THE UNIVERSITY DARLY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2007
NEWS
7A
Primary shuffle
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata speaks to reporters about a bill that would move California's 2008 presidential primary from June to February in Sacramento, Calif., on Tuesday. The state Senate on Tuesday approved the bill to give the most populous state a larger say in national politics. California would join at least nine states that have or are considering moving their presidential primaries to Feb. 5.
U.S. suspects Iranian aid to insurgents
IRAQ WAR
BY PAULINE JELINEK ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration struggled Tuesday to explain what it knows about alleged Iranian interference in Iraq after the Pentagon's top general appeared to contradict a recently released military dossier on the subject.
At issue was a weekend briefing in Baghdad at which three senior U.S. military officials said that the "highest levels" of the Iranian government had ordered the smuggling into Iraq of high-tech roadside bombs that have been killing American soldiers.
Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in the Indonesian
"I have no idea who may be actually with hands-on in this stuff, but I do know this is not helpful to the situation in Iraq."
capital, Jakarta, that U.S. forces have arrested Iranians in Iraq and some of the materials used in roadside bombs had been made in Iraq.
The assertion of Tehran's involvement, made by U.S. officers who spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday in Baghdad, had already drawn skeptical responses from some lawmakers and other critics still wary of an administration that based the invasion of Iraq on faulty intelligence.
Defense experts said Pace's comments _ and the way the dossier had been presented to reporters anonymously _ cast doubt on how solid the administration case is against Iran. Some suggested the apparent mixed messages were meant to keep Tehran off guard.
John Hutson, a retired former Navy judge advocate general and
dean of the Franklin Pierce Law School, said, "I think we have to take away from it a huge dose of caution."
ADM. WILLIAM FALLON U.S. Navy
Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Tuesday he could not explain the apparent contradiction and referred questions to Pace's office and to American forces in Baghdad.
A military official on Pace's staff said the general stands by his comments. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was
not authorized to speak on the record.
Asked if Pace had vetted the information that went into Sunday's briefing, the official said that Pace was aware of what was going to be presented in Baghdad but
that the comment about involvement at the highest levels of Iranian government was not included in the material Pace was given.
"I have no idea who may be actually with hands-on in this stuff, but I do know that this is not helpful to the situation in Iraq," said Navy Adm. William Fallon.
White House spokesman Tony
Snow said that he had phoned Pace on Tuesday and that there was no disagreement.
He said Pace agreed with the basic scenario spelled out by U.S. military officials on Sunday and then backed up by the White House _ that weapons are moving into Iraq through the Iran's Revolutionary Guards elite Quds Force.
Sunday's briefing had been some time in the making. The administration moved to put together its information after Tehran demanded the United States present evidence of its allegations, Defense officials in Baghdad had first put together a larger dossier, but it was rejected by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other administration officials who questioned some of the information in it.
"The Quds Force is, in fact, an official arm of the Iranian government and, as such, the government bears responsibility and accountability for its actions, as you would expect of any sovereign government." Snow told White House reporters.
"Questions remain, questions have not been answered," said Christopher Preble, an analyst at the CATO Institute, a libertarian research group, also noting the unidentified sources at Sunday's briefing. "At some level, that just seems not very credible to me."
》 ENTERTAINMENT
Abdul: I've never been drunk
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Paula Abdul's spacy behavior on "American Idol" has prompted many to ponder if there's a tumbler or two of booze in that red cup on the table in front of her on the Fox talent contest.
That's nonsense; the 44-year-old "Idol" judge told Us Weekly magazine in its Feb. 16 issue.
"I've never been drunk. I have never done recreational drugs;" she said.
In her five years on "Idol," Abdul — a singer and a movie, TV and stage choreographer — has weathered criticism about her sometimes odd behavior, which has included slurred and garbled speech, and her not-so-subtle gushing about the show's young, male singers.
"There have been 100 million lies about me." Abdul said. "I'm squeaky clean. I've worked my ass off my entire life. (But) being involved in the show causes people to question everything."
>> MARINE LIFE
Sonar training threat to sea life
Navy won't agree to restrictions
BY AUDREY MCAVOY ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONOLULUU — The Navy says it won't comply with sonar training restrictions that aim to protect marine mammals off the California coast, arguing that the commission that imposed the rules does not have the jurisdiction to do so.
the commission's jurisdiction.
A call to the coastal commission was not immediately returned Tuesday.
The U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a statement on Monday that the California Coastal Commission's rules cannot be applied beyond the scope of state waters,
"We can be responsible environmental stewards while our sonar operators receive realistic training."
Environmentalists on Tuesday criticized the Navy's decision, accusing it of denying the commission's authority to protect mammals off its coast. The Natural Resources Defense Council, an
VICE ADM. BARRY COSTELLO Commander of U.S. 3rd Fleet
three nautical miles from shore.
"The Navy does not take lightly our responsibility to the environment and marine life," said Vice Adm. Barry Costello, commander of the U.S. 3rd Fleet in San Diego. "And we can be responsible environmental stewards while our sonar operators receive realistic training and experience at sea they need."
The Navy has been using sonar during training exercises off the California coast for decades, a practice that critics say can injure whales and other sea mammals. Last year, it sought permission for the exercises from the commission as part of new internal guidelines to ensure major exercises are environmentally sound.
The commission agreed to the exercises last month. But it also imposed restrictions on use of mid-frequency active sonar in a zone the Navy said was outside
environmental group that has sued to stop other Navy sonar training, vowed to sue if the coastal commission does not.
"The notion that the commission is preempted from
protecting marine mammals off the California coast is not only without any legal basis but it is in direct contradiction to the fact that the commission has been doing exactly that for decades under the federal law protecting our coasts," said foel Reynolds of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Environmentalists say whales have stranded themselves on beaches after being exposed to high-intensity mid-frequency sonar. The sonar is also claimed to interfere with the ability of marine mammals to navigate, hunt, take care of their offspring and avoid predators.
The Navy acknowledges mid-frequency active sonar can contribute to marine mammal injury, or even death. It says it takes steps to protect marine mammals, such as posting lookouts on board to watch for marine mammals nearby.
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