NEWS
The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 8, 2004 - 5A
Poil:
Voters'
priori a stable
WASHINGTON - As President imn
Bush mulls what to do after winning U.
re-election, voters say his first prior- on i
ity should be resolving the situation in fort
Iraq, where the fighting is growing more agai
intense. "
They also want Bush to cut the defi- reso
cit, which ballooned under his watch, bor
rather than pushing for more tax cuts, coll
according to an Associated Press poll can'
taken right after the election. ingc
The voters' concerns stood in con- C
trast to the priorities Bush cited after he plan
defeated Democrat John Kerry. Bush "rev
pledged to aggressively pursue major taxe
changes in Social Security, tax laws and evei
medical malpractice awards. Terrorism earl
was a chief concern both for Bush and T
many voters in the poll, get
"I earned capital in the campaign, accu
political capital, and now I intend to yea
spend it," Bush said a day after becom- thev
=.ing the first president in 68 years to win G
re-election and gain seats in both the ing1
House and Senate. ersc
Some 27 percent of respondents perc
named Iraq as the top priority for the Rep
president's second term, ahead of issues and
such as terrorism, the economy and W
health care. ingt
Only 2 percent named taxes as a pri- educ
ority. By more than a 2-to-I margin, vot- dev
ers said they preferred that the president Slig
balance the budget rather than reduce dom
taxes further. anci
After a campaign dominated by dis- D
cussion of Iraq and terrorism, national ly t
security issues are at the top of voters' Cou
concerns along with the economy. Vot- is se
ers were asked to pick from a list of S
issues in the AP poll that included Iraq, able
terrorism, the economy, unemployment, ther
health care, education and taxes. cour
Many voters on Election Day indi- abou
cated they were also concerned about an o
"moral values" - a broader concern Bi
than specific issues such as health care unco
and education. nom
Republicans ranked terrorism first on "I
the list, followed by Iraq and the econ- lin,
omy as priorities for Bush. Democrats ager
were most likely to name Iraq, followed afra
by the economy and health care while judg
;'x. independents picked Iraq and then ter- arev
x rorism, according to the poll conducted A
for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs. a ju
"He has to go 500-percent in Iraq," the.
said Ruth Shoemaker, an independent a w
and a retiree from Chula Vista, Calif. said
"That's why I voted for the president." the1
Seven in 10 voters, including a major- T
AP PHOTO ity of Democrats, would prefer that U.S. vote
on Friday following a U.S. airstrike. American jets struck troops stay in Iraq until the country is mar
insurgent stronghold. stable, instead of having them leave age1
Iraq
mediately.
J.S. troops are preparing for assaults
nsurgent strongholds used as havens
those mounting increased attacke
inst coalition forces.
There has got to be some kind of
'lution in Iraq," said Erwin Neigh-
s, a Republican and a community
ege teacher from Moberly, Mo. "Wd
't fold our tent without accomplish
our goals."
)n the domestic front, Bush says his
ns to overhaul the tax laws would b
venue-neutral" and would not cut
es. Throughout the past year, how-
r, he has urged Congress to make
ier tax cuts permanent.
he nonpartisan Congressional Bud-
Office now sees $2.3 trillion in
umulated deficits over the next 1
rs. That does not include the cost of
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
riven the choice between balanc-
the budget and cutting taxes, vot-
chose balancing the budget by 66
cent to 31 percent. Just over half of
ublicans as well as most Democrat
independents felt that way.
When the choice is between balanc
the budget and spending more o
cation, health care and economic
elopment, voters were divided.
htly more wanted the additionsa
nestic spending, 55 percent, than bal-
ing the budget, 44 percent.
Suring his second term, Bush is liked
o have an opening on the Supreme
art; Chief Justice William Rehnquist
eriously ill with cancer.
ix in 10 voters say they are comfort-
that the president will nominate
right kind of person to serve on the
rt. Bush has sidestepped questions
Lt who he would name if there were
opening.
ut three-fourths of; Democrats are
omfortable with a potential Bust
nination to the high court.
I'm very worried," said Carla Mat-
a Democrat and a marketing man
r from the San Francisco area. "I'
id that, rather than mainstream
ges, Bush will appoint judges that
way over on the right."
ksked whether Bush should appoint
.stice who will uphold or overturn
Roe v. Wade decision that protected
oman's right to abortions, six in 1
they want a justice who will uphold
landmark ruling.
he AP-Ipsos poll of 844 registered
ers was taken Nov. 3 to 5 and has a
'gin of sampling error of 3.5 percent-
points.
Fallujah resident is cared for in a hospital in the insurgent-held city of Fallujah, Iraq,
Fallujah with five air raids in 12 hours, preparing for an expected major assault on the1
Violence heigh tens before election
RAQ public about the beginning of the attack in small-arms fire as it responded, wounding
Fallujah, although U.S. commanders have one soldier, a statement said.
Continued from page 1A said it would be his responsibility to order In a web posting, the al-Qaida affiliate
:argets, and defenders fought back with the storming of the city. group of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, believed
aeavy machine gunfire. Flaming red tracer Insurgents, meanwhile, waged a second headquartered in Fallujah, claimed respon-
ounds streaked through the sky from guer- day of multiple attacks across the restive sibility for the attacks on Haditha and
illa positions inside the city, 40 miles west Sunni Triangle north and west of Baghdad, Haqlaniyah.
>f Baghdad. storming police stations, assassinating gov- "In the dawn of this blessed day, the lions
Before the assault began, U.S. command- ernment officials and setting off deadly car of al-Qaida in Iraq faced up to a group of
ars warned troops to expect the most brutal bombs. About 60 people have been killed apostates in the proud city of Haditha," said
irban fighting since the Vietnam War. and 75 injured in the two days of attacks. the statement, which could not be authenti-
Underscoring the instability elsewhere At dawn, armed rebels stormed three police cated. "The lions stormed the city's police
in Iraq, several heavy explosions thundered stations in Haditha and Haqlaniyah, 140 miles directorate and killed everyone there ...
:hrough the capital even as government northwest of Baghdad, killing 22 policemen. With this operation, the city has been com-
;pokesman Thair Hassan al-Naqeeb was Some were lined up and shot execution-style, pletely liberated. The lions have been wan-
nnouncing the state of emergency, which according to police and hospital officials. dering in the city until late today."
ipplies throughout the country except for Three attacks on U.S. convoys in and The widespread insurgent attacks seemed
Kurdish-ruled areas in the north. around Baghdad killed two American sol- aimed at relieving the pressure on Fallu-
Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi diers and wounded five others, the military jah, where about 10,000 American troops
said the state of emergency is a "very pow- said. Residents reported grenades setting - including two Marine battalions and
erful message that we are serious" about police cars aflame on Haifa Street in the an Army battalion - were massed for the
eining in insurgents before elections set for heart of the capital. assault. Two Iraqi brigades also stood by.
Late January. "We want to secure the coun- A car bomb also exploded near the The emergency decree lays the ground-
ry so elections can be done in a peaceful Baghdad home of Iraq's finance minister, work for a severe crackdown in areas where
way and the Iraqi people can participate in Adil Abdel-Mahdi, a leading Shiite politi- guerrillas operate.
he elections freely, without the intimida- cian. Abdel-Mahdi and his family were not Under the law, all traffic and men
ion by terrorists and by forces who are try- home at the time, but the U.S. military said between the ages of 15 and 55 were banned
ng to wreck the political process in Iraq," the bomb killed one Iraqi bystander and from the streets of Fallujah and surrounding
ie told reporters. Allawi said nothing in wounded another. A U.S. patrol came under areas 24 hours a day.
AP PHO
Iraqi men survey the damage after an air strike in Fallujah, Iraq, yesterday. The Iraqi government
declared a 60-day emergency yesterday in most of the country.
Average fine for dealing with nations
sponsoring terrorists plunged after 9-11
Militants seek release of
26 prisoners in return
for three U.N. hostages
WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite the Bush
administration's pledge to battle terrorist
financing, the government's average penalty
against companies doing business with coun-
tries listed as terrorist-sponsoring states fell
sharply after the Sept. 11 attacks, an Associated
Press analysis of federal records shows.
The average penalty
for a company doing t
business with Iran, Iraq, Especialy i
North Korea, Sudan or post 9/11 er
Libya dropped nearly
threefold, from more Companies a
than $50,000 in the five
years before the 2001 policing the
attacks to about $18,700
afterward, according to a a lot more."
'r
n
:1
Control, or OFAC, "is committed to ensuring
that U.S. entities abide by U.S. sanction laws.
We are not in the business of making money."
The smaller average fines could indicate
that companies are making fewer large deals
with terrorist countries, said Adam Pener, who
advises businesses on how to avoid dealing
with terrorist nations.
"I would argue this is a good
.te sign OFAC is doing its job," said
Pener, who is the chief operating
officer of the Conflict Securities
re Advisory Group. "OFAC in a
lot of ways is a deterrent. Espe-
mselves cially in the post-9/1llera, com-
panies are policing themselves a
lot more."
Council, which the president created by execu-
tive order and whose members he selected.
Grano formerly headed the U.S. subsidiary of
the Swiss bank UBS AG. It paid more than
$100 million in fines for trading U.S. currency
to Iran and other nations and for transferring
funds to Iraq during Saddam's rule.
Bush renewed the ban on trade with Iran in
March 2001. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the Treasury
Department has added hundreds of names to
the list of people and businesses whose U.S.
assets are frozen because of suspected links to
terrorism.
The department also has traced terrorist
financing and seized more than $200 million in
terrorist assets.
OFAC is the agency that enforces U.S. restric-
KABUL, Afghanistan - Taliban-linked
militants holding three kidnapped U.N. workers
demanded yesterday the release of 26 prisoners,.
some possibly in U.S. custody at Guantanamo
Bay, in return for sparing
the hostages' lives. The Unite
The group also said
it might ease its other and the Af
demands to end a crisis
that has stirred fear that governmer
Afghan insurgents are have been
learning from their Iraqi
counterparts. lipped on
Ishaq Manzoor, one of .
several men claiming to contact wit
d Nations
fghan
it
tight-
any
th the
freed after a month in
captivity following the
release of two Taliban
prisoners. Kabul denied
any link and-insisted no
ransom was paid.
This time, the United
Nations and the Afghan gov-
ernment have been tight-lipped
on any contact with the kid-
nappers, though officials insist
eign hostages during the past year, using tribal
chiefs and former militant leaders for behind-
the-scenes negotiations.
Last November, a Turkish engineer was
,'