Arbiter Online

World

Brownback supports partition of Iraq

WAUKEE, Iowa – Republican presidential contender Sam Brownback said that Congress should stop debating U.S. military withdrawal timetables and instead move forward with a plan to partition Iraq into three states.

Reflecting a rare melding of thought among presidential contenders of different political parties, Brownback, a Kansas senator, said he will try to advance next-week legislation he has co-sponsored with Democratic candidate Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware. The legislation would implement the so-called three-state solution in the country. The plan would establish separate boundaries for the country’s Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite populations.

The legislation has generally been opposed by the White House, which has rejected the concept of a decentralized Iraqi government that would mainly deal with border incursions and distribution of the nation’s oil revenues.

But Brownback, making a stop at the Waukee Fall Festival, said Army Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, has “put to rest for a while” concerns in Washington that the military was not making progress. But, he said, testimony by Ambassador Ryan Crocker “did not put to rest the question of whether we’re making political progress” in Iraq.

“We had two guys testify this last week. We had Petraeus and Crocker. All the focus has been on Petraeus, but where we really need focus is on Crocker,” Brownback told reporters. “This is where we’re not getting the progress, the political part, and it’s actually where we could come together.”

Brownback said he has detected no change in the “environment” that existed in previous unsuccessful attempts led by Democrats to tie military withdrawal timetables to Iraq War funding.

Brownback said he has discussed a renewed push for the partitioning legislation with Biden and with Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada and “my hope is we can bring it up for a vote.”

The socially conservative Kansas senator, who has said he needs a top four finish in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses to continue his presidential campaign, said even a phased process of partitioning Iraq could lead to a reduction of U.S. troop levels.

Still, he said, he expects a long-term commitment by U.S. troops to provide oversight to the Kurds in the north because of long-standing tensions with Turkey and to the Sunnis in the west because of concerns by Saudi Arabia.

“The key is getting our death loss down. We can be someplace for 50 years if we’re not losing soldiers,” Brownback said. “But if we’re losing people every day, I can’t support that.”

National

Former Guantanamo detainees sue U.S. over Quran desecration

WASHINGTON – Among the reports of abuses by government officials at the Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, perhaps few inflamed Muslims worldwide as much as allegations that copies of the Quran were dumped in filthy prison toilets.

Now four former detainees are suing those U.S. officials over those very allegations – and employing a novel argument to do it. Before a federal appeals court in Washington, they argued that a law passed in the 1990s to emphasize the importance of religion in American life gives them a right to recover damages for torture and faith-based humiliation.

The plaintiffs’ case has already survived an attempt by the government to knock it out, and if the appeals court upholds that decision, the United States will find itself dragged into unexplored legal territory.

The Muslim plaintiffs have help from some unlikely allies. Religious groups ranging from Jews to evangelicals have filed briefs in support, as has a group of retired military officers.

While these groups’ reasons vary, as do those of the lawyers donating their time to the case, there is a common theme: a desire to infuse the U.S.’s ongoing war on terrorism with an increased moral sensibility. “This is a case about accountability,” said Eric Lewis, the Washington lawyer who represents the four freed detainees.

K. Hollyn Hollman, a lawyer for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, added, “It would be extremely sad if our country was using religion as a means to target people in interrogations.”

But the Bush administration has consistently argued that it can’t be encumbered in combating terrorists and must have discretion to deal with threats as needed. “These plaintiffs are suing for official actions taken in the course of war,” Justice Department lawyer Jonathan Cohn said. “They just can’t do that.”

The Pentagon has denied that any copies of the Quran were dumped into toilets but has acknowledged five incidents of Quran desecration at the base.

The case involves four British nationals. Three - Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal and Rhuhel Ahmed – were handed over to the U.S. by warlords in Afghanistan. The fourth, Jamal al-Harith, was in an Afghan prison during the American invasion, having been captured while trying to get to Turkey from Pakistan. While in U.S. custody, Ahmed alleges he was tortured until he falsely confessed to joining al-Qaida.

All four were taken and held at Guantanamo for two years, where they say they were beaten, shackled in painful positions, threatened with dogs and deprived of food and sleep. They were released in March 2004 after the Pentagon concluded that they posed no threat to national security. They deny being affiliated with any terrorist group.

They sued in federal court in Washington, bringing a bevy of constitutional and statutory claims and asking for more than $10 million in damages. Last year a judge threw out almost all the claims, agreeing with the government’s position that Pentagon officials, from former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on down, couldn’t be sued for actions taken in wartime.

But one claim survived – brought under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

In his decision, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina wrote, “The plaintiffs allege that representatives of the United States government perpetrated blatant and shocking acts against them on account of their religion. Such activities, if true, constitute a direct affront to one of this nation’s most cherished constitutional traditions.”

The act was passed by Congress in 1993 in the wake of several Supreme Court decisions that permitted the government to limit the free exercise of religious activities at work, in prisons and in the military, among other places.

The law says that if the government infringes on someone’s religion, it must have a compelling reason for doing so. It is that principle that has pushed some religious groups to take their stand.

“We in no way want to endanger the government’s efforts against terrorism,” Hollman said. “That said, we highly value religious freedom.”

In their complaint, the detainees say Guantanamo prison guards threw a copy of the Quran into a toilet bucket, forced them to shave their beards, prohibited prayer, deliberately interrupted prayers with the playing of rock music, and forced prisoners to pray with exposed genitals.

The Pentagon has repeatedly denied that a copy of the Quran was ever found in a toilet, but in 2005 admitted five episodes of “mishandling” of the Quran, calling them inadvertent.

Both sides appealed Urbina’s decision. They argued the case before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. One of the judges is Janice Rogers Brown, an African-American evangelical.

Lawyers for the government did not address the plaintiffs’ allegations of torture and abuse, arguing instead that the religious restoration act does not apply to aliens outside the U.S. One reason, they said, was that the foreign-born detainees at Guantanamo aren’t “persons” as defined by the statute.

“Are you saying aliens abroad aren’t persons?” Brown asked.
“At the very least, the word is ambiguous,” answered Justice Department lawyer Cohn. Plaintiffs’ lawyer Lewis faced pointed questioning from Judge A. Raymond Randolph, who has consistently supported the administration’s position in rulings on Guantanamo detainees. At one point, Randolph asked the attorney, “What’s your definition of religion?”

After a pause, Lewis said, “I would suggest Islam fits within any definition of religion.”

Randolph also expressed concern that a ruling in the plaintiffs’ favor would perhaps give those abused at the prison at Abu Ghraib the power to sue the U.S. government.

To which Lewis replied, “One place at a time, your honor.”

Local / BSU

Wildfire danger remains

While cooler weather and longer nights have helped ease the wildfire danger a bit, authorities warn that the prospect remains for new fires to ignite.

This weekend’s weather includes the potential for dry lightning and low relative humidity, Boise National Forest officials said.

Because of that, along with the opening of big game and upland game bird hunting seasons in many parts of the state, the potential for dangerous wildfires is still of significant concern.

Fire restrictions remain in place prohibiting open fires and limiting the use of motorized vehicles to designated roads and trails. They also allow firewood cutting only between
1 a.m. and 1 p.m. Roads, trails and areas associated with the Cascade Fire Complex in Yellow Pine and Warm Lake  continue to remain closed to the public for safety reasons. 

But as fall draws closer, fire bosses say favorable burning conditions are gradually declining. In addition, weather predictions for this coming week indicate the possibility of some moisture or at least increased relative humidity in some areas, which may also help end the fire season.

Courtesy Idaho-Press Tribune

What the ?

Whew, we made it ... Oh! Police dogs - run!

Two men robbed a gas station in Derby City, England, then drove off, later abandoning their vehicle in a parking lot where, they were soon to learn, the local police were conducting a dog-training exercise. They were arrested after a brief chase.

So, where are the ladies?

Lured by young women with signs offering “Topless Car Washes,” men pulled off the highway and under a big, blue tarp, expecting to have comely, half-naked wenches buff up their vehicles. Instead, it was shirtless – and very masculine – firefighters who awaited them. Some patrons were more than a little peeved.

Article Tools