Wednesday, October 26, 2005
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One-hundredfifteen years ofeditorialfreedom
www.michikandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan . Vol. CXVI, No. 18 62005 The Michigan Daily
2,000
U.S.
troops
dead
in
Iraq
BAGHDAD (AP) - The American military
death toll in the Iraq war reached 2,000 yes-
terday with the announcements of three more
deaths, including an Army sergeant who died
of wounds at a military hospital in Texas and a
Marine and a sailor killed last week in fighting
west of Baghdad.
The 2,000 mark was reached amid growing
doubts among the American public about the
Iraq conflict, launched in March 2003 to destroy
Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass
destruction. None was ever found.
In Washington, the U.S. Senate observed a
moment of silence in honor of the fallen 2,000.
"We owe them a deep debt of gratitude for their
courage, for their valor, for their strength, for
their commitment to our country," said Re'pub-
lican Majority Leader Bill Frist.
"Our armed forces are serving ably in Iraq
under enormously difficult circumstances, and
the policy of our government must be worthy of
their sacrifice. Unfortunately, it is not, and the
American people know it," said Sen. Edward
Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat.
President Bush warned the U.S. public to
brace for more casualties in the fight against "as
brutal an enemy as we have ever faced, uncon-
strained by any notion of common humanity and
by the rules of warfare."
"No one should underestimate the difficulties
ahead," Bush said in a speech yesterday before
the Joint Armed Forces Officers' Wives' lun-
cheon in Washington.
As a sign of those challenges, one of Iraq's
most ruthless terror groups - al-Qaida in
Iraq - claimed responsibility for Monday's
suicide attacks against hotels housing West-
ern journalists and contractors in Baghdad,
as well as suicide bombings yesterday in
northern Iraq.
In the latest casualty reports, the Pentagon
said Staff Sgt. George T. Alexander Jr., 34, of
Killeen, Texas, died Saturday in San Antonio of
wounds suffered Oct. 17 in a blast in Samarra, a
city 60 miles north of the Iraqi capital.
Earlier yesterday, the U.S. military announced
the deaths of two unidentified service members
- a sailor and a Marine - in fighting last week
in a village 25 miles west of Baghdad. Those
announcements brought the U.S. death toll to
2,000, according to figures compiled by The
Associated Press.
It was unclear who was the 2,000th service
member to die in Iraq since the U.S. military
often delays death announcements until fami-
lies are notified. On Monday, for example, the
U.S. command announced that an unidenti-
fied Marine was killed in action the day before
- after the deaths of the three service members
reported yesterday.
In an e-mail statement to Baghdad-based
journalists, command spokesman Lt. Col. Steve
Boylan said media attention on the 2,000 figure
was misguided and "set by individuals or groups
with specific agendas and ulterior motives."
Cheneys
role in leak
called into
question
WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House yester-
day sidestepped questions about whether Vice Presi-
dent Dick Cheney passed on to his top aide the identity
of a CIA officer central to a federal grand jury probe.
Notes in the hands of a federal prosecutor suggest
that Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby,
first heard of the CIA officer from Cheney himself, The
New York Times reported in yesterday's editions.
A federal prosecutor is investigating whether the
officer's identity was improperly disclosed.
The Times said notes of a previously undisclosed
June 12, 2003, conversation between Libby and
Cheney appear to differ from Libby's grand jury
testimony that he first heard of Valerie Plame from
journalists.
"This is a question relating to an ongoing investiga-
tion and we're not having any further comment on the
investigation while it's ongoing,?'White House press
secretary Scott McClellan said.
Pressed about Cheney's knowledge about the CIA
officer, McClellan said: "I think you're prejudging
things and speculating and we're not going to prejudge
or speculate about things."
McClellan said Cheney is doing a "great job" as
vice president. The spokesman also said Cheney's
public comments have always been truthful.
The New York Times identified its sources in the
story as lawyers involved in the case.
Libby has emerged at the center of Special Counsel
Patrick Fitzgerald's criminal investigation in recent
weeks because of the Cheney aide's conversations
about Plame with Times reporter Judith Miller.
Miller said Libby spoke to her about Plame and her
husband, Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson,
on three occasions.
Libby's notes show that Cheney knew Plame worked
at the CIA more than a month before her identity was
publicly exposed by columnist Robert Novak.
At the time of the Cheney-Libby conversation,
Wilson had been referred to in The Times and on the
morning of June 12, 2003 on the front page of The
Washington Post.
The Times reported that Libby's notes indicate
Cheney got his information about Wilson from then-
CIA Director George Tenet, but said there was no
indication he knew her name.
The notes also contain no suggestion that Cheney
or Libby knew at the time of their conversation of
Plame's undercover status or that her identity was
classified, the paper said.
Disclosing the identify of a covert CIA agent can be
a crime, but only if the person who discloses it knows
See WHITE HOUSE, Page 7
PIGGING OUT ON THE DIAG
STEVEN TAI/Daily
LSA sophmore Beau Brodtmann participates in a pie-eating contest during the Taste of Michigan on the Diag yesterday.
Chomsky may get 'U' honorary degree
By Bo He
For the Daily
As one of the most frequently cited
scholars alive today, Noam Chomsky is no
stranger to recognition.
Chomsky's next accolade may come
from the University, which recently nomi-
nated him, a linguistics professor at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for
an honorary degree. Chomsky has received
honorary degrees from more than 25 insti-
tutions of higher education, including the
universities of Chicago, Pennsylvania and
Georgetown, Cambridge, Columbia and
Harvard.
But Chomsky is still a long way from
being confirmed as a recipient of an honor-
ary degree at the University. The selection
process begins when the University's Hon-
orary Degree Committee reviews hundreds
of candidates with the strictest academic
scrutiny. Several dozen candidates make
the initial cut, but in the end, only five or
six candidates successfully emerge from the
committee's deliberations. Before the can-
didates can receive their honorary degrees,
they must first receive the personal approv-
al of the committee's chairperson and Uni-
versity President Mary Stye Coleman.
University officials did not comment
with regard to the reasoning and specific
merits behind Chomsky's nomination and
the timeframe associated with the nomina-
tion.
Chomsky's contributions to linguis-
tics, psychology, philosophy, international
affairs and U.S. foreign policy are the rea-
sons behind many of the honors and dis-
tinctions he has received.
His contribution to linguistics theory
includes the generative grammar theory,
for which he is widely known.
Chomsky has also come to fame because
of his political activism, especially when it
comes to his harsh criticism of the foreign
policy of the U.S. and European govern-
ments.
Though his greatest accomplishments
have been in theoretical linguistics and the
philosophy of languages, the 68-year-old
See CHOMSKY, Page 7
Millions begin recovery in
the aftermath of Wilma
Authorities say it will
take weeks before region
returns to normal
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP)
- Repair crews across Florida struggled
yesterday to restore electricity to up to 6
million people, reopen the region's airports
and replace countless windows blown out
of downtown high-rises during Hurricane
Wilma's ruinous dash across the state.
Officials said it could take weeks for
egory 3 storm struck, there were signs
of recovery.
"We have power! We have power!"
several residents of Miami Lakes chant-
ed as they ran out their back doors when
the lights came on.
The quantity of debris was daunting:
Pieces of roofs, trees, signs, awnings,
fences, billboards and pool screens were
scattered across several counties. Dam-
age estimates ranged up to $10 billion.
"Tomorrow's going to be better than
today," Gov. Jeb Bush said.
"We're going to have to fix it in a way
that is stronger," schools superintendent
Frank Till said.
Government officials and business
executives scrambled to repair buildings
and find other places to work. Broward
County court officials were trying to deter-
mine whether sessions could be held at the
damaged courthouse in coming days.
Some schools and courts closed for
the week. Orders to boil water were
issued in many locations. Miami-Dade,
Broward and Monroe counties imposed
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