. Another worker in the store also escaped after a similar ruse.
The man told the hostages that he wanted to kill himself but did not want to hurt them, Thompson said. He was given an unknown quantity of Lortab, a painkiller, and Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, which he took, she said. He then became drowsy.
Pharmacy technician Jessica Thompson,24,said the gunman said he needed drugs but could not afford to buy them.
the family Discount Pharmacy in Stollies, about 60 miles southwest of Charleston, according to Logan County 911 Director Marilyn Crosby.
Authorities identified the gunman as lefrey Harvey, 31. They did not release details about the last four hostages or how they overpowered him.
Giuliani files papers to explore presidency
POLITICS
BY DEVLIN BARRETT ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, a moderate Republican best known for his stewardship of the city after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has taken the first step in a 2008 presidential bid.
The paperwork, dated last Friday, is signed by Bobby Burchfield, a partner at the DC-based law firm of McDermott Will & Emery, a firm that handles political work.
The former mayor filed papers to create the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Exploratory Committee, Inc., establishing a New York-based panel that would allow him to raise money to explore a White House run and travel the country.
Giuliani spokeswoman Sunny Mindel declined to comment.
The four-page filing, obtained by The Associated Press, lists the purpose of the non-profit corporation "to conduct federal 'testing the waters' activity under the Federal Election Campaign Act for Rudy Giuliani."
One potential rival for the GOP nomination, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, said Sunday he was taking the initial step of setting up an exploratory committee.
Under federal election law, an exploratory committee allows an individual to travel and gauge the level of support for a candidacy without formally declaring themselves a candidate and adhering to all the federal rules of fundraising. An individual who spends money only to test the waters
- but not to campaign for office
- does not have to register as a candidate under the election law.
The GOP field is expected to grow with Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and New York Gov. George Pataki expected to join the presidential fray.
Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa has filed to establish a full-blown campaign committee and will make a more formal announcement of his candidacy later this month.
Giuliani was widely praised for leading the city during and after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He has said for months that he would wait until the end of the 2006 elections to decide whether to embark on a White House bid.
The former mayor is a moderate who supports gun control,
same-sex civil unions, embryonic stem-cell research and abortion rights — stands that would put him at odds with the majority of the GOP conservative base.
Giuliani has tried to sidestep those differences and offered strong praise for President Bush at the 2004 GOP convention in New York.
"It doesn't matter what the media does to ridicule him or misinterpret him or defeat him. They ridiculated Winston Churchill. They belittled Ronald Reagan. But like President Bush, they were optimists. Leaders need to be optimists. Their vision is beyond the present, and it's set on a future of real peace and security," Giuliani said.
In 2006, the Giuliani brand remained strong. He headlined fundraisers for Republican candidates nationwide and his travel has done little to deny 2008 ambitions. During a visit earlier this month to Columbia, S.C., Giuliani dodged the question: "There's a chance, but that's after this election is over."
"Some call it stubbornness. I call it principled leadership."
He then left South Carolina for New Hampshire, site of the nation's first primary and another GOP fundraiser.
Giuliani enjoys strong name recognition and a recent AP-AOL News poll conducted in late October found that among Republicans Giuliani was essentially tied with Condoleezza Rice and McCain on who they would most like to see elected president in 2008.
Rice has insisted that she will not run.
Giuliani, who was in his final months as New York City mayor when a pair of planes crashed into the World Trade Center's towers, became a national hero. Within hours of the attack, the mayor was visiting the site, caked in dust and walking through the chaos — a moment replayed repeatedly on television.
Assuming the role of "America's Mayor" and Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2001, Giuliani remained an in-demand speaker and GOP fundraiser. He was the first Republican to lead New York in decades, had cut crime and redeveloped rundown parts of the city.
He was a former U.S. attorney, leading campaigns against organized crime and corruption. He spent two years as the Justice Department's No. 3 post, overseeing all U.S. attorneys, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Marshals Service. The Brooklyn native was first elected New York's mayor in 1993.