UPI NewsTrack TopNews - September 20, 2007
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Sept. 19
Filibuster tactic kills troop rest bill
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 A majority of U.S. senators voted Wednesday for a bill requiring troops get more rest before returning overseas but it died for lack of a veto-proof majority.
The bill -- backed by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., and Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. -- was killed after receiving only 56 votes, four short of the 60 it needed to prevent a filibuster, The New York Times reported.
Forty-four senators voted against it, including presidential hopeful, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
"We have one commander in chief, and one only," said McCain during the debate leading up to the vote.
The vote broke largely along party lines. All Senate Democrats voted for it, along with six Republicans and one Independent -- Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Among the Republicans who voted for the bill, four -- Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Gordon Smith of Oregon, John Sununu of New Hampshire and Susan Collins of Maine -- face difficult re-election contests in 2008.
Sen. John Warner, R-Va. -- who had previously endorsed the measure -- voted against it Wednesday, saying he had been persuaded by senior military officials it could lengthen soldiers' tours in Iraq, the Times said.
Webb and Hagel told reporters they would continue to press the debate in the Iraq War.
"It's going to be a long, emotional debate," he said.
"We'll keep at this and assure that the American people understand what's in play," said Hagel.
U.S.-Iraq panel named in Blackwater wake
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 The United States and Iraq are setting up a joint commission to examine issues related to contracted services for security and safety for U.S. personnel.
The announcement comes days after an incident in which employees of the U.S. private military contractor Blackwater, protecting a State Department motorcade, apparently came under attack and fired back, killing a reported 11 people.
The joint commission will make policy recommendations, including suggestions for improving U.S. and Iraqi procedures regarding security details, said State Department spokesman Tom Casey.
"The United States regrets the loss of life as a result of this incident and reiterates its commitment to a comprehensive and transparent investigation," Casey said.
The spokesman said the joint commission would not conduct a specific investigation of the weekend incident but receive results from the U.S. investigation, "review them and make policy recommendations" based on the review and on an examination of the general issue personal security detail operations.
The commission will be jointly co-chaired by the United States and Iraq, and will have equal representation from both countries, Casey said.
Bush decries Lebanese lawmaker's death
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 The White House Wednesday said a Lebanese Parliament member who was killed in a car bombing outside Beirut was "viciously murdered."
"We strongly condemn the assassination of a Lebanese member of Parliament, Antoine Ghanem," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. "He was viciously murdered today in Beirut, along with several other innocent persons."
The car bombing in the Sin el-Fil neighborhood outside the Lebanese capital killed six people. The explosion comes several months after Parliament member Walid Eido was killed in a Beirut bombing that killed nine others, and just weeks before Parliament is to meet to determine who will replace President Emile Lahoud.
"Since October 2004, there has been a pattern of political assassinations and attempted assassinations designed to intimidate," Perino said.
U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said, "I don't think any of us view it as a coincidence that, as Lebanon's preparing to elect a new president, this incident has occurred."
Rice reiterates hope for Palestinian state
JERUSALEM, Sept. 19 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni reiterated their hope for advancing the formation of a Palestinian state.
The United States wants "to be as supportive as possible of this bilateral dialogue," Rice said during a joint news briefing in Jerusalem.
Livni said discussions considered the "need to reach an understanding between Israel and the Palestinians ... on the widest common ground, which is possible I hope."
Rice is in the Middle East for discussions with Israeli and Palestinian officials about the formation of a Palestinian state. Meetings are planned with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas -- whom the Israeli and U.S. governments recognize as the Palestinian leader despite the Hamas majority in Parliament.
The two also restated their positions regarding the Israeli Parliament voting to declare Gaza -- part of an envisioned Palestinian state -- an "enemy entity," and to impose sanctions. Rice said the United States would not "abandon" innocent Palestinians living in Gaza, but considers the militant Hamas "hostile."
Livni said Israeli leaders hope the Gaza situation improves and that "the Palestinians understand that supporting these kind of terrorists are not going to help them."
Copyright 2007 by UPI
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