News roundup 04.04.2006

Without DeLay

The Washington Post has your basic MSM story: "DeLay to Resign From Congress"

The Washington Post (Story 2):

The pending resignation of former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), once one of the most powerful lawmakers in Washington, comes amid a federal criminal investigation that already has reached into his inner circle of longtime advisers.

The Houston Chronicle has DeLay's speech.

I intend to write more about this later today.

The long war in Iraq

Borzou Daragahi in the Los Angeles Times:

"We know that the largest voting bloc out of the democratic process will nominate that person. That is also only fair in a process like this," Rice said at a news conference.

But the soothing words came amid a concerted effort on the part of the U.S. and Britain as well as Iraq's Sunni Arabs, Kurds and a growing chorus of Jafari's erstwhile Shiite allies to convince the leader to step aside.

Jafari has been criticized for his inability to win over doubters and change his governing style amid an ongoing wave of sectarian violence.

Thomas Frank of the USA Today:

Convinced that Iraqi police and soldiers can do little to protect them, residents are arming and organizing, often in elaborate ways, to provide their own safety.

Checkpoints and barricades are so common inside Baghdad that the city is like an obstacle course of blocked streets, blast walls and traffic jams.

Sredat, a community of 200 families north of Baghdad, created its own armed security force after seeing three men launch a mortar round from a neighborhood farm in the direction of a Shiite mosque on March 22.

The mortar missed its target, but the intrusion of apparent insurgents alarmed Sredat residents. They recently locked gates on dirt roads leading into the community and set up a checkpoint at the only paved entryway.

Immigration

The Los Angeles Times:

A number of Republicans who oppose options that would legalize illegal immigrants already in the country went to the White House on Monday for a meeting with Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove. Participants included Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who have offered an alternate proposal that would require illegal immigrants to return to their countries of origin before applying for a temporary visa or permanent residence.

(Imagine if Rove got the GOP in line with Hagel's and Martinez's efforts [see below]. Then think of how significant his evasion of indictment would have been, from an historical standpoint.)

The Washington Post:

The talks, led by Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), are aimed at finding a formula that would persuade a majority of Republicans to support an immigration bill now backed largely by Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) plans to push for a final vote on immigration legislation this week, but it is not clear whether any measure can muster the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster.

The Washington Times:

Immigration rights organizers today will call for a nationwide boycott of work, school and shopping on May 1 to protest congressional efforts to clamp down on illegal aliens as part of pending immigration-reform legislation.

The Denver Post:

The U.S. Senate is not considering amnesty for illegal immigrants, U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar insisted Monday as he tried to beat back criticism of reforms being considered this week.

The freshman Colorado Democrat held a news conference in Denver to defend the bill before heading back to Washington for debate.

From Russia with Control

The Christian Science Monitor:

MOSCOW – As Ukraine tries to find a workable balance between East and West in the wake of last week's elections, Russia is mulling its options in the tug-of-war for hegemony in the post-Soviet neighborhood.

"The Kremlin is interested in the failure of the Ukrainian model," contends Oleksandr Shushko, research director of the independent Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation in Kiev. "Russia will do whatever it can to end this example of openness, pluralism, and transparent governance on its frontier."

The Environment

The Chicago Tribune:

Sen. Barack Obama delivered a blistering attack on President Bush's environmental policies Monday, saying the president's recent plan to end the nation's reliance on oil was "not a serious effort" and that the world faces devastation if it doesn't address worsening climate changes.

India

Upcoming trips, from the Times of India:

Senator Chuck Hagel, senior Republican Senator and member of Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will be here for three days from April 9. He is also Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Sub-committee on International Economic Policy, Export and Trade Promotion and a member of the Senate Sub-committee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert will also lead a delegation of members of the US lower House from April 9 to 12. The members of the delegation include those representing various House Committees.

Darfur

The A.P.:

KHARTOUM, Sudan -- The United Nations yesterday protested what it said was a decision by Sudan to bar the UN's top humanitarian official from visiting the capital and the troubled western Darfur region.

Terrorism cases

The Philadelphia Inquirer:

"Lodi was famous for wines," lamented John Beckman, a city councilman. "Suddenly we became famous for terrorists."

Nearly 10 months later, the much-ballyhooed case appears enfeebled. Some experts say it fits a pattern of the government overstating the importance of post-9/11 terrorism cases.