NATION/WORLD GOP plan changes veterans' benefits WASHINGTON (AP) - House Republicans announced a $22 billion plan yesterday to partially overturn a 19th-century policy depriving disabled veterans of some retirement pay. For veterans groups who have spent years pushing for the change, it was a long anticipated, if not fully satisfying victory. "We've worked hard to begin this process of fulfilling our obligations to our veterans," said House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a participant in weeks of negotiations to work out a compromise acceptable to the White House and GOP congressional leaders. The plan, to be phased in over 10 years, would mean greater benefits for about 245,000 disabled veterans, nearly half of those who see their retirement benefits reduced or eliminated under current law. The measure is now part of a defense bill, though it could shift to different legislation if the defense measure is stalled by other disputes, Blunt said. Under an 1890 law aimed at Civil War veterans, retirees' retirement pay is reduced $1 for every dollar in disability compensation they receive. For years, veterans and their many allies in Con- gress have pushed to change this, but made little headway because of the cost, commonly put at about $58 billion over 10 years. This year, with wounded military personnel returning from Iraq, the pres- sure for action has increased. Under the compromise, veterans with a service-connected disability rated 50 percent or higher by the Veter- ans Affairs Department would get their full retirement pay after 10 years. VA disability rates run from a tax- free $633 a month for those with a 50 percent disability to $2,193 for some- one with 100 percent disability. Under the phase in, the 50 percent disabled person would get $100 a month effec- tive Jan. 1, 2004, and the totally dis- abled person $750 toward their lost retirement pay. Purple Heart veterans - those hit by enemy fire - and others with combat-related disabilities would get full benefits. Reservists and National Guard members would be eligible for this status. The plan sets up a commission to review the current VA disability system to ensure it is equitable. "It doesn't solve the whole problem, but it is a giant step that will provide substantial relief for the most severely disabled and combat-wounded retirees," said Norb Ryan, retired Navy vice admiral and president of the Military Officers Association of America." "This is a move forward," said Joe Violante, national legislative director of the Disabled American Veterans. "But it certainly is not everything and we're not going to give up the fight for those veterans that have not been included." American Legion National Com- mander John Brieden said the nation's largest veterans group "will accept nothing less" than full benefits. "Just compensation for service-disabled mili- tary retirees should be no less a priority than rebuilding Iraq," he said. Democrats have charged the White House and GOP leaders with short- changing veterans while waging war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and were critical of the compromise. SAFE Continued from Page :A The lectures were followed by a question and answer session in which the audience expressed opti- mism for the future of a Palestinian state and questions about increasing effectiveness in changing American policy towards Israel were addressed. LSA junior Aesha Ahmed said she found the lectures and question and answer session to be "informative and beneficial because we got to interact with one another." But a University student who wished to remain anonymous said that the event's message was biased in its view- points. "I felt like it was a very polarized discussion. It was not productive at all;" the student said. SAFE plans to make these lectures on the Arab-Israeli conflict an annual event honoring Edward Said. The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 17, 2003 - 5A Explosion damages Iraqi oil pipeline, cuts down exports AP rPvOT Sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad, center, listens to court proceedings along with his attorney Peter Greenspun, left, for the third day of Jury selection yesterday. J "urCandiaes dismissed in sniper trial VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP)- the trial of sniper suspect John slowed yesterday as several would believe he is guilty in the string o rorized the Washington area a year Only seven of 16 potential juror day qualified for the panel, with qualified at the defense's request, request of the defense and prosecut On Wednesday, 13 of 15 potenti fied for service. "It just seems like some jurors ar others. This was one of those da' Ebert said after court adjourned for Facing a series of questions fror several potential jurors said they1 guilty, even though they had prev not formed an opinion about his gu "From all the evidence at the guilty," said one woman, Juror 3 identified in court by number to pr( Another juror was disqualified 1 works at the Virginia Beach jail a Muhammad. Three were disqualifi for biased views on case - Jury selection in they could not impose the death penalty or must be Allen Muhammad absolutely certain of guilt before considering it. 1-be jurors said they Seven men and 13 women have qualified for the jury. f shootings that ter- The judge must qualify seven more jurors to reach a ago. panel of 27. s interviewed yester- Then, prosecutors and defense attorneys each can five of the nine dis- eliminate six jurors, leaving a jury of 12 plus three and one at the joint alternates. ion. Potential jurors have been quizzed individually about al jurors were quali- their views on the death penalty, their exposure to pre- trial news accounts and whether they felt terrorized by re harder to seat than the sniper spree that killed 10 people over a three-week ys," prosecutor Paul period. the day. Muhammad is charged with capital murder in the m defense attorneys, Oct. 9, 2002, slaying of Dean Harold Meyers at a gas think Muhammad is station near Manassas. iously said they had Opening statements are expected to begin Monday. ilt or innocence. The trial was moved away from the Washington area time, I think he's to this southeastern Virginia city after defense lawyers 18. All jurors were argued that every northern Virginia resident could be otect their privacy. considered a victim because the shootings caused wide- because her husband spread fear. and has contact with Fellow sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo, 18, goes on ed because they said trial separately next month. BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - An explo- sion damaged part of the main pipeline running from Iraq's northern oil fields yesterday, forcing a reduction in the amount of oil available for export. In Irbil, 200 miles north of Baghdad, police shot and killed the driver of a car packed with 220 pounds of explosives as he approached the police ministry office, the U.S. military said. The vehicle did not explode, U.S. officials said. A car bombing in Irbil last month killed three people and injured four American intelligence officers. It was unclear whether the pipeline explosion near the city of Hadeetha, 125 miles northwest of Baghdad, was caused by saboteurs, a senior Oil Ministry official said on condition of anonymity. He said the explosion ripped open part of the main pipeline linking the northern oil fields to the al-Doura oil refinery and the Mussayab power plant. The oil in the pipeline was earmarked for domestic use. To maintain domestic supplies, the official said exports from the southern oil fields will be reduced by 80,000 barrels a day in order to make up for the shortage from the northern oil fields. There have been many attacks on pipelines in the region, complicating the American rebuilding effort in Iraq, which depends on oil revenue. Paul Bremer, the U.S. civilian administrator for Iraq, has said the country is losing $7 million daily because of the closure of the export pipeline to Turkey. In September, the line reopened for three days for the first time after the war. Three bomb blasts along the line forced its closure. Iraq is exporting an average of 1 million barrels of oil a day, all of it It was unclear whether the pipeline explosion near the city of Hadeetha, 125 miles northwest of Baghdad, was caused by saboteurs, a senior Oil Ministry official said on condition of anonymity. coming from the southern oil fields. In Tikrit, meanwhile, a 4-year-old Iraqi girl was killed yesterday when a bomb exploded just outside the main U.S. Army base. Her 12-year- old sister was critically wounded, U.S. officials said. U.S. officials said they believed the bomb was intended for two U.S. Bradley armored vehicles that had passed down the same road minutes before the blast. In the southern city of Basra, an Iraqi doctor, Haidar al-Baaj, was shot in the back of the head and killed as he was entering his clinic, hospital officials said yesterday. Al-Baaj, 48, was recently promot- ed to the post of director of the Educational Hospital in Basra, the officials said. The officials and members of al- Baaj's family said he had been threatened over the past two months for cooperating with authorities of the U.S.-run coalition. British military spokesman Capt. Hisham Halawi confirmed a doctor was killed on Wednesday but did not provide further details.