4A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
WAR IN IRAQ
MONDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2006
Pressure to stop Iraq's bloodshed builds
BY DEB RIECHMANN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats urged the White House on Sunday to increase the pressure on Iraq's prime minister to crush militias blamed for the rising bloodshed.
President Bush expressed unwav-
ering confidence in Nouri al-Malki's
ability to come to grips with the sectarian violence. Yet continued instability and rising casualties have led to calls, growing louder as the Nov. 7 elections near, for Bush to overhaul his war plan.
"I don't believe that a shift in tactics ought to wait until after the election," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "There are too many
Two U.S. troops were killed in fighting, the military said Sunday, raising the death toll in October to 80, the highest of any month this year. The overall U.S. death toll has surpassed 2,780.
casualties there. If we have a better course, we ought to adopt it sooner rather than later."
Sen, Jack Reed, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the Bush administration's Iraq policy was failure. "What we have is a situation where this government over the last few months is deteriorating," said Reed, D-R.I.
While agreeing al-Maliki is the best leader to support in Iraq right now, lawmakers from both parties said he must do more to find a political solution between warring Shiite and Sunni sects, or peace will remain out of reach.
Bush said in his judgment,
"Maliki has got what it takes to lead a unity government." But the president noted the urgency the new government faces to stop the killing.
"I'm patient. I'm not patient forever, and I'm not patient with dawdling."
Photography exhibit opening reception & booksigning
Wally Emerson
gift-book collection of 40 stunning color photographs of the Lawrence campus
SATURDAY
28 OCTOBER 2006
10:30 a.m.| Kansas Union
Oread Books | Level 2
864-4431, oreadbooks.com
It's Halloween, come find your wild side.
new costume items coming out every day until Halloween!
Wild Man Vintage
785-865-0303·939 Mass
Global Awareness
Prepare to live, lead and work in a global society
Program
Are you...
Taking a class with an international focus?
Participating in international co-curricular activities?
Studying a foreign language?
Studying abroad?
...Then you need to know about GAP!
U undergraduates are recognized for their international experiences. Certification is offered on KU transcripts if they complete 2 of 3 requirements: A. Study Abroad B. 2 semesters of foreign language and 3 internationally themed classes C. Participation
KU
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS The University of Kansas
Paid for by KU
in co-curricular or service oriented activities that have an international focus.Certification is every semester. Those who have completed some or all of the requirements can also participate.
Register online,
www.internationalku.edu
or contact Jane Irungu,
Strong Hall Room 300
gab@ku.edu.864-6161
ELECTION
Kline losing support after six rough weeks
BY JOHN HANNA ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOPEKA — Phill Kline has just seen as rough a six-week period as any statewide candidate in Kansas in recent memory.
The bad times for Kline began with the anonymous leak in September of an internal memo he wrote outlining an effort to make the most of his support among conservative Christians. Its blunt directions to staff included making sure pastors bring "money people" to post-worship events.
He lost a key ally, former Attorney General Bob Stephan. But the low point may have been last week, when Kline and the state GOP publicized allegations of sexual harassment from two long-dismissed federal lawsuits against Democratic challenger Paul Morrison, the Johnson County district attorney.
This seemed politically risky, given that neither case against Morrison resulted in a completed trial or any damages from Morrison to the former employee who sued him. The litigation against Morrison stemmed from his 1991 firing of his victim coordinator. She filed a lawsuit a month later and told attorneys who questioned her that Morrison had made a drunken sexual advance at her during an office party in a bar. Morrison said he told her she was attractive, realized she took the comment the wrong way and apologized the next day.
Then there was Friday's endorsement of Morrison by former Attorney General Carla Stovall Steckline, a Republican and Kline's immediate predecessor in office. Activists in both parties had assumed Kline's race against Morrison would be close
and difficult, but Kline had a potent weapon — and perhaps his best issue — in Morrison's support of a 2000 law that reduced probation for some offenders and the state's supervision of many parolees.
Nearly 1,800 people — one in every five — of those affected later returned to prison for new crimes. Within six months of the law taking effect, nearly 900 offenders sitting in prison for violating their parole or probation were released.
But Kline has spent a lot of time talking about other issues.
First, there's the church memo. The people most likely to be offended by it are members of mainline denominations whose worship traditions emphasize liturgies and lessons and rarely feature guest testimony. That could be a problem for Kline as he tries to keep moderate Republican Catholics, Episcopalians, Methodists or Presbyterians from voting for Morrison. The rift with Stephan caused the fellow Republican to criticize Kline's tapping conservative churchgoers for contributions.
Stephan was particularly bothered that, after Kline gave religious testimony at one Topeka church, the congregation passed around its collection plate. The resulting "love offering" went to SWT Communications, a company run by Kline's wife. Under Kansas law, such payments create legal issues. According to the state Governmental Ethics Commission, officials can't accept speaking fees in their official capacities, even if the money ends up with a third party, such as a business or charity.
Whether such a payment violates Kansas law depends entirely on whether Kline was acting in his official capacity or, as the church's pastor said, only as "a brother in the Lord." A mere introduction of Kline as attorney general might be enough, under the right circumstances, to put the payment across the line.
Oppression can only survive through silence.
Tunnel of op•pres•sion
How long will you remain silent?
October 23 & 24 Lewis Hall
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
An interactive, multi-media experience that teaches about oppression.
PARTY AMERICA Your Halloween Headquarters 23rd & Naismith • 865-3803
If you'll patch the holes in your wall to protect the deposit on your apartment... then patch your computer and protect all your other important stuff.
http://www.security.ku.edu
be seKUre
Dietrich Earnhart
Associate Professor of Economics & Recipient of the 20th Byron T. Shutz Award for Distinguished Teaching
Presents his public Shutz Award Lecture The Effects of Ownership Structure on Corporate Performance
Monday, October 23rd @ 5:30 Alderson Auditorium. Kansas Union