contributions

NEW YORK - Why did it take so long for the Bush and Kerry campaigns to agree on a debate schedule? Sen. John Kerry had the answer for television’s Regis Philbin, who has hosted the quiz show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"
"The big hang-up was George Bush wanted to get life lines, you know, so he could call somebody," the Democratic candidate for president quipped Tuesday while appearing on "Live With Regis and Kelly."
Contestants on the multiple-choice quiz show could contact a (…)

The weekend’s leaked No 10 papers have revealed the depth of official fears about the legality of the Iraq invasion - and the disaster it presaged
by Richard Norton-Taylor
Leaked Whitehall documents present an extraordinarily revealing picture of how Tony Blair’s closest advisers and his foreign secretary, Jack Straw, warned him of the pitfalls of following the Bush administration’s march to war against Iraq.
For Blair, it was inconceivable that the US would invade without Britain. He (…)

by Steven R. Weisman WASHINGTON With a violent insurgency mounting in Iraq, the Bush administration hardly has time for another crisis overseas. Yet a barrage of warnings from Washington about Iran seems likely to erupt into a confrontation with the Tehran government, perhaps before the end of the year.
American anxiety is focused not simply on Iran’s apparent efforts to develop a nuclear bomb. There are also signs, administration officials have said, of support by Iran for the (…)

by Michael Moore
Dear Friends, Enough of the handwringing! Enough of the doomsaying! Do I have to come there and personally calm you down? Stop with all the defeatism, OK? Bush IS a goner
IF we all just quit our whining and bellyaching and stop shaking like a bunch of nervous ninnies. Geez, this is embarrassing! The Republicans are laughing at us. Do you ever see them cry
"Oh, it’s all over! We are finished! Bush can’t win! Waaaaaa!" Hell no. It’s never over for them until the last (…)

A militant group headed by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has killed an American captive in Iraq after the lapse of a 24-hour deadline, a statement posted on the Internet and an Arabic channel says.
The Qatar-based Al Jazeera said a statement announcing the killing of American Jack Hensley, 48, by the Tawhid and Jihad group was posted on the Internet on Tuesday. It gave no further details.
On an Islamist site, a contributor who has in the past posted messages in the name of Tawhid (…)

di LUKE BAKER
BAGHDAD - Militants killed a second American captive in Iraq after a 24-hour deadline passed on Tuesday, a web site statement and Arab television said.
There was no immediate word of the fate of a Briton also being held by the Tawhid and Jihad group which on Monday said it had beheaded the first of three contractors seized last week.
The group, led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said on Monday in video footage of American Eugene Armstrong’s killing that it would (…)

JERUSALEM - The United States will sell Israel nearly 5,000 smart bombs in one of the largest weapons deals between the allies in years, the Haaretz newspaper reported Tuesday.
The deal could face political controversy since Israel has used such bombs in fighting with the Palestinians, the daily said. In one such instance in July 2002, a one-ton bomb meant for a senior Palestinian militant also killed 15 civilians in an attack in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites).
The deal is worth $319 (…)

By Grant Holloway
SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) — A political row has broken out in Australia over election campaign suggestions that Australia would consider a "pre-emptive strike" against terrorist operations in neighboring countries.
The "pre-emptive strike" scenario was floated by conservative Australian Prime Minister John Howard who is seeking a consecutive fourth term in office when the nation goes to the polls on October 9.
Labor opposition leader Mark Latham has criticized the (…)

COLUMBIA—Only about 60 percent of reservists ordered to report to Fort Jackson have reported so far, Army officials said.
As of Tuesday, 186 of the 309 members of the Individual Ready Reserve ordered to report to the Columbia base had arrived, said Lt. Col. Burton L. Masters, spokesman for the Army’s Human Resources Command.
"We’re not surprised by those numbers at all," Masters said.
Most of those who have not reported are seeking exemptions from active duty or delays in reporting, he (…)

by Humphrey McQueen
Craig Johnston isn’t in jail because of the offence to which he pleaded guilty. He’s in jail because of the totality of his political activities over the last 10 and more years.
The judges made that very clear in the appeal court. They listed his political activities around things like East Timor, the anti-globalisation demonstrations in September 2000, the work he did for refugees, the work he did for the asbestos sufferers. All of these things were held against him (…)