SCOTUS Gets It Right: The Case Of Discrimination Aginst The White Firefighters In Connecticut

As reported here a few months ago, the stench from this case proved too foul for even wishy-washy Justice Kennedy. Justice has been served in this case of reverse discrimination against Frank Ricci, the other Ct. firefighters, and everyone who stands against racism.

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.

The ruling could alter employment practices nationwide and make it harder to prove discrimination when there is no evidence it was intentional.

New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said Monday in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.

The ruling could give Sotomayor's critics fresh ammunition two weeks before her Senate confirmation hearing. Conservatives say it shows she is a judicial activist who lets her own feelings color her decisions. On the other hand, liberal allies say her stance in the case demonstrates her restraint and unwillingness to go beyond established precedents.

Coincidentally, the court may have given a boost to calls for quick action on her nomination.

The court said it will return Sept. 9 to hear a second round of arguments in a campaign finance case, and with Justice David Souter retiring there would be only eight justices unless Sotomayor has been confirmed by then.

In Monday's ruling, Justice Anthony Kennedy said, "Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer's reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions." He was joined in the majority by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

In dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the white firefighters "understandably attract this court's sympathy. But they had no vested right to promotion. Nor have other persons received promotions in preference to them."

Justices Souter, Stephen Breyer and John Paul Stevens signed onto Ginsburg's dissent, which she read aloud in court Monday. Speaking dismissively of the majority opinion, she predicted the court's ruling "will not have staying power."

Kennedy's opinion made only passing reference to the work of Sotomayor and the other two judges on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals who upheld a lower court ruling in favor of New Haven.

But the appellate judges have been criticized for producing a cursory opinion that failed to deal with "indisputably complex and far from well-settled" questions, in the words of another appeals court judge, Sotomayor mentor Jose Cabranes.

"This perfunctory disposition rests uneasily with the weighty issues presented by this appeal," Cabranes said, in a dissent from the full 2nd Circuit's decision not to hear the case.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said Sotomayor should not be criticized for the unsigned appeals court decision, which he asserted she did not write. "Judge Sotomayor and the lower court panel did what judges are supposed to do, they followed precedent," said the Vermont Democrat who will preside over Sotomayor's confirmation hearings next month.

Leahy also called the high court decision "cramped" and wrong.

In New Haven, Nancy Ricci, whose son, Frank, was the lead plaintiff on the lawsuit, carried a large cake decorated with red, white and blue frosting into the law office where the firefighters were celebrating their victory.

The ruling is "a sign that individual achievement should not take a back seat to race or ethnicity," said Karen Torre, the firefighters' attorney. "I think the import of the decision is that cities cannot bow to politics and pressure and lobbying by special interest groups or act to achieve racial quotas."

At a press conference on the steps of city hall in New Haven, firefighter Frank Ricci said the ruling showed that "if you work hard, you can succeed in America."

Monday's decision has its origins in New Haven's need to fill vacancies for lieutenants and captains in its fire department. It hired an outside firm to design a test, which was given to 77 candidates for lieutenant and 41 candidates for captain.

Fifty-six firefighters passed the exams, including 41 whites, nine blacks and six Hispanics. But of those, only 17 whites and two Hispanics could expect promotion.

The city eventually decided not to use the exam to determine promotions. It said it acted because it might have been vulnerable to claims that the exam had a "disparate impact" on minorities in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The white firefighters said the decision violated the same law's prohibition on intentional discrimination. The lawsuit was filed by 20 white plaintiffs, including one man who is both white and Hispanic.

Kennedy said an employer needs a "strong basis in evidence" to believe it will be held liable in a disparate impact lawsuit. New Haven had no such evidence, he said.

The city declined to validate the test after it was given, a step that could have identified flaws or determined that there were no serious problems with it. In addition, city officials could not say what was wrong with the test, other than the racially skewed results.

"The city could be liable for disparate-impact discrimination only if the examinations were not job related" or the city failed to use a less discriminatory alternative, Kennedy said. "We conclude that there is no strong basis in evidence to establish that the test was deficient in either of these respects."

But Ginsburg said the court should have assessed "the starkly disparate results" of the exams against the backdrop of historical and ongoing inequality in the New Haven fire department. As of 2003, she said, only one of the city's 21 fire captains was African-American.

Until this decision, Ginsburg said, the civil rights law's prohibitions on intentional discrimination and disparate impact were complementary, both aimed at ending workplace discrimination.

"Today's decision sets these paired directives at odds," she said. (source)

Death By 1,000 Cuts: Cap And Trade Passes In Congress

Roll Call Vote On This Bill

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has put cap-and-trade legislation on a forced march through the House, and the bill may get a full vote as early as Friday. It looks as if the Democrats will have to destroy the discipline of economics to get it done.

Despite House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman's many payoffs to Members, rural and Blue Dog Democrats remain wary of voting for a bill that will impose crushing costs on their home-district businesses and consumers. The leadership's solution to this problem is to simply claim the bill defies the laws of economics.

Their gambit got a boost this week, when the Congressional Budget Office did an analysis of what has come to be known as the Waxman-Markey bill. According to the CBO, the climate legislation would cost the average household only $175 a year by 2020. Edward Markey, Mr. Waxman's co-author, instantly set to crowing that the cost of upending the entire energy economy would be no more than a postage stamp a day for the average household. Amazing. A closer look at the CBO analysis finds that it contains so many caveats as to render it useless.

For starters, the CBO estimate is a one-year snapshot of taxes that will extend to infinity. Under a cap-and-trade system, government sets a cap on the total amount of carbon that can be emitted nationally; companies then buy or sell permits to emit CO2. The cap gets cranked down over time to reduce total carbon emissions.

To get support for his bill, Mr. Waxman was forced to water down the cap in early years to please rural Democrats, and then severely ratchet it up in later years to please liberal Democrats. The CBO's analysis looks solely at the year 2020, before most of the tough restrictions kick in. As the cap is tightened and companies are stripped of initial opportunities to "offset" their emissions, the price of permits will skyrocket beyond the CBO estimate of $28 per ton of carbon. The corporate costs of buying these expensive permits will be passed to consumers.

The biggest doozy in the CBO analysis was its extraordinary decision to look only at the day-to-day costs of operating a trading program, rather than the wider consequences energy restriction would have on the economy. The CBO acknowledges this in a footnote: "The resource cost does not indicate the potential decrease in gross domestic product (GDP) that could result from the cap."

The hit to GDP is the real threat in this bill. The whole point of cap and trade is to hike the price of electricity and gas so that Americans will use less. These higher prices will show up not just in electricity bills or at the gas station but in every manufactured good, from food to cars. Consumers will cut back on spending, which in turn will cut back on production, which results in fewer jobs created or higher unemployment. Some companies will instead move their operations overseas, with the same result.

When the Heritage Foundation did its analysis of Waxman-Markey, it broadly compared the economy with and without the carbon tax. Under this more comprehensive scenario, it found Waxman-Markey would cost the economy $161 billion in 2020, which is $1,870 for a family of four. As the bill's restrictions kick in, that number rises to $6,800 for a family of four by 2035.

Note also that the CBO analysis is an average for the country as a whole. It doesn't take into account the fact that certain regions and populations will be more severely hit than others -- manufacturing states more than service states; coal producing states more than states that rely on hydro or natural gas. Low-income Americans, who devote more of their disposable income to energy, have more to lose than high-income families.

Even as Democrats have promised that this cap-and-trade legislation won't pinch wallets, behind the scenes they've acknowledged the energy price tsunami that is coming. During the brief few days in which the bill was debated in the House Energy Committee, Republicans offered three amendments: one to suspend the program if gas hit $5 a gallon; one to suspend the program if electricity prices rose 10% over 2009; and one to suspend the program if unemployment rates hit 15%. Democrats defeated all of them.

The reality is that cost estimates for climate legislation are as unreliable as the models predicting climate change. What comes out of the computer is a function of what politicians type in. A better indicator might be what other countries are already experiencing. Britain's Taxpayer Alliance estimates the average family there is paying nearly $1,300 a year in green taxes for carbon-cutting programs in effect only a few years.

Americans should know that those Members who vote for this climate bill are voting for what is likely to be the biggest tax in American history. Even Democrats can't repeal that reality.(source)

Obama's Failed Diplomacy: North Koreans Cry, "Let's Smash The US"

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Tens of thousands of North Koreans shouted slogans to denounce international sanctions at a rally in central Pyongyang on Thursday, as the communist country vowed to enlarge its atomic arsenal and warned of a "fire shower of nuclear retaliation" in the event of a U.S. attack.

The rally to mark the anniversary of the 1950 outbreak of the Korean War came a day after President Barack Obama extended U.S. economic sanctions against North Korea for another year, saying the North's possession of "weapons-usable fissile material" and its proliferation risk "continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat" to the United States, according to the White House Web site.


The U.S. measures are on top of U.N. sanctions imposed on the North over its nuclear test in May. The U.N. sanctions bar member states from buying weapons from or selling them to North Korea. They also ban the sale of luxury goods to the isolated country and financial transactions.

In Pyongyang, an estimated 100,000 packed the main square, shouting "Let's smash!" in unison while punching clenched fists in the air, footage from APTN in North Korea showed. A placard showed hands crushing a missile with "U.S." written on it.

The isolated, totalitarian regime often organizes such massive rallies at times of tension with the outside world.

North Korea's "armed forces will deal an annihilating blow that is unpredictable and unavoidable, to any 'sanctions' or provocations by the US," Pak Pyong Jong, first vice chairman of the Pyongyang City People's Committee, told the crowd.

State-run newspapers ran lengthy editorials accusing the U.S. of invading the country in 1950 and of looking for an opportunity to attack again. The editorials said those actions justified North Korea's development of atomic bombs to defend itself.

The North "will never give up its nuclear deterrent ... and will further strengthen it" as long as Washington remains hostile, Pyongyang's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said.

The new U.N. resolution—passed to punish Pyongyang after its May 25 nuclear test—seeks to clamp down on North Korea's trading of banned arms and weapons-related material by requiring U.N. member states to request inspections of ships carrying suspicious cargo.

North Korea has said it would consider any interception of its ships a declaration of war.

The U.S. Navy is currently following a North Korean ship suspected of carrying weapons in violation of the resolution, but Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Wednesday that the U.S. and its allies have not decided whether to contact and request an inspection of the ship.

The Kang Nam left the North Korean port of Nampo a week ago and is believed bound for Myanmar, South Korean and U.S. officials have said. A senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday that the ship had already cleared the Taiwan Strait.

Another U.S. defense official said he tended to doubt reports that the Kang Nam was carrying nuclear-related equipment, saying the information officials had received seemed to indicate the cargo was conventional munitions.

The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing intelligence.

Adding to the tensions, anticipation is mounting that the North might test-fire short- or mid-range missiles in the coming days. The North has designated a no-sail zone off its east coast from June 25 to July 10 for military drills.

A senior South Korean government official said the ban is believed connected to North Korean plans to fire short- or mid-range missiles. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.

The North has also been holding two U.S. journalists since March. The reporters, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegal border crossing and hostile acts earlier this month.

Ling's husband, Iain Clayton, said Wednesday that his wife called him on Sunday night and she sounded scared. He also said Ling's medical condition has deteriorated and Lee has developed a medical problem. Ling reportedly suffers from an ulcer. (source)

MSM Diary: Barry Takes Over (ABC moves into the White House for UHC propaganda)

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: A group of several dozen Republican House members has sent a letter blasting ABC News about its plans to televise a health care forum from the White House -- and the president of ABC News fired back today.

The letter to ABC News, signed by 40 members of the newly formed “Media Fairness Caucus,” accuses ABC of “providing in-kind free advertising for President Obama.”

“The manner in which the news programming is being presented -- at the White House with the President and First Lady and without opposition -- is unprofessional and contrary to the journalistic code of ethics to present the news fairly and independently,” the members of Congress wrote to ABC News President David Westin. “This is not a Presidential news conference open to all news outlets. This is an exclusive arrangement from which the President and his viewpoint stand to gain. It’s as if ABC News is providing in-kind free advertising for President Obama.”

The letter asks that ABC “present both sides and offer the opportunity for rebuttal.”

Westin wrote back to the members of Congress, promising a “thoughtful, respectful, and probing discussion of some of the issues raised by the calls for health-care reform.”

“We will include a variety of perspectives coming from private individuals asking the President questions and taking issue with him, as they see fit,” he wrote.

“Sadly, some inside government and within the private sector see every issue as material for a sort of political high theatre, to be used to gain votes or energize political bases or simply to raise funds. I would have thought that a subject as important as the health care received by the American people would rise above this sorry spectacle. Our citizens need and deserve more. We are proud to be making a serious effort to go beyond mere punditry or stylized, bipolar debate; we are proud to work for a network and a company willing to devote valuable airtime to serious consideration of a subject so worthy,” Westin wrote.

You can read the full letter from the members of the Media Fairness Caucus HERE.

And you can read David Westin’s reply HERE.

Also today, the Republican National Committee is launching a new national cable ad attacking “a national TV network” for ‘turn[ing] its airwaves over to President Obama's pitch for government-run health care.”(source)

Barry In Charge: Playing With US Defense (the domestic satellite defense ruse)

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration plans to kill a controversial Bush administration spy satellite program at the Department of Homeland Security, according to officials familiar with the decision.

The program came under fire from its inception two years ago. Democratic lawmakers said it would lead to domestic spying.

The program would have provided federal, state and local officials with extensive access to spy-satellite imagery — but no eavesdropping capabilities— to assist with emergency response and other domestic-security needs, such as identifying where ports or border areas are vulnerable to terrorism.

It would have expanded an Interior Department satellite program, which will continue to be used to assist in natural disasters and for other limited security purposes such as photographing sporting events. The Wall Street Journal first revealed the plans to establish the program, known as the National Applications Office, in 2007.

"It's being shut down," said a homeland security official.

The Bush administration had taken preliminary steps to launch the office, such as acquiring office space and beginning to hire staff.

The plans to shutter the office signal Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's decision to refocus the department's intelligence on ensuring that state and local officials get the threat information they need, the official said. She also wants to make the department the central point in the government for receiving and analyzing terrorism tips from around the country, the official added.

Lawmakers alerted Ms. Napolitano of their concerns about the program-that the program would violate the Fourth amendment right to be protected from unreasonable searches-before her confirmation hearing.

Once she assumed her post, Ms. Napolitano ordered a review of the program and concluded the program wasn't worth pursuing, the homeland official said. Department spokeswoman Amy Kudwa declined to speak about the results of the review but said they would be announced shortly.

The lawmakers were most concerned about plans to provide satellite imagery to state and local law enforcement, so department officials asked state and local officials how useful that information would be to them. The answer: not very useful.

"In our view, the NAO is not an issue of urgency," Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, wrote to Ms. Napolitano on June 21.

Writing on behalf of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, Chief Bratton said that were the program to go forward, the police chiefs would be concerned about privacy protections and whether using military satellites for domestic purposes would violate the Posse Comitatus law, which bars the use of the military for law enforcement in the U.S.

Rep. Jane Harman (D., Calif.), who oversees the House Homeland Security subcommittee on intelligence, said she was alarmed when she recently saw that the Obama administration requested money for the program in a classified 2010 budget proposal. She introduced two bills that would terminate the program.

"It's a good decision," Ms. Harman said in an interview. "This will remove a distraction and let the intelligence function at [the department] truly serve the community that needs it, which is local law enforcement."

Supporters of the program lamented what they said was the loss of an important new terrorism-fighting tool for natural disasters and terrorist attacks, as well as border security.

"After numerous congressional briefings on the importance of the NAO and its solid legal footing, politics beat out good government," said Andrew Levy, who was deputy general counsel at the department in the Bush administration. (source)

Obama's Failed Diplomacy: "What Took You So Long?"

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday declared the United States and the entire world "appalled and outraged" by Iran's violent efforts to crush dissent, a clear toughening of his rhetoric as Republican critics at home pound him for being too passive.
Obama condemned the "threats, beatings and imprisonments of the last few days. "

"I strongly condemn these unjust actions," Obama said in a news conference at the White House.

In Tehran, chaotic images of riot police beating and shooting protesters have seized the world's attention and heightened pressure on Obama to act—or at least speak out more strongly.

At least 17 people have been killed in protests since the election last week.

Protesters in Iran have demanded that the government there cancel and rerun the elections that ended with a declaration of overwhelming victory for hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi says he won and has claimed widespread fraud.

"I have made it clear that the United States respects the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and is not interfering in Iran's affairs," Obama said. "But we must also bear witness to the courage and dignity of the Iranian people, and to a remarkable opening within Iranian society. And we deplore violence against innocent civilians anywhere that it takes place."

Obama noted the killing of a young woman, Neda Agha Soltan, whose apparent shooting death was captured on video and circulated worldwide.

"We have seen courageous women stand up to brutality and threats, and we have experienced the searing image of a woman bleeding to death on the streets," Obama said. "While this loss is raw and painful, we also know this: Those who stand up for justice are always on the right side of history." (source)

Barry In Charge: Absent in Leadership And How The Press Helps Him Hide

A couple of surprising words were missing from President Barack Obama’s 55-minute news conference on Wednesday: “Iraq” — and “Afghanistan.”

Also MIA: “Korea,” “Pakistan,” “soldiers,” “surge” and “war” — as well as the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.

The omissions were partly a result of the short attention span of the press, which did not ask about those topics after the president did not mention them in his opening statement.

But the silence on those subjects also provides a striking illustration of one of the singular differences between Obama and his predecessor.

Whereas President George W. Bush invoked his status as wartime commander in chief so often that it seemed like a crutch, Obama has much more of a domestic focus, and resists rhetorical calls to arms like “war on terror.”

It’s the Mars and Venus of the 43rd and 44th presidencies.

David Axelrod, Obama’s senior adviser, said the president’s aides have never had a conversation about balancing the role of commander in chief with domestic-policy priorities.

“He feels equally comfortable on each role,” Axelrod said. “His focus isn’t just solving the problems as we find them, but hopefully forestalling some for the future.”

Obama aides say that the attack of 9/11 made war central to Bush’s presidency, whereas a twice-in-a-century recession has forced them to multitask — restoring the economy at the same time the president was engineering a surge of troops into Afghanistan.

“The war was the central story of his administration,” a White House official said. “For better or worse, we have an economic crisis and a number of other things going here that a president has to deal with.”

Aides leave open the possibility that Obama will talk more about Afghanistan later this summer as a new wave of troops ramps up engagement with the Taliban.

“His fundamental approach to these things is to be transparent and open about our policies — why we’re doing what we’re doing, and what the challenges are,” Axelrod said. “I don’t think this will be any different.”

One White House official said that the topics of news conferences and speeches are often dictated by events.

“In a sense, these things are pressed upon you,” the official said. “There are some sustained stories, and some that pop up. But we haven’t sat here and computed how much time we should spend on domestic and how much time we should spend on international. It’s basically been all-hands-on-deck in response to need.”

The official said Obama signs letters and makes calls to family members of soldiers who are killed in action, and is briefed each morning on national security matters, including the wars.

“It’s never far from his mind, and I don’t think anybody who’s in that role can escape that,” the official said. “The only times that I’ve seen him genuinely low — because he’s a very even person — were signing those letters or talking to the families. I think he feels that very, very strongly.”

Aides habitually mention Obama’s practice of looking at 10 letters each week from people around the country who have various concerns and problems.

“That’s a poignant thing for him,” the official said. “He’s a very confident and optimistic person. But it’s a sobering thing each day to remind yourself of the struggles that people are going through. I think that’s why he does it, frankly — because it’s so easy to get isolated, and everything becomes very clinical.”

Administration officials say that while Obama took a while to adjust to the role of a presidential candidate, he has acted authoritatively since his first trip to the Situation Room or The Tank, the secure area of the Joint Chiefs of Staff wing of the Pentagon.

“What was remarkable to all of us was how comfortable he was from the beginning — his willingness to make decisions, his fluency,” Axelrod said. “It’s been kind of a breathtaking thing to watch.”

But don’t be looking for “enemy,” “troops” or “wounded” in the press conference. They aren’t there. (source)

Obama's Failed Diplomacy: al Qaeda Threatens US With Pakistani Nukes

DUBAI (Reuters) - If it were in a position to do so, Al Qaeda would use Pakistan's nuclear weapons in its fight against the United States, a top leader of the group said in remarks aired Sunday.

Pakistan has been battling al Qaeda's Taliban allies in the Swat Valley since April after their thrust into a district 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the capital raised fears the nuclear-armed country could slowly slip into militant hands.

"God willing, the nuclear weapons will not fall into the hands of the Americans and the mujahideen would take them and use them against the Americans," Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, the leader of al Qaeda's in Afghanistan, said in an interview with Al Jazeera television.

Abu al-Yazid was responding to a question about U.S. safeguards to seize control over Pakistan's nuclear weapons in case Islamist fighters came close to doing so.

"We expect that the Pakistani army would be defeated (in Swat) ... and that would be its end everywhere, God willing."

Asked about the group's plans, the Egyptian militant leader said: "The strategy of the (al Qaeda) organization in the coming period is the same as in the previous period: to hit the head of the snake, the head of tyranny -- the United States.

"That can be achieved through continued work on the open fronts and also by opening new fronts in a manner that achieves the interests of Islam and Muslims and by increasing military operations that drain the enemy financially."

The militant leader suggested that naming a new leader for the group's unit in the Arabian Peninsula, Abu Basir al-Wahayshi, could revive its campaign in Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter.

"Our goals have been the Americans ... and the oil targets which they are stealing to gain power to strike the mujahideen and Muslims."

"There was a setback in work there for reasons that there is no room to state now, but as of late, efforts have been united and there is unity around a single leader."

Abu al-Yazid, also known as Abu Saeed al-Masri, said al Qaeda will continue "with large scale operations against the enemy" -- by which he meant the United States.

"We have demanded and we demand that all branches of al Qaeda carry out such operations," he said, referring to attacks against U.S.-led forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The militant leader said al Qaeda would be willing to accept a truce of about 10 years' duration with the United States if Washington agreed to withdraw its troops from Muslim countries and stopped backing Israel and the pro-Western governments of Muslim nations.

Asked about the whereabouts of al Qaeda's top leaders, he said: "Praise God, sheikh Osama (bin Laden) and sheikh Ayman al-Zawahri are safe from the reach of the enemies, but we would not say where they are; moreover, we do not know where they are, but we're in continuous contact with them." (source)

Iran: A Week Of Revolts

June 23 (Bloomberg) -- Iranian police massing in force broke up a demonstration over the disputed presidential election just hours after the Revolutionary Guards said they would crush further protest.

Police used tear gas and fired shots into the air to quell yesterday’s rally in central Tehran, the Associated Press reported. Witnesses said helicopters hovered overhead as about 200 protesters gathered in Haft-e-Tir Square before they were dispersed, AP said.

Security forces were deployed in the capital to prevent further demonstrations after hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets in more than a week of rallies. At least 17 people have been killed in the worst internal violence in the oil-producing nation of 66 million since the shah was overthrown in 1979.

Former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, the main challenger in the disputed June 12 election won by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, urged his supporters to continue peaceful protests. Another of the three defeated presidential candidates, former Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karrubi, yesterday called for a ceremony June 25 in memory of those killed in the protests.

The Revolutionary Guards, who answer directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and act as a counterweight to the Iranian army, warned the protesters to halt their activity.

‘Saboteurs Must Stop’

“The saboteurs must stop their actions” or face “the decisive and revolutionary action of the children of the nation in the Revolutionary Guards, the Basij and other security and military forces, to put an end to the chaos,” the state-run Mehr news agency cited the Revolutionary Guards as saying in a statement.

Also yesterday, the clerical Guardian Council, the top election body, acknowledged that the number of ballots cast in 50 districts surpassed the number of eligible voters in those areas, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

A council spokesman, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, said the discrepancies, in areas with a total electorate of about 3 million, may have sprung from voters being allowed to cast their ballot in cities or provinces other than those where they live.

The council has rejected a call from Mousavi for a new vote, offering only a partial recount. Opponents of Ahmadinejad’s victory say the ballot was rigged.

The protests and the divisions within the regime mark an unprecedented challenge to the authority of Khamenei, the successor of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the revolution.

Nations Warned

The Guards warned the international community including the U.S., U.K. and Israel to stop stirring unrest in the country. Iran has accused foreign nations of provoking the protests, a charge denied by Western diplomats.

The U.K.’s Foreign Office said yesterday it is evacuating families of diplomats and other Iran-based officials. The Italian Foreign Ministry discouraged that nation’s citizens from non-essential travel to Iran, while Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the police response “totally unacceptable.”

The 125,000-strong Guards, established to protect the Islamic Revolution, have their own ground, air and sea forces. Club-wielding members of the Basij volunteer militia, which is linked to the Guards, have played a role in suppressing the protests.

Without the Guards’ intervention, the protests won’t stop, Yossi Mekelberg, director of international relations at Regent’s College, London, said in an interview.

“This shows that it is very serious and can destabilize the regime,” he said.

Labeled as Terrorists

The U.S. designated the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force a terrorist organization in October 2007, accusing the paramilitary group of supporting attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq. The focus of the Quds Force has been assistance to Islamic militant groups in other countries.

The Guards’ intervention came as splits within Iran’s ruling elite deepened after police arrested relatives of an ex- president and after Parliament’s current speaker said that most Iranians questioned Ahmadinejad’s electoral victory.

Security forces temporarily detained five relatives of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, believed to be rallying support within the clerical establishment for Mousavi, state media said yesterday.

Rafsanjani, who heads the Assembly of Experts, a clerical body with the power to appoint or dismiss the supreme leader, may try to dislodge Khamenei, said Anoush Ehteshami, a professor of international relations at Durham University in the U.K.

Speaker Ali Larijani, who served as Iran’s nuclear negotiator until 2007, criticized the top election body for siding with Ahmadinejad and said most Iranians don’t accept the results.

‘Eat Its Own’

“There is some serious dissatisfaction within the ranks,” said Ilan Berman, an analyst with the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington. “Anytime a regime begins to eat its own, it signals significant transformation.”

On June 19, Khamenei reaffirmed Ahmadinejad’s electoral victory. The president was re-elected for a second four-year term with 63 percent of the vote to Mousavi’s 34 percent, according to the official tally.

Iran’s rial weakened 0.4 percent to 9,929.3 to the dollar yesterday, compared with 9,894.6 at the close of trading on June 19. The currency’s rate is managed by Bank Markazi, the central bank.

Iran’s governor at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, said the protests haven’t affected the country’s oil industry or crude exports. Iran is OPEC’s second-biggest producer. (source)

Obama's Failed Diplomacy: North Korea Plans A 4th Of July Missile Launch At Hawaii As An Answer To Barry

HONOLULU (AP) - Comforted by the U.S. military's missile defense systems, Hawaii residents doubt a North Korean missile would light up the clear island sky like fireworks on the Fourth of July.

But that doesn't mean the islands' laid-back beach-goers aren't worried that a long-range missile could be launched in the direction of Hawaii's emerald mountains and white sand beaches around Independence Day.

"The North Koreans are unbalanced and could try anything," said Dan Gleason while walking his Jack Russell mix dog in downtown Honolulu. "If they do hit Honolulu, I hope it's a good shot, because I don't want to go through the aftermath."

Japanese media have reported the North Koreans appear to be preparing for a long-range test near July 4. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered additional protections for Hawaii in case a missile is launched over the Pacific Ocean.

But only one concerned person with a Hawaii trip planned has called the state's tourism office seeking information, state Tourism Liaison Marsha Wienert said. With Hawaii's huge military presence, no one should be afraid to travel to the islands, she said.

"We believe that this is a very safe destination," she said.

Retiree Mae Dong, a Honolulu resident of more than 50 years, said the United States must remain resolute in the face of any North Korean aggression.

"It's disturbing," she said Friday. "We cannot run. We have to fight them."

On Wednesday, a military radar system - shaped like a giant golf ball - slowly disappeared from Hawaii's coast as it headed out to sea. The 28-story missile X-Band defense radar is designed to work with ground-based missile interceptors on the island of Kauai to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles during their final phase of flight.

The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system was returned to Hawaii after the mobile launcher recently was tested at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Since 2005, all six tests of the ground-based missile system have intercepted their targets, excluding tests when the targets malfunctioned, Missile Defense Agency spokeswoman Pam Rogers said.

It is one of two missile defense systems the military tests at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai. The other is the sea-based Aegis system, which has recorded 18 successful firings in 22 attempts.

"We're in a good position should it become necessary to protect American territory," Pacific Fleet Lt. Cmdr. Chuck Bell said.

That's all reassuring, said Sean Sackett, who sells espresso around Honolulu from his "Joe on the Go" coffee van.

"It doesn't get more threatening than them shooting missiles at us and seeing if they can reach us," he said. "Our military is good enough to shoot anything out of the sky that comes close to us."

If there were a confirmed missile launch toward Hawaii, outdoor sirens would alert the public, said state Civil Defense spokeswoman Shelly Ichishita. Messages would go out on TV and radio urging people to stay indoors or inside their cars.

But Hawaii's statewide alert level hasn't been raised, she said.

And Honolulu resident Patricia Kealoha said she wasn't going to let the prospect of unseen overseas missiles change her day-to-day life.

"I hope they can stop the missiles," she said Friday as she sat outside state Circuit Court in Honolulu. "But it doesn't phase me because it's out of my control." (source)

Iraq: A Plea To Remain Calm As We Leave

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide truck bomb killed at least 34 people leaving a mosque on Saturday, hours after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged Iraqis not to lose faith if a U.S. military pullback resulted in more insurgent attacks.

Almost all U.S. soldiers will leave urban centers by June 30 under a security pact signed by Baghdad and Washington last year, and the whole force that invaded the country in 2003 must be gone by 2012.

"Don't lose heart if a breach of security occurs here or there," Maliki told leaders from the ethnic Turkmen community, reiterating a warning that insurgents were likely to try to take advantage of the U.S. pullback to launch more attacks.

Analysts warn there may also be a spike in violence by mainly Sunni Islamist insurgents, including al Qaeda, and other violent groups ahead of a parliamentary election next January.

Hours after Maliki spoke, a suicide bomber detonated a truck filled with explosives as worshippers left a Shi'ite Muslim mosque near the northern city of Kirkuk, a city contested by Arabs, Turkmen and Kurds and which sits over vast oil reserves.

Thirty-four people were killed, including women and children and about 150 civilians were wounded as dozens of clay homes in the area were flattened. Many people were feared trapped under the rubble, and the death toll was expected to rise.

There was chaos at Kirkuk's main Azadi Hospital, where ambulance sirens wailed as workers rushed blood-splattered civilians, including several children, into the wards.

Outside, security officials brandished assault rifles to stop traffic as pick-up trucks raced through the gates carrying more victims of the blast at the al-Rasul Mosque.

AL-QAEDA "USING NEW TACTICS"

Such attacks, including a string of devastating bomb blasts in April, have cast doubt on the ability of Iraqi security forces to take over after U.S. troops leave.

The bloodshed diminished significantly in May, and June has also seen fewer large-scale attacks.

It is not clear if that is due to the efforts of Iraqi police and soldiers, or if it means that insurgent groups, beaten back over the past two years in most of Iraq, now lack the organization and support to keep up the momentum.

Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf said al-Qaeda was resorting to paying people to fight for it. It had also turned to criminal activities to raise funds.

"It is a very important development. It shows al-Qaeda is starting to loss its impact," Khalaf told reporters. "Instead of recruiting people through faith or ideology, as it was in the past, now they are paying money to recruit people."

The sectarian bloodshed and insurgency unleashed by the invasion peaked in 2006/07, but volatile and ethnically mixed cities such as Mosul and Baquba remain dangerous.

Baghdad has also continued to see a steady stream of bombings and shootings and Kirkuk is viewed as a potential flashpoint for a broader conflict between Arabs and Kurds.
Maliki, a Shi'ite, said the start of the U.S. withdrawal was a "great victory" for Iraq over foreign occupation.

"I, and you, are sure that many don't want us to succeed and celebrate this victory," he said. "They are getting themselves ready to move in the dark to destabilize the situation, but we will be ready for them, God willing." (source)

Obama's Failed Diplomacy: North Korea Reacts To Obama And The UN, pt III

Japan Warns That North Korea May Fire Missile At U.S. On Independence Day

North Korea may launch a long-range ballistic missile towards Hawaii on American Independence Day, according to Japanese intelligence officials.

The missile, believed to be a Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 4,000 miles, would be launched in early July from the Dongchang-ni site on the north-western coast of the secretive country.

Intelligence analysts do not believe the device would be capable of hitting Hawaii's main islands, which are 4,500 miles from North Korea.

Details of the launch came from the Japan's best-selling newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun.

Both Japanese intelligence and U.S. reconnaissance satellites have collated information pointing to the launch, according to the report.

It is understood the communist state is likely to fire the missile between July 4 and 8. A launch on July 4 would coincide with Independence Day in the States.It would also be the 15th anniversary of North Korean president Kim Il-Sung's death.

The Japanese newspaper also noted that North Korea had fired its first Taepodong-2 missile on July 4, 2006.

Officials had initially believed that North Korea might attempt to launch a similar device towards either Japan's Okinawa island, Guam or Hawaii.

But the ministry concluded launches toward Okinawa or Guam were 'extremely unlikely' because the first-stage booster could drop into waters off China, agitating Beijing, or hit western Japanese territory.

If the missile were fired in the direction of Hawaii, the booster could drop in the Sea of Japan.

News of the launch would put 'enormous military pressure on the United States,' the Yomiuri said, citing the ministry report.

A spokesman for the Japanese Defense Ministry declined to comment on the report.

South Korea's Defense Ministry and the National Intelligence Service - the country's main spy agency - said they could not confirm it.

Tension on the divided Korean peninsula has risen markedly since the North, led by Kim Jong-il, conducted two nuclear tests this year in defiance of repeated international warnings

The first rocket, fired in April, was widely seen as a disguised long-range missile test. A second launch came on May 25.

U.S. satellite intelligence has shown that a missile launch pad had been erected at Dongchang-ri on North Korea's north-west coast.

General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it would take at least three to five years for North Korea to pose a real threat to the U.S. west coast.

The UN Security Council last week authorised member states to inspect North Korean sea, air and land cargo, requiring them to seize and destroy goods shipped that violate the sanctions against arms export.

On Saturday, in response to this declaration Pyongyang said it would bolster its nuclear programs and threatened war.

Growing tensions come as arms-watchdog the International Crisis Group (ICG) claimed North Korea has several thousand tonnes of chemical weapons it could mount on missiles.

The report from the non-government organisation said they believed the North's army have about 2,500 to 5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons which include mustard gas, sarin and other deadly nerve agents.

ICG also also warned South Korea may become a target.

'If there is an escalation of conflict and if military hostilities break out, there is a risk that they could be used. In conventional terms, North Korea is weak and they feel they might have to resort to using those,' said Daniel Pinkston, the ICG's representative in Seoul.

The North has been working on chemical weapons for decades and can deliver them through long-range artillery directed on Seoul which is home to about half of South Korea's 49 million people and via missiles that could hit all of the country. (source)

Obama's Failed Diplomacy: North Korea Reacts To Obama And The UN, pt II

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has several thousand tonnes of chemical weapons it can mount on missiles that could be used on a rapid strike against the South, said a report released on Thursday by the International Crisis Group (ICG).

North Korea in recent weeks has raised tensions in North Asia, responsible for one-sixth of the global economy, with missile launches, threats to attack the South and a May 25 nuclear test that led to U.N. sanctions.

The report from the prestigious non-governmental organization said the consensus view is the North's army possess about 2,500-5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons that include mustard gas, sarin and other deadly nerve agents.

"If there is an escalation of conflict and if military hostilities break out, there is a risk that they could be used. In conventional terms, North Korea is weak and they feel they might have to resort to using those," said Daniel Pinkston, the ICG's representative on Seoul.

The North has been working on chemical weapons for decades and can deliver them through long-range artillery trained on the Seoul area -- home to about half of South Korea's 49 million people -- and via missiles that could hit all of the country.

"The stockpile does not appear to be increasing but is already sufficient to inflict massive civilian casualties on South Korea," the ICG report said.

The report said North Korea has also worked on a biological weapons program but Pinkston does not think Pyongyang has fully developed that weapons program.

In a separate report released simultaneously, the ICG said North Korea has deployed more than 600 Scud-type missiles that can hit all of South Korea and as many as 320 Rodong missiles that can strike Japan.

The ICG said earlier this year intelligence it acquired indicates the North has developed a nuclear warhead it could mount on an Rodong missile, and this latest report repeats the claim.

Many weapons experts believe the North is years away from being able to miniaturize a nuclear weapon to mount on a warhead and requires several more nuclear tests to develop one.

The ICG said the North's nuclear threat is the region's most urgent security issue but if progress is made on rolling back Pyongyang's atomic ambitions, there could be a way to find a solution to the threats posed by chemical and biological weapons.

MISSILE TESTS

North Korea has warned ships to stay away from waters off its eastern city of Wonsan until the end of the month, according to a Japan Coast Guard spokesman, which could indicate a possible missile test.

The North fired a barrage of short-range missiles off its east coast just after its nuclear test in May.

Separately, North Korea may be looking to test fire a long-range missile over Japan in the next few weeks, Japan's Yomiuri newspaper cited a defense ministry analysis as saying.

North Korea threatened to fire an intercontinental ballistic missile if the U.N. Security Council did not apologize for punishing Pyongyang for an April rocket launch, widely seen as a disguised missile test that violated U.N. resolutions.

The rocket launched in April flew about 3,000 km (1,860 miles), well short of the 4,800 km needed to reach the Alaskan coast. The rocket, called the Taepodong-2, is designed to fly as far as U.S. territory.

Analysts say the North's defiant moves are aimed at building internal support for leader Kim Jong-il, who appears to be laying the foundation for his youngest son to take over the impoverished state. The 67-year-old leader of Asia's only communist dynasty is believed to have suffered a stroke last year.

North Korea responded to fresh U.N. sanctions to punish it for its nuclear test by saying at the weekend it would start a uranium enrichment program, which experts said could give it a second route to an atomic bomb, and weaponize all its plutonium, believed to be enough for at least six bombs. (source)

Obama's Failed Diplomacy: "Being A Leader Means I Might Have To Make A Decision...And I'm Scared"

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama for the first time voiced concerns about the way Iran's election was conducted, though he fell short of calls from some democracy activists that he formally denounce the vote.

Mr. Obama said Monday he was deeply troubled by the violence surrounding the election, but stressed it was up to the Iranian people to choose their leadership. He said he would maintain his policy of directly negotiating with Iran's leaders on its nuclear program, irrespective of the vote.

"It is up to Iranians to make decisions about who Iran's leaders will be. We respect Iranian sovereignty and want to avoid the United States being the issue inside of Iran," Mr. Obama said.

"What I would say to those people who put so much hope and energy and optimism into the political process, I would say to them that the world is watching and inspired by their participation, regardless of what the ultimate outcome of the election was," he said.

The fluid political developments inside Iran are putting Mr. Obama in an increasingly difficult diplomatic position, U.S. officials and regional analysts said. Mr. Obama has pledged both to support democracy in the Middle East and to engage directly with Tehran's clerical rulers over the future of Iran's nuclear program.

Mr. Obama, altering the structure of his Iran policy team, is preparing to move career U.S. diplomat Dennis Ross to the White House from the State Department, a U.S. official said. As a member of the National Security Council, Mr. Ross, the administration's point man on Iran and the Persian Gulf, is expected to maintain this role with "expanded responsibilities" tied to Arab-Israeli issues, the official said. He will report more directly to the president, rather than through Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Any push by Mr. Obama to overtly support Iranian opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi could make diplomatic talks more difficult, while potentially painting Mr. Mousavi and his supporters as American puppets, these officials and analysts said.

Still, a number of Iranian opposition leaders, inside and outside Iran, are calling on Mr. Obama to lend more direct public support to Iranians challenging the vote that re-elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. These activists fear any near-term dialogue between the Obama administration and Mr. Ahmadinejad or Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could result in legitimizing the Iranian regime and also validating the election results.

In his outreach so far to Iran, including in a speech on the Persian New Year, Mr. Obama has generally demurred on addressing democracy and human-rights issues while recognizing the rule of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Many Iranian activists say his stance will have to change.

"During the Iran New Year speech, he completely didn't address the human-rights issue. I think he got this wrong," said Hooshang Amirahmadi, president of the American-Iranian Council, which promotes dialogue. "If I was the U.S. government, I'd say this result calls for a coalition. The current system is wrong: it doesn't respond to the interests of the Iranian people."

Mr. Khamenei Monday ordered a probe into alleged irregularities in Iran's presidential vote -- a shift after his strong endorsement of Mr. Ahmadinejad's re-election over the weekend.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday joined world leaders in supporting an inquiry into the disputed presidential election in Iran.

"My position and that of the United Nations is that the genuine will of the Iranian people should be fully respected," Mr. Ban told reporters in New York.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he was "profoundly troubled by the political situation in Iran." The French foreign ministry on Monday summoned the Iranian ambassador to the ministry to explain his government's actions, but the ambassador sent his press counselor in his place, according to an official at the French mission to the U.N. in New York.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the U.S. was still evaluating the claims of election fraud, but reiterated the administration continued to have "doubts" about the returns.

Former U.S. officials said the Obama administration is walking an increasingly delicate line between supporting democracy in Iran and pursuing the abolition of Tehran's nuclear program. Any rupture of a dialogue between Tehran and the West could have implications for global security, these officials said. Israel has vowed to attack Iran's nuclear research sites if there isn't diplomatic progress to contain the nuclear program.(source)

Obama's Failed Diplomacy: When A Lawyer Tries To Be A Leader

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says he believes supreme leader Ayatollah ali Khamenei has deep concerns about the civil unrest that has followed the hotly contested presidential election there.

Obama repeated Tuesday at a news conference his "deep concerns" about the disputed balloting. He said he believes the ayatollah's decision to order an investigation "indicates he understands the Iranian people have deep concerns."

But at the same time, Obama said it would not be helpful if the United States was seen by the world as "meddling" in the issue.

The president did say, however, that he worries "when I see violence directed at peaceful protesters, when I see peaceful protest being suppressed." (source)

Iran's Islamic Authority Says They Will Recount The Votes To Prove They Were Right

CAIRO (AP) - Iranian authorities are restricting all journalists working for foreign media from firsthand reporting on the streets.

The rules cover all journalists, including Iranians working for foreign media. It blocks images and eyewitness descriptions of the protests and violence that has followed last week's disputed elections.

The order issued Tuesday limits journalists for foreign media to work only from their offices, conducting telephone interviews and monitoring official sources such as state television.

It comes as foreign reporters in Iran to cover the elections began leaving the country. Iranian officials say they will not extend their visas.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's Islamic leadership is prepared to conduct a limited recount of disputed presidential elections, a spokesman said Tuesday, drawing the ruling clerics deeper into a showdown that began with street clashes and quickly moved to the highest levels of power.

The announcement comes after Iran's state radio reported earlier Tuesday that seven people were killed during clashes in the Iranian capital the previous day - the first official confirmation of deaths linked to the wave of protests and street battles following last week's disputed election.

The offer by the Guardian Council for a targeted tally - from specific voting sites where fraud has been alleged - is the first direct action by authorities to address claims of irregularities by opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But it also offers further hints that the non-elected ruling clerics are seeking to calm the protest anger and keep the dissent from spreading into their rarified world.

It was not immediately clear when such a count could begin or how many voting sites would be included. The recount also falls short of calls by reformist challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi to completely annul Friday's vote, which he says was marred by fraud and robbed him of victory.

Hundreds of thousands of Mousavi's backers poured through Tehran on Monday in a massive show of unity - that ended in bloodshed when seven people were killed in a confrontation with pro-regime militiamen.

The Iranian state radio report said the deaths occurred during an "unauthorized gathering" at a mass rally after protesters "tried to attack a military location." It gave no further details, but it was a clear reference to crowds who came under gunfire Monday after trying to storm a compound for volunteer militia linked to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard.

Any widening of protests by the opposition could begin to challenge the ruling clerics and the true centers of power in Iran.

Mousavi, who served as prime minister in the 1980s, has formally laid out his allegations in a letter to the Guardian Council and in talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all critical matters and policies.

Unlike past student-led demonstrations against the Islamic establishment, Mousavi has the ability to press his case with the highest levels and could gain powerful allies. Some influential clerics have expressed concern about possible election irregularities and a fierce critic of Mousavi, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, is part of the ruling establishment.

A spokesman for the Guardian Council, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, was quoted on state television as saying the recount would be limited to voting sites where candidates claim irregularities took place. There was no immediate word from Mousavi on the announcement, but he said Monday he was not hopeful that the council would address his charges because he believes they are not neutral and have already indicated support for Ahmadinejad.

The 12-member Guardian Council includes clerics and experts in Islamic law. Its role includes certifying election results. Kadkhodaei did not rule out the possibility of canceling the results, saying that is within the council's powers. However, nullifying an election would be an unprecedented step. The council is closely allied to Khamenei, who ordered an examination into the fraud allegations although he had initially welcomed Ahmadinejad's victory.

Claims of voting irregularities went to the council after Ahmadinejad's upset victory in 2005, but there was no official word on the outcome of the inquiry, and the vote stood.

The council must certify ballot results and also has the apparent authority to nullify an election. The council also serves as a constitutional watchdog and vets candidates running in elections.

The shootings came at the end of the rally by opponents of Ahmadinejad who defied an official ban to march through the city.

The deaths also raise the prospect of further defiance from crowds claiming that Mousavi was the rightful election winner. The protest movement has shown no signs of easing with Mousavi's backers reportedly planning to gather in a Tehran square later Tuesday where pro-Ahmadinejad crowd also have called a rally to demand punishment of "rioters."

In a message posted on his Web site, Mousavi said he will not attend the rally and asked his supporters to "not fall in the trap of street riots" and "exercise self-restraint."

The deaths Monday occurred on the edge of Tehran's Azadi Square. An Associated Press photographer saw gunmen, standing on a roof, opening fire on a group of demonstrators who tried to storm the militia compound.

Angry men showed their bloody palms after cradling the dead and wounded who had been part of a crowd that stretched more than five miles (nearly 10 kilometers).

The march also marked Mousavi's first public appearance since shortly after the election. He said he was willing to "pay any price" in his demands to overturn the election results.

Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, arrived in Russia on Tuesday to attend a summit.

A Web site run by Iran's former reformist vice president, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, said he had been arrested by security officers, but provided no further details. Abtahi's Web site, popular among the youth, has reported extensively on the alleged vote fraud.

Saeed Hajjarian, a prominent reformist, has also been detained, Hajjarian's wife, Vajiheh Masousi, told The AP Tuesday. Hajjarian is a close aide of former reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

The huge rally Monday - and smaller protests around the country - display the resolve of Mousavi's backers and have pushed Iran's Islamic establishment into attempts to cool the tensions after days of unrest.

The death toll reported Tuesday could be a further rallying point in a culture that venerates martyrs and often marks their death with memorials. One of Mousavi's Web sites said a student protester was killed early Monday in clashes in Shiraz in southern Iran but there was no independent confirmation of the report.(source)

Obama's Failed Diplomacy: Tehran Ignores Message Of Hope And Change

Ahmadinejad opponents shout protests from rooftops

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Protesters battled police and shouted their opposition from the rooftops Sunday, but President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the unrest as little more than "passions after a soccer match" and brought huge crowds to a rally to defend his landslide re-election.

Just after sundown, cries of "death to the dictator" echoed through Tehran as thousands of backers for Ahmadinejad's rival, Mir Hossein Mousavi, heeded a call to bellow from the roofs and balconies. The deeply symbolic act recalled the shouts of "Allahu Akbar," or God is Great, to show opposition to the Western-backed monarchy before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The scenes summed up the showdown over the disputed elections: an outwardly confident Ahmadinejad exerted control, while Mousavi showed no sign of backing down and could be staking out a new role as powerful opposition voice.

His charges that Friday's vote was riddled by fraud brought sympathetic statements from Vice President Joe Biden and other leaders. Mousavi made a direct appeal with Iran's ruling clerics to annul the result, but the chances were considered remote.

With his wide network of young and middle-class backers, Mousavi could emerge as a leader for Iran's liberal ranks and bring internal pressure on Ahmadinejad and Iran's theocracy to take less confrontational policies toward the West.

But the struggle Sunday was on the streets in the worst unrest in Tehran since student-led protests 10 years ago.

Demonstrators were back on the streets with the same tactics: torching bank facades and trash bins, smashing store windows and hurling rocks at anti-riots squads in Tehran. Police responded with baton-wielding sweeps—sometimes targeting bystanders—and the regime shut down text messaging systems and pro-reform Internet sites.

There was no official word on casualties.

Authorities detained top Mousavi aides, including the head of his Web campaign, but many were released Sunday after being held overnight.

Iran's deputy police chief, Ahmad Reza Radan, told the official Islamic Republic News Agency that about 170 people have been arrested. It was not known how many remained in custody.

Mousavi has urged his supporters to channel their anger into peaceful acts of dissent. But the official clampdown on the Internet links blunted the reach of the message. At the same time, Mousavi went to the pinnacle of power to try to reverse the election decision.(source)

Obama's Failed Diplomacy: Trashing Our Relationship With Britain (the Guantanamo release to Bermuda)

David Miliband calls Hillary Clinton to voice anger over Guantánamo inmates' transfer to Bermuda

A high-level transatlantic row has broken out over the Obama administration's failure to consult Britain over the transfer of four Guantánamo Bay inmates to Bermuda.

David Miliband has telephoned Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, to express the government's disappointment at the deal.

British officials were informed the four Chinese Uighurs were heading to the United Kingdom's oldest dependency only as they boarded their plane for Bermuda on Wednesday night.

A British diplomat said: "The Foreign Secretary registered his surprise. It was a regrettable mistake. Bermuda, the UK and the US now need to work together to fix it and make sure it doesn't happen again."

A senior State Department official said this diplomatic understatement masked a real anger over the Obama administration's oversight among British officials, telling ABC News: "They're pissed".

The State Department denied it had bypassed Britain but admitted that it dealt directly with Bermuda, a territory under the sovereignty of the UK, which is responsible for foreign policy and security.

Ian Kelly, State Department spokesman, said: "We understand that there are some concerns about some of the details of the resettlement, and we're confident that we can work these things through with the government of the UK."

Britain's anger is directed principally at Ewart Brown, the Bermudan premier. But the UK's responsibility for the security of Bermuda is well known to US diplomats and the decision to ignore this could be a sign of diminished British clout in Washington.

Mr Brown said that the Uighurs, a Muslim minority from China's Xinjiang province would be "provided with the opportunity to become naturalised citizens and thereafter afforded the right to travel and leave Bermuda, potentially settling elsewhere".

Adbul Nasser, one of the four freed Uighurs, hailed Bermuda's decision.

"Today you have let freedom ring," he said in a statement.(source)

Obama's Failed Diplomacy: Ahmadinejad Seizes Control Of Iranian Media, Kicks Out Foreign Journalists As Barry Looks On

A supporter of Iran's moderate presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi holds a piece of paper that reads "We write Mousavi, they read Ahmadinejad" during post-election unrest in Tehran June 13, 2009.

Foreign media say Iran blocking coverage of protests

Several foreign news organisations complained Sunday that Iranian authorities were blocking their reporters from covering protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election.
German public television channels ZDF and ARD said their reporters were not allowed to broadcast their reports, while the BBC said the signals of its Persian services were being jammed from Iran.

The Dubai-based Arab news channel Al-Arabiya in Tehran was forbidden from working for a week and Dutch broadcaster Nederland 2 said its journalist and cameraman were arrested and ordered to leave the country.

Foreign media converged in Iran to cover Friday's presidential election, whose official result sparked violent protests in Tehran after Ahmadinejad was declared the winner by a landslide.

Violence erupted for a second day on Sunday as supporters of Ahmadinejad's closest challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi clashed with riot police. Mousavi denounced the election as a fraud and called for the vote to be annulled.

The editors in chief of German public television channels ZDF and ARD sent a letter to the Iranian ambassador in Berlin accusing Iranian authorities of barring their reporters from doing their work.

ARD correspondent Peter Mezger can no longer leave his hotel while ZDF journalist Halim Hosny and his colleagues have not been allowed to report on the events, their chief editors wrote.

"We see a breach of freedom of the press and democratic principles," their editors said in their letter.

Iranian authorities had already barred the journalists from filming and broadcasting their images in recent days, the editors said.

ARD and ZDF insisted that they would "continue to report on the events in Iran" in a "critical, fair and independent" manner.

"We would have liked to broadcast the story of our correspondent Halim Hosny, but the Iranian authorities forbade journalists from working," ZDF said in its nightly news programme.

The British Broadcasting Corporation said the satellites it uses for its Persian television and radio services had been affected since Friday by "heavy electronic jamming" which had become "progressively worse."

Satellite technicians had traced the interference to Iran, the BBC said.

BBC Arabic television and other language services had also experienced transmission problems, the corporation said.

"Any attempt to block BBC Persian television is wrong and against international treaties on satellite communication. Whoever is attempting the blocking should stop it now," said BBC World Service director Peter Horrocks.

"It seems to be part of a pattern of behaviour by the Iranian authorities to limit the reporting of the aftermath of the disputed election.

"In Tehran, (BBC world affairs editor) John Simpson and his cameraman were briefly arrested after they had filmed material for a piece," he added.

Dutch public broadcaster Nederland 2 said NOVA journalist Jan Eikelboom and cameraman Dennis Hilgers, who had been in Iran for several days covering the election, were detained and ordered to leave the country.

They "were filming in front of the headquarters of Mousavi, Ahmadinejad's main rival, when they were arrested by police," the channel said in a statement.

"They were pushed against a wall and their tapes were seized. Their filming permits were withdrawn and they have to leave the country immediately," it said.

The Arab news channel Al-Arabiya said that its correspondent, who has been in Tehran for the past four months, had been "informed verbally" of the decision to shut down his office for a week.

"We are not allowed to do any coverage. No reason was given, and there was no earlier warning," executive editor Nabil al-Khateeb told AFP. "I believe it is due to the current state of unrest."

The correspondent of Spanish public channel TVE said during a live broadcast Saturday that police had confiscated a video of one the protests. (source)

Obama's Failed Diplomacy: Tehran Has No Foe In Barry (silence to Ahmadinejad's brutal crackdown)

As rioting escalated Sunday in the wake of Iran's disputed elections, an officer attacked aman near Tehran University.

TEHRAN -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday defended his weekend election victory while security forces cracked down on opposition leaders and demonstrators, who staged a second day of violent protests across the capital and in other Iranian cities.

The standoffs represent the biggest domestic unrest since authorities put down student riots at Tehran University a decade ago.

In some parts of town, black smoke, ash and shattered glass covered the main roads and sidewalks. Along several roads in both uptown and downtown Tehran, many banks -- all government-owned -- had been attacked the previous night, and their glass windows and doors smashed. Public property such as bus stops and street signs were vandalized. At Mohseni Square in north Tehran, three buildings were burned completely.

Mr. Ahmadinejad's defeated challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, said in a statement he was under house arrest and banned from appearing in public. Neither statement has been confirmed by the government. In a post on his Web site, Mr. Mousavi called for a peaceful demonstration on Monday afternoon and asked the police to issue him a permit.

The Obama administration and its European allies openly questioned the results of Iran's presidential vote but also reaffirmed their commitment to pursue direct talks with Tehran over its nuclear program, irrespective of the electoral outcome.

Vice President Joe Biden said early Sunday he had doubts about whether the election was free and fair. But speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," he said the U.S. and other countries need more time to analyze the vote and said the U.S. must accept "for the time being" Tehran's claim that Mr. Ahmadinejad won the contest.

The election result was "a matter for the Iranian authorities to address," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Saturday. "Our priority is that Iran engages with the concerns of the world community, above all on the issue of nuclear proliferation."

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier condemned the Iranian government crackdown on opposition protesters as "unacceptable."

Arab Reaction

Across the Arab world and in Israel, reaction was mixed. The results dealt a blow to some Arab officials, who have grown increasingly alarmed by Iran's regional ambitions and hoped Mr. Ahmadinejad's ouster might rein in Tehran.

But others in the region said it could also speed up a key goal: international consensus for tough action against Iran's nuclear program.

"You're not going to waste months and months trying to understand where the new guy is coming from," said one Arab official.

Israeli analysts said that the messy vote validates Israel's perceived threat from Iran and increases Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's leverage with Washington. Mr. Netanyahu argues that Iran, not Israel-Arab peace talks, should be the focus of American Mideast policy.

Mr. Mousavi was considered by Western leaders as easier to negotiate with. He had a more pragmatic, moderate approach than Mr. Ahmadinejad and had said he would open Iran to foreign investments, reform the economy and pursue peaceful relations with the West and the U.S. Mr. Ahmadinejad hails from the ultraconservative camp, favoring populist economic policies and taking a more defiant stance abroad.

Even if security forces are able to contain protests in coming days, the chaotic election fallout still poses a significant challenge for the clerical establishment that rules the Islamic Republic.

Mr. Mousavi's allegations of widespread vote rigging are raising legitimacy questions at home and abroad, and threaten to haunt Mr. Ahmadinejad's next four years in office.

At his news conference Sunday, Mr. Ahmadinejad called his re-election "real and free."

Rajanews, a Web site affiliated with Mr. Ahmadinejad's campaign, carried a number of congratulatory articles and called the election "the victory of honesty over deception."

Iran's Interior Ministry, in a televised news conference late Saturday afternoon, said Mr. Ahmadinejad had won about 63% of the votes cast, to Mr. Mousavi's 34%, according to ministry figures. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei endorsed the results.

With few other details released about the results and no independent monitors at polling stations, it's difficult to gauge the allegations of fraud.

Preliminary results started rolling in just hours after polls closed, raising immediate skepticism because results don't legally have to be announced for 12 hours.

Mr. Mousavi said nearly five million voters were told stations had run out of ballots and couldn't vote. He also said thousands of his election-day monitors weren't given credentials by the Interior Ministry and were banned from entering polling stations.

Late Sunday, Mr. Mousavi released a copy of a letter he wrote to the Guardian Council -- an appointed body of clerics who supervise the government -- asking them to nullify the election results. Mohsen Rezaie, a conservative candidate, wrote a letter to the Interior Ministry demanding it release the breakdown of votes in each polling station across the country.

As of Sunday, the Guardian Council had yet to reply and it wasn't clear whether the Interior Ministry would comply with Mr. Rezaie's request.

Mr. Mousavi's supporters say they plan to fight until Mr. Ahmadinejad's government is toppled and new elections are called. The new administration is set to take office Aug. 11.

Mehdi Karroubi, another candidate and cleric reformist, took off his cleric's robe in protest of the results, according to one of his advisers. Removing one's robe was considered a highly political move by clerics during the revolution. In a statement, Mr. Karroubi told the public to keep protesting peacefully.

Battle With Police
At Tehran University Sunday afternoon, following a celebratory rally and news conference by Mr. Ahmadinejad, protesters pelted riot police with stones.

Students were barricaded inside the campus screaming "death to the dictator," as special-forces units on motorcycles threw tear-gas canisters over the fence, and students threw big rocks back at the police. Gunshots were fired into the air.

Students dragged pieces of wood, desks and piles of paper from buildings and set them on fire. Students and protesters outside the campus clashed with antiriot police and paramilitary Basiji forces, trained volunteers in plainclothes who are unleashed during civil protests.

One 29-year-old, interviewed at the scene, rushed from his office nearby to look for his younger sister, a student at Tehran University. As he approached the fence, he said, a Basiji held a canister of pepper spray to his face and sprayed him directly in the eye.

"They have no shame, they have no dignity. How dare they do this to the people?" the man yelled.

"My shoulders are numb, they hit me with the electric baton," said another young man. As students exchanged stories, a group of policemen holding batons ran down the sidewalk toward them.

"They're coming, they're coming," some of the students shouted and ran up the road. A few stood there defiantly until the police caught up to them. They threw one man to the ground and began beating him as he screamed.

Less than a block away from the clashes at Tehran University, Mr. Ahmadinejad held a victory rally and spoke to supporters, who waved Iranian flags.

"We love him because he supports justice and Islam," said Zahra, a 23-year-old woman who had come from downtown Tehran with her husband to cheer the president. She called the protesters "sore losers" and said it was justified for the government to crack down on them.

At his news conference, Mr. Ahmadinejad defended the security services' response, comparing it to police fining rowdy soccer fans for rioting after a match.

"Someone is mad [about the results of the game] and crosses a red line," he said, adding: "I am not happy when people cross a red line and get fined. If only they hadn't crossed it."

Phone Service Cut
Iranian security forces, deployed heavily across the city, have so far appeared to be capable of containing the flare-ups, often using a heavy hand. By late Sunday, there were no reports of fatalities, but sporadic phone and Internet service made passing information difficult.

Mobile-phone service was suspended by authorities on Saturday and Sunday night. SMS texting, a cheap and reliable way of communicating across Iran, was also out.

Meanwhile, the government appeared to intensify a broad crackdown on opposition leaders. Security forces on Saturday arrested up to 100 prominent reformists in a late-night raid on the headquarters of the country's main reformist political party.

The members had called an emergency meeting late at night. Authorities told the detainees they were being arrested for provoking and orchestrating civil disobedience and unrest in the country.

Mohammad Reza Khatami, brother of former President Mohammad Khatami, was also arrested near his house, according to a person familiar with the situation. He was questioned and released a few hours later.

Iranian universities -- in the middle of final exams -- suspended classes for a week as of Saturday, students said, while many shops remained closed.

It was Mother's Day in Iran Sunday, but the flower shops that were open said their sales were far less than what they normally sold. One florist in central Tehran, at a cross section where both sides clashed, said he had sheltered more protesters than catered to customers. He had had only six orders of bouquets and planned to close shop early.(source)