THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2007
NEWS
5A
WORLD
Plan for Iraq exit rejected
Senate Democrats say proposal to pull out 5,500 troops by year's end doesn't go far enough
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid of Nev., right, accompanied by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., left, gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington Wednesday. Senateademative leaders on Wednesday rejected the call by Gen. David Petraeus for a reduction of U.S. troops in Iraq by next summer, saying it does not go far enough.
BY ANNE FLAHERTY ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - A day before President Bush's war address, Senate Democrats rejected a four-star general's recommendation to keep some 130,000 troops in Iraq through next summer and sought legislation that would limit the mission of U.S. forces.
Their proposal was not expected to set a deadline to end the war, as many Democrats want, but restrict troops to narrow objectives: training Iraq's military and police, protecting U.S. assets and fighting terrorists, Democratic party officials told The Associated Press.
The goal is to attract enough Republicans to break the 60-vote threshold in the Senate needed to end a filibuster. Democrats have proved unable to do that since they took control of Congress eight months ago.
"I call on the Senate Republicans to not walk lockstep as they have with the president for years in this war," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said at a news conference. "It's time to change. It's the president's war. At this point it also appears clear it's also the Senate Republican's war."
Reid and other Democrats said that proposal does not go far enough.
"It creates and provides an illusion of change in an effort to take the wind out of the sails of those of us who want to truly change course in Iraq," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
of Maine, but most GOP lawmakers said they were reluctant to impose a firm timetable.
Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., seen as another potential swing vote, said he was working with Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., on legislation that would put Petraeus' recommendations into law.
Absent a new political climate, Democrats are in a tough position: They can continue to insist on a hardline position and fail, letting weeks go by without passing anti-war legislation, or they soften their stance.
Democrats struggled to regain momentum in the war debate after two days of testimony by Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
Petraeus said the 30,000 troop buildup begun this year had yielded some gains and needed more time. He recommended slowly reversing the buildup, drawing down about 5,500 soldiers and Marines by year's end and aiming for a force of 130,000 next summer.
At issue in talks among Reid and Senate Democrats was how far they should go in forcing a new mission for troops without losing support from various political sides, according to congressional aides familiar with the meeting in Reid's office.
ENTERTAINMENT
Petraeus' assessment inflamed Democrats, but assuaged many Republicans. It did lead to tough questions from several Republican skeptics, including Sens. John Warner of Virginia and Susan Collins
In a bold challenge to Petraeus' assessment, Reid said the "situation on the ground in Iraq has not changed at all". He later acknowledged gains in Anbar province, "but it's like the big balloon that you push on one side and it comes out someplace else."
Kanye wins first day of music battle, outsells 50 Cent by 127,000 albums
Even after MTV tantrums, West's 'Graduation' leading in sales
BY NEKESA MUMBI MOODY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kaney West, left, and 50 Cent present an award at the MTV Video Music Awards at the Palms Hotel and Casino on Sunday in Las Vegas.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — 50 Cent may be getting hip-hop's equivalent of a gold watch next week.
Early reports have Kanye West beating 50 in their much-hyped battle of album sales: West's "Graduation" is on pace to sell about 575,000 to 700,000 its first week out, while 50 Cent's "Curtis" is on track to do 550,000, according to Billboard magazine. As of day one, Kanye had sold 437,000 copies to 50's 310,000, according to Nielsen Soundscan.
Both albums came out Tuesday, and a confident 50 Cent famously announced that he would retire if West outsold him in first-week sales.
"I just don't view him as competition based on our previous sales histories," 50 Cent told The Associated Press last month.
But it looks as if 50 underestimated the power of West, and perhaps, overestimated his own appeal.
"I don't think it's helped 50 that so many of these pre-release singles that have come out have fizzled on the charts right away," said Jonathan Cohen, Billboard's senior editor. "There were street date changes. It has just not been a good run-up to this record for him."
Meanwhile, Cohen says West is having a more "charmed" experience, despite his recent tantrum at the MTV Video Music Awards after going home empty-handed.
"These tantrums he goes on, these outlandish comments he makes, they don't really hurt him," Cohen said. "If anything, they've got more people interested in what he's all about."
and he could catch up and overtake West.
"It is a projection." Cohen said of the initial sales predictions. "It can very easily deviate."
Country singer Kenny Chesney's "Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates," also released on Tuesday, is on pace to sell 550,000 albums.