The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
NEWS BRIEFS
BAGHDAD1
Leader in Sunni
revolt against
al-Qaida killed
The assassination yesterday of
the leader of the Sunni Arab revolt
against al-Qaida militants dealt a
setback to one of the few success
stories in U.S. efforts to stabilize
Iraq, but tribesmen in Anbar prov-
ince vowed not to be deterred in
fighting the terror movement.
American and Iraqi officials
hoped the death of Abdul-Sat-
tar Abu Risha would not stall the
campaign to drive al-Qaida in Iraq
from the vast province spreading
west of Baghdad and reconcile
Sunnis with the Shiite-led national
government.
It was the biggest blow to the
Anbar tribal alliance since a suicide
bomber killed four anti-al-Qaida
sheiks as they met in a Baghdad
hotel in June. Abu Risha himself
had escaped a suicide attack in
February. But those attacks and
others did not stop the campaign
against al-Qaida.
t
BEAUMONT, Texas
Humberto dumps f
heavy rain on
Texas, Lousiana
t
Humberto, the firsthurricane to a
hit the U.S. in two years, sneaked t
up on south Texas and Louisi-
ana overnight and crashed ashore t
yesterday with heavy rains and I
85 mph winds, killing at least one
person. I
The system rapidly became a s
Category 1 hurricane, then weak- c
ened to a tropical storm by mid- s
morning and bore into central
Louisiana. Roads were flooded and
power was knocked out, but the s
greatest concern was heavy rain e
falling in areas already inundated
by a wet summer.
Humberto wasn't even a tropical
storm until Wednesday afternoon, t
strengthening from a tropical r
depression with 35 mph winds to o
a hurricane with 85 mph winds
in just 18 hours, senior hurricane u
specialist James Franklin said at
the National Hurricane Center in t
Miami. a
o
CLEVELAND t
Michigan GOP
activist gets 5years t
for sexual battery b
in
A lawyer who formerly led a 1
Michigan young Republicans orga- i
nization was sentenced yesterday
to five years in prison on a guilty S
plea to sexual battery stemming a
from allegations that he forced sex B
acts on a woman while both were a
at a convention last year. t
Cuyahoga County Common v
Pleas Judge Peter J. Corrigan p
sentenced Michael A. Flory, 33, of
Jackson, Mich. Flory, dressed in a f
jacket, white.tie and dark blue but- t
ton-down shirt, was led from the a
courtroom in handcuffs. t
Other charges, including rape, o
kidnapping, aggravated burglary
and gross sexual imposition, were b
dismissed when he pleaded guilty s
July 24. V
WASHINGTON c
Superfund site i
cleanups have
slowed under Bush
The Environmental Protection
Agency will finish 24 Superfund
toxic waste cleanups this year, far
fewer than the average 76 com-
pleted annually during the Clinton
administration..
EPA initially targeted 40 Super-
fund sites for completed cleanups
this fiscal year, which ends Sept.
30. Forty cleanups were finished in
fiscal 2005. Among the most com-
mon contaminants are asbestos,
lead, mercury and radiation.
Rep. JohnDingell (D-Dearborn)
chairman of the House Energy and
Commerce Committee, blamed
the Bush administration's efforts
to cut EPA spending for slowing
the pace of cleanups, even though
Congress ultimately sets the agen-
cy's budget.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
I39775
Number of American service
members who have died in the
War in Iraq, according to The
Associated Press. The following
were identified by the Department
of Defense yesterday:
Staff Sgt. Yance T. Gray, of
Ismay, Mont.,
Staff Sgt. Gregory Rivera-
Santigo, 26, of St. Croix, Virgin
Islands,
Sgt. Michael C. Hardegree, 21,
of Villa Rica, Ga.,
Sgt. Omar L. Mora, 28, of Texas
City, Texas,
Sgt. Nicholas J. Patterson, 24,
of Rochester, Ind., s
Spc. Ari D. Brown-Weeks, 23,
of Abingdon, Md.,
Spc. Steven R. Elrod, 20, of
Hope Mills, N.C.
Friday, September 14, 2007 - 3A
STUDY ABROAD FAIR
Bush: Progress
allows for some
troop reduction
President says
5,700 will leave by
mid-July
By STEVEN LEE MEYERS
and CARL HULSE
The New York Times
WASHINGTON - Presi-
dent Bush contended yester-
day night that his plan to begin
withdrawing some troops
From Iraq gradually was a
return on success" that could
be squandered by the deeper
and speedier reductions that .
he war's opponents have
demanded.
At the same time, Bush called
or an "enduring relationship"
with Iraq that would keep
American forces there "beyond
my presidency," saying a free
and friendly Iraq was essential
o the security of the region
and the United States.:He cast
he war in Iraq as a vital part
of a strategy in the Middle East
o defeat al-Qaida and counter
Iran.
Evidently sensitive to how
ower troop levels might be
een - by enemies abroad and
ritics at home - he empha-
ized in his address that early
drawdowns were now possible
only because the strategy of
ending more troops to Iraq
ight months ago had worked.
He did not once use the word
withdrawal.
"The more successful we are,
he more American troops can
eturn home," Bush said, trying
ince again to win support for a
war in Iraq that remains deeply
inpopular.
The speech was the first
ime since the war began four
nd a half years ago that Bush
utlined a plan for troop reduc-
ions, to bring levels down from
he current high of 169,000. He
held out the prospect of more
eductions but committed only
o a plan that would withdraw
iy next July the additional
ombat units he ordered there
n January, leaving a main body
if more than 130,000 troops
ntact.
In the Democratic response,
en. Jack Reed of Rhode Island,
.West Point graduate, said that
lush was making the case for
n "endless and unlimited mili-
ary presence in Iraq," and he
'owed that Congress would
irevent it.
"Once again, the president
ailed to provide either a plan
o successfully end the war or
iconvincing rationale to con-
inue it," said Reed, an author
f a Democratic proposal to
withdraw most combat troops
y next spring but still leave a
ignificant force in Iraq to pro-
'ide training and security.
Bush's 18-minute address
ulminated several weeks
f political stagecraft that
ncluded several speeches
and a presidential trip to Iraq
but also heavy reliance by the
White House on Gen. David
H. Petraeus, the top American
commander in Iraq, to make
the public case for a strategy
overseen by the commander in
chief.
While promoting progress
in Iraq, Bush conceded that his
vision for Iraq would be a dif-
ficult one to achieve.
That acknowledgment was
punctuated with macabre
timing by the assassination
in Anbar Province, west of
Baghdad, yesterday of a Sunni
sheik, Abdul Sattar Buzaigh al-
Rishawi, who had led a group
of tribal leaders into an alliance
with the United States and who
had met the president during
his trip to Iraq only 10 days
ago.
The White House clearly
sought to maximize the politi-
cal benefits from the announce-
ment of a troop reduction,
which some military officials
said would have had to happen
anyway unless the administra-
tion took the politically unpal-
atable step of extending troops'
tours in Iraq to longer than 15
months. The first 5,700 troops
affected by the pullback would
leave Iraq this year - "by
Christmas," Bush said - and
roughly 18,000 more would do
so by mid-July 2008.
Still, other forces of what
came to be called "the surge"
could remain and new ones
could be sent, administra-
tion and military officials said
Thursday. As a result, the num-
ber of troops in Iraq could be
higher in summer 2008 than
it was in fall 2006 before the
surge began, a fact likely to
infuriate Bush's critics and
upset even some Republican
supporters.
Bush's approach sets the
stage for a legislative clash,
beginning next week in the
Senate, as Democrats renew
their efforts to put together
a bipartisan coalition to win
approval of legislation forcing a
change in policy in Iraq.
Bush, in his remarks, seemed
to hope that by beginning a
withdrawal, it would mollify
those who were increasingly
alarmed by the size and cost
of the commitment and unite
Americans behind the war in a
way they have rarely been from
the start. "The way forward I
have described tonight makes
it possible, for the first time
in years, for people who have
been on opposite sides of this
difficult debate to come togeth-
er," he said.
That seemed unlikely.
Democratic leaders did not
wait for the formal remarks to
render a judgment. "He wants
an open-ended commitment
with an open wallet by the
American people," said Rep.
Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the
chairman pf the House Demo-
cratic Caucus.
LSA freshman Natalia Lalonde talks to LSA senior Madi Wachman and Engineering senior Jacob Schonberg abot studyint in
Cape Town,S outh Africa at the Study Abroad Fair in the Michigan Union Ballroom yesterday.
GM is UAW*s main target for strike
Company considered
most stable among
Big Three
DETROIT (AP) - The United
Auto Workers union has picked
General Motors Corp. as the lead
company and potential strike tar-
get in contract negotiations with
the Detroit Three, two local union
officials said yesterday.
The officials, who requested
anonymity because the talks are
private, said their locals received
notice yesterday afternoon that
GM would be the lead.
Contracts betweenthe UAW and
GM, Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor
Co. were to expire at midnight on
today.
Normally, the union negotiates
an agreement with the lead com-
pany, which becomes the pattern
for the other two. Industry ana-
lysts consider GM's financial con-
dition to be the strongest of the
three.
Spokeswomen at Ford and
Chrysler confirmed yesterday that
those companies have agreed to
indefinite contract extensions with
the union. The extensions can be
canceled by either side with three
days' notice.
Chrysler spokeswoman Michele
Tinson wouldn't speculate on when
an agreement will be reached,
but said both sides are "mak-
ing constructive progress." Ford
spokeswoman Marcey Evans also
wouldn't say when an agreement
might be reached.
"We're goingto continue to work
together," Evans said.
Bargaining has been under
way for months, formally begin-
ning in July. Until yesterday, talks
appeared to be progressing, but
several local union leaders at GM
plants said they had been told to
begin preparations in case of a
strike.
Although such preparations
are standard in the days before
the contracts expire, several local
union officials said yesterday that
there may have been a snag in the
talks overnight Wednesday.
Workers at a Cadillac assembly
and stamping complex in Lansing
are readying their union hall to
be the area's strike headquarters
and are putting together picket
signs, Chris "Tiny" Sherwood,
president of UAW Local 652, said
yesterday.
Sherwood, who has been in
touch with a member of the union's
national' bargaining committee,
said he was told the talks took a
turn for the worse Wednesday
night.
"Apparently from last night
until this morning, everything's
changed," said Sherwood. "I've
never been asked to get my hall
ready for a strike in the last four
contracts."
Union officials at several
other plants who asked not to be
identified because they are not
authorized to speak about the
talks said they, too, were hold-
ing strike meetings and getting
their membership ready in case
the international union calls for
a walkout.
Sherwood said his talks with
union officials in Detroit give him
the impression that this is more
serious than usual.
"If it's window dressing, they're
sure not acting like it," he said.
UAW spokesman Roger Kerson
in Detroit would not comment yes-
terday afternoon, nor would GM
spokesman Tom Wickham.
a r
0
GRADE: A
TUNNY AND MADLY ARRESTING."
-OWEN GLEIERMAN,ENTERTAINMENTTWEEKLY
"GRIPPING, EXCITING,
AND INSPIRATIONAL.'
-RAFER'GUZMAN, NEWSDAY
"IRRESISTIBLE!"
-ATT zOLL ERSEITZ,THE NEW YORK TIMES
SCOTTSCHUELLER,CHICAGOTRIBUNE
"YOU WON'T SEE A
MORE GRIPPING OR
COMPELLING FLICK
IN A THEATER
THIS YEAR:'
-KEVIN SMITH
"ONE OF THE BEST
MOVIES OF THE YEAR'
-QUINTAINTITCSLNEWS.COM
"I LOVED THIS FILM."
RICHARD ROEPER,EBERT & ROEPER