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WASHINGTON - Detailed plans for the new U.S. Embassy under construction in Baghdad appeared online Thursday in a breach of the tight security surrounding the sensitive project. Computer-generated projections of the soon-to-be completed, heavily fortified compound were posted on the Web site of the Kansas City, Mo.-based architectural firm that was contracted to design the massive facility in the Iraqi capital. The images were removed by Berger Devine Yaeger Inc. shortly after the company was contacted by the State Department. "We work very hard to ensure the safety and security of our employees overseas," said Gonzalo Gallegos, a department spokesman....

President Bush said Thursday he wished the execution of Saddam Hussein "had gone in a more dignified way." Bush also said he will make a speech next week announcing his long-awaited decisions about how to proceed in the unpopular war in Iraq. Considering more troops to deal with the rising violence in Baghdad, Bush said, "One thing is for certain: I will want to make sure the mission is clear and specific and can be accomplished." Senior generals have cautioned against sending additional troops unless their role is defined. Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki spoke on a secure video...

Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that she will create a new congressional panel to examine the administration's intelligence budget and to make sure the money is being spent properly. Creating the panel, Pelosi said at a news conference, "makes oversight stronger and makes the American people safer." Democrats have been highly critical of the conduct of intelligence agencies in the days before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the lead- up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Pelosi, D-Calif., also said that one of the first tasks of the Democratic-controlled House she will lead beginning in January will be...

Before the fall of the Soviet Union, “Kremlinologists” got paid to sift through the lies and decipher goings-on in Moscow. We’ll need similar skills to see through the Democratic Congress’ smoke screen. Again and again during the congressional campaigns, Democrats insisted they were not the party of cut-and-run in Iraq. But now that they’ve won both the House and Senate, the leaders of the incoming Congress are abandoning all pretense. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who will be Armed Services chairman, told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday: “We need to begin a phased redeployment of forces from Iraq in four to...

A federal judge on Wednesday denied a former Republican congressional candidate’s request for a restraining order barring President Bush or Vice President Richard Cheney from bombing Iran or Syria. Mary Maxwell, 59, of 179 Loudon Road, Apt. 10, Concord, filed a lawsuit Monday against Bush, Cheney and other “unnamed defendants actively engaging in acts of war against Iran and Syria in the guise of the war against terrorism.” Maxwell’s suit seeks a ruling that the administration lacks legal authority to pre-emptively attack either Iran or Syria without a Congressional declaration of war, and that radioactive fallout from the use of...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2006 – Atlanta will join communities across America to host a Freedom Walk Sept. 11, the fifth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States. The Freedom walk is being sponsored by Checkers restaurants, and presented by Operation Homefront. “We wanted to reflect on the events that happened on 9/11 at the Pentagon and the twin towers in New York City, and in Pennsylvania,” said Vicki Sarracino, president of the Georgia chapter of Operation Homefront. “And we also wanted to renew our commitment to freedom and the values of our country, and to honor the...

America Supports You: Indiana Town Plans Freedom WalkBy Samantha L. QuigleyAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2006 – Residents of Crawfordsville, Ind., will gather Sept. 11 to participate in a Freedom Walk, joining an ever-growing number of Americans who will pay similar tribute to the victims of 9/11 and the nation’s past and present veterans. Defense Department officials said this morning that so far, 75 communities in 36 states have registered similar events on the department’s Freedom Walk Web site. “We have gotten the message out to the local churches, so they’re going to put the (announcement) in...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2006 – San Diego will honor its military heritage with a Freedom Walk planned to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. “The walk begins and ends at the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center,” said Beth Steinke, president of Operation Homefront-San Diego, the nonprofit group organizing the walk. “It’s a leisurely two-mile stroll through the park.” The walk, presented by DefenseWeb, a software company, will begin with opening ceremonies at 9 a.m. in Balboa Park, she said. A color guard and a chaplain are scheduled to participate in the opening ceremonies. “We’re hoping...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 21, 2006 – A veteran Utah Army National Guardsman from Salt Lake City is coordinating efforts to hold the municipality’s first Freedom Walk. Salt Lake City’s Freedom Walk is slated for the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Chief Warrant Officer Paul Holton, an Army interrogator, said. “It’s important for people to remember how we felt that day,” Holton said. It’s also important to honor military veterans, especially those who’ve given their lives safeguarding freedom, he added. Holton is working to get sponsors and publicity for his city’s Freedom Walk....

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2006 -- In conjunction with similar events across the country, up to 1,000 people are expected to walk the streets of downtown San Antonio Sept. 11 to pay tribute to those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001, and to thank America’s veterans, past and present. Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit group that provides emergency support and assistance to servicemembers and their families, is sponsoring the San Antonio Freedom Walk, which will start at the Alamodome and end at North Plaza, in downtown San Antonio. The overall route will be a little more than two...

Rebel MPs wreck Australia's tough immigration plans By Nick Squires in Sydney (Filed: 15/08/2006) A revolt by backbench MPs forced the Australian government to abandon a controversial immigration law yesterday. The legislation would have meant that asylum seekers were sent to a detention centre on the remote South Pacific island of Nauru while their applications were processed. Opponents said that asylum seekers, including women and children, would be kept behind razor wire for months or years in a refugee equivalent of Guantanamo Bay. John Howard, the prime minister, had to take the humiliating step of withdrawing the legislation, knowing that...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2006 – The city whose native son helped turn the United States into a nation of motorists will shun Henry Ford’s invention for a time on Sept. 11. Michael A. Guido, mayor of Dearborn, Mich., shows Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense for internal communications and public affairs, a flag that flew over Ground Zero after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. New York firefighters presented the flag to the city in 2002 in appreciation for the $125,000 the city raised for the families of fallen firefighters. Courtesy photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “We...

SACRAMENTO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used his health care affordability summit Monday to unveil a plan to expand health access for California children as he met with noted business, labor and medical leaders to discuss reforms to the overburdened health care system. Across campus at the University of California, Los Angeles, state Treasurer and Democratic nominee Phil Angelides staged his own "town hall" event with the associate director of the university's Center for Heath Policy Research and a handful of senior citizens and university students. Angelides pledged to sponsor legislation to expand the state's Healthy Families Program and force all companies...

NASA needs to rethink its Mars exploration plans after 2010 given new understandings about the red planet and likely funding levels in the coming years, according to a report just out from a panel of outside experts. By adding to a reworked mix of future missions-for example, a geophysical/meteorological network as well as a sample return mission-the space agency would garner a greater scientific impact at Mars, the panel concludes. Moreover, the space agency must fortify its ability to analyze the data streaming in from Mars. That research can help flesh out a safe and scientifically productive role for humans...

Counting on victory in November, Democrats outline plansHomeland security, a boost to the minimum wage and White House investigations top legislative agenda By Jonathan Weisman WASHINGTON POST Posted on Sun, May. 07, 2006 WASHINGTON - Democratic leaders, increasingly confident they will seize control of the House in November, are laying plans for a legislative blitz during their first week in power that would raise the minimum wage, roll back parts of the Republican prescription drug law, implement homeland security measures and reinstate lapsed budget deficit controls. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said last week that a Democratic House...

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2006 – Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Fukushiro Nukaga, Japan's minister of state for defense, met at the Pentagon today to continue discussions about realigning U.S. forces in Japan, including moving 8,000 Marines from Okinawa. Today's session followed the U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee meeting session May 1 at the State Department. At that meeting, informally known as the "two-plus-two" session, Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Nukaga and Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Aso to discuss the two countries' alliance and ongoing efforts to update it for the 21st century. During a press...

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney looked ahead Tuesday to a three-nation, six-day trip designed to nurture democracy and advance U.S. interests in lands where political change doesn't always come easily. Administration officials said a speech in Lithuania on Thursday to leaders of the Baltic and Black Sea regions would be the centerpiece of the journey, which also includes an unusual high-level visit to Kazakhstan. The final stop was Croatia, where Cheney arranged meetings with leaders of three members of the Adriatic Charter, an organization founded by countries eager for admission to NATO. While officials hoped Cheney's trip would advance...

Chertoff: U.S. Still Plans Passport Rule Wednesday April 19, 2006 1:31 AM By LARA JAKES JORDAN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration said Tuesday it still plans to require passports from all foreigners entering the United States by the end of next year, despite calls for a delay by some Republicans worried about strained relations with Canada. At issue is a 2004 law, being phased in over three years, to tighten U.S. borders against suspected terrorists and other criminals. But critics on both sides of the nation's northern border fear the passport requirement will hamper commerce and...

Plans for US-Mexico border fence draw fireBy Tim Gaynor Posted on: Wednesday, 29 March 2006, 08:07 CST TIJUANA, Mexico (Reuters) - Hurling himself over a steel fence into the no-man's-land between Mexico and California, an undocumented migrant sprints across a narrow strip lit by harsh arc lights and watched over by video cameras on tall posts. Before he can shin up a second barrier of tall concrete pillars topped with seismic sensors and a layer of steel mesh more than an arm's-length wide, U.S. Border Patrol agents close in fast and arrest him . That scene is repeated dozens of...

Alamance dealer plans to sell 13th Amendment originalThe Associated Press BURLINGTON, N.C. Published on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 An Alamance County dealer plans to auction one of 13 known original versions of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States, at the end of the month. The document will be displayed at the Times-News building this week and will be in an online auction March 30, according to Raynors Historical Collectible Auctions. Bob Raynor, president of the company, said the document has a potential value of $750,000 to $1 million. The amendment was approved Feb. 1, 1865, by...