2A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, December 13, 2004 NATION/WORLD More soft money used in election NEWS INBRIEF WASHINGTON (AP) - Whatever the reasons John Kerry and the Demo- crats lost the race for the White House, lack of money wasn't one. Tax-exempt pro-Democratic groups raising big checks for this year's elec- tion collected almost twice as much money as their Republican rivals in the presidential race, a study shows. The financial advantage comes in addition to record fundraising by Kerry, the unsuccessful candidate, and the Demo- cratic Party. In all, nonparty political groups, known as 527s because of the tax code section that covers them, raised about $534 million and spent roughly $544 million in the 2003-04 election cycle, the analysis by the nonpartisan Political Money Line campaign finance tracking service found. The prolific fundraising is a sign that such groups, many of which debuted in the 2004 election season, will have no problem surviving the competition for contributions, Kent Cooper, co-founder of Political Money Line, said yesterday. Fundraising drives over websites and through e-mail helped several become political players very quickly, he said. "I think it shows you that with the Internet, anyway; your lines of commu- nication can be large pipelines for quick money," Cooper said. The presidential race drew most of their attention. Groups supporting John Kerry or opposing President Bush raised from raising six- and seven-figure dona- tions to finance such expensive activities. The outside groups' similarities in objec- $266 million. Those opposing Kerry or backing Bush col- lected $144 million, the Political Money Line said. The study was based on a review of the organizations' post- election campaign finance reports to the Internal Rev- enue Service. Democratic activists began forming such groups soon after a law took effect in "... With the Internet, anyway, your lines of communication can be large pipelines for quick money." - Kent Cooper Co-founder, Political Money Line tive to party com- mittees prompted campaign finance watchdogs to char- acterize them as "shadow parties." Republicans, relying in part on their long-stand- ing advantage over Democrats in collecting dona- tions in modest amounts such as $10 or $20 as well licans such as Texas homebuilder Bob Perry. His donations helped fund the anti-Kerry group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, whose allegations that Kerry exaggerated his decorated Vietnam War service record monopolized attention in the campaign for weeks last summer. Their late start limited their impact on the presidential race. The anti-Bush groups, meanwhile, had millions of dollars on hand by the time Kerry wrapped up the Dem- ocratic primaries last winter. They spent big on TV ads that kept Kerry's side on the air as he worked to rebuild his campaign fund. In addition to the pro-Democratic outside groups' financial advantage over their pro-Bush counterparts in the presidential race, the Democratic National Committee out-raised the Republican National Committee by several million dollars during the two-year election cycle. Although Bush raised an all-time presidential record of $273 million from private contributors, Kerry was not far behind. He collected a Demo- cratic-record $249 million after veer- ing from party tradition and becoming the first Democratic nominee ever to skip public financing and its spending limits during the primaries, as Bush did in 2000 and 2004. IIl.'Uli JUUhl\I!t ii JU'AWI i itW1\hI Pn UiUJil (JN .;, GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Palestinian attack kills four Israelis Palestinian militants blew up an Israeli army base at the Gaza-Egypt crossing yesterday by sneaking more than a ton of explosives through a tunnel, killing four Israeli soldiers and wounding at least 10 - the largest Palestinian attack in the month since Yasser Arafat's death. Shooting broke out after the blast, which collapsed several structures at the crossing and damaged others. Israel said the attack jeopardizes peace moves and demanded Palestinian action to stop the militants. "As of now we have at least 10 people who were hurt, four dead and the efforts for the rescue operation still continue," said Raanan Gissin, a top aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, in an interview with Associated Press Television News. The military said one soldier was missing, apparently trapped under i a November 2002 that banned national party committees from collecting "soft money" - cor- porate or union contributions in any amount and unlimited donations from any source. Leading groups such as the Media Fund and America Coming Together, jump-started by multimillion-dollar donations from wealthy businessmen such as George Soros, focused on adver- tising and get-out-the-vote operations. That eased pressure on the national Democratic Party, which was prohibited I as checks up to the new individu- al donor of $25,000 per year, initially held off on formation of their own 527 groups. Instead, they argued that the pro- Democratic organizations violated the new law's broad ban on the use of soft money to influence federal elections. The Federal Election Commission failed to curb the groups' activities, however, and GOP activists decided last spring to forge ahead with their own outside groups. The new Republican groups quickly raised millions from wealthy Repub- rubble. The attack was another sign that a lull in violence that followed Arafat's death on Nov. 11 is over. On Tuesday, an Israeli soldier was killed in a blast at the entrance to another tunnel near the Gaza-Israel border, setting off Israeli retaliation that killed four Palestinians. MANILA, Philippines Blast kills at least 15, wounds 58 in market One year later, Saddam's trial still uncertain BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - In the year since he was captured and hustled away to a secret location, Saddam Hussein has taken up gardening, undergone a hernia operation and written poetry that one visitor describes as "rubbishy." What he has not done is meet with any of the 20 lawyers who claim to represent him. And with the country in the grips of an insurgency that remains strong, predicting when Iraq's most famous prisoner will be tried is no eas- ier now than it was on the day he was pulled from his hiding spot in a spider hole near his hometown of Tikrit. When Saddam first appeared before an Iraqi court in July, some officials pre- dicted a swift trial. Ever since, they have said October, November or by the end of the year. Now, they expect it no ear- Saddam Hussein appears in a courtroom at Camp Victory, at a former Saddam palace on the outskirts of Baghdad on July 1. 'm m lier than the beginning of 2006, Iraq's National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie told The Associated Press. "This is going to be probably the trial of the century and we have to get it right," al-Rubaie said. "We can't sud- denly try him and sentence him to either life in prison or whatever, execute him 100 times as some people want to do." Officials say the work of gathering evidence - documents, mass grave sites, testimony from victims - con- tinues away from the public eye and beyond the reach of the insurgents. They insist that it is being done meticulously and legitimately. U.S. officials with the Department of Justice's Regime Crimes Liaison Office are advising the Iraqi Special Tribunal on the process of bringing Saddam to trial. The Americans paid the tribunal's budget of $75 million in 2004-2005. But with elections approaching on Jan. 30, the Iraqi government is in flux and is likely to stay that way for another year until a new constitution is drafted and another round of elections is held next December. Trainers also face a dearth of qual- ified Iraqi prosecutors, defense law- yers and judges. If proper attorneys are found, they take a new kind of risk - threat from both the guerril- las, believed to be mostly Sunni Mus- lims like Saddam, or others trying to stymie the trial. There are few Iraqi lawyers willing to represent him, while prosecutors fear challenging him. The same goes for the judges who are overseeing the case, slowing its work. "At various points in time they have had a number of judges who have since withdrawn," said Hania Mufti, a spokes- woman for New York-based Human Rights Watch who has followed the case. "So that's been a practical problem on the ground." That fact has been sobering for the Americans, who predicted Saddam's capture would cripple the insurgency. They portrayed violence immediately after his capture as the last gasp of des- perate loyalists. "Saddam's era is over," Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said days after Sad- dam was captured. "But it takes time for people to accept the changes." Since then, the guerillas have contin- ued exacting a bloody toll against U.S. troops and their Iraqi allies. The United States is increasing troop levels to 150,000, higher than they were when the war began, in hopes of provid- ing safety for elections set for Jan. 30. U.S. attention has also shifted to another figure - Abu Musab al-Zarqa- wi - believed to be leading the brutal campaign of hostage-takings, behead- ings and bombings that victimized both Americans and Iraqis. Saddam first appeared before the court July 1, without a lawyer. He was present- ed with seven preliminary charges that included gassing thousands of Kurds in 1988, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the suppression of 1991 revolts by Kurds and Shiites, the murders of religious and political leaders and the mass displace- ment of Kurds in the 1980s. A bomb exploded in a market packed with Christmas shoppers yesterday, kill- ing at least 15 people and shattering a months-long lull in terror attacks in the volatile southern Philippines, where Muslim and communist rebels are active. The homemade bomb, concealed in a box, went off in the meat section of the market in General Santos, about 620 miles south of Manila. Officials imme- diately bolstered security in the predominantly Christian port city of 500,000 people, fearing more attacks. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said there was no way to justify "this heinous deed." No one claimed responsibility, and it was not yet clear whether terrorist groups were involved. Muslim and communist rebels both operate in areas around General Santos. The city had been largely tranquil since a bomb killed 14 people in a shop- ping mall in 2002. Authorities blamed the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf and a larger separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Some of those arrested are being tried on multiple murder charges. BAGHDAD Two troops die in U.S. strike on Fallujah American warplanes pounded Fallujah with missiles yesterday as insurgents fought running battles with coalition forces in the volatile western Iraqi city. The U.S. military said two troops died in separate incidents. Several detained leaders of Saddam Hussein's regime began refusing meals in apparent protest against their upcoming trials, U.S. military officials and a lawyer said. Former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein was not among them. In Jordan, Saddam's attorneys argued ahead of today's first anniversary of his cap- ture that the former president was being held illegally by U.S. and Iraqi authorities. "It was more of a forced abduction that later became compulsory concealment and solitary confinement, acts rejected by all international conventions," said a statement released yesterday by the team. VIENNA, Austria Inquiry into candidate's poisoning reopened Ukrainian prosecutors re-opened their investigation into allegations Viktor Yush- chenko was poisoned after doctors who treated the opposition leader confirmed he had been slipped the toxic chemical dioxin in early September. Yushchenko returned home yesterday to campaign for this month's presidential run-off vote. Yushchenko said he didn't want the poisoning issue to overshadow the Dec. 26 vote, but the director of Vienna's elite Rudolfiner said that a poten- tial criminal case could be involved. "We are not dealing with simple pimples, we are dealing with a poisoning and the suspicion of third-party involvement," Dr. Michalel Zimpfer said. Doctors at Vienna's elite Rudolfiner clinic said it took a newly developed test, conducted by a lab in Amsterdam where Yushchenko's blood samples were sent, to determine beyond doubt that it was dioxin poisoning that caused a mystery illness in September that left Yushchenko disfigured and in pain. - Compiled from Daily wire reports 0 4 qm 'II IM www.michigandaily.com The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily's office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $105. Winter term (January through April) is $110, yearlong (September through April) is $190. University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. 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