Wednesday, October 26, 2005 32 ELEVATES THE PALACE .. ARTs, PAGE 5 * News 3 Delphi asks UAW to approve wage cuts for workers Opinion 4 Emily Beam: City Council needs to get a clue 4aF Singer: The Big Sports 9 Ten is the nation's best conference 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 r.ALY d. ,:k a. ,,, ,S'r n. w" ir r .. . r s .., n , , .,+ b assn-ws.. _.:: .. 1 _.. .::., .:., .. ., - y - _' ... s:..