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WASHINGTON -- President Bush issued an apology Friday over the removal of Abdullah Al-Arian, son of a University of South Florida professor, from a White House meeting of Muslim officials. "The president is very concerned that an action was taken that was wrong, inappropriate, and the president apologizes for it on behalf of the White House," press secretary Ari Fleischer said. A uniformed Secret Service officer ordered Al-Arian, a congressional intern and Duke University senior, to leave a briefing Thursday of Muslim officials. Al-Arian's father, USF professor Sami Al-Arian, has been entangled in an investigation of terrorists. His uncle is...

<p>WASHINGTON — Several of the House's more prominent and colorful members, including GOP leader Dick Armey and Democratic stalwart David Bonior, are leaving office with the close of this Congress. Some are taking the short walk down the Capitol hallway to the Senate. One took a longer trip to a Pennsylvania jail.</p>

<p>I was recently in Iraq as part of a delegation of members of Congress who traveled there to observe the humanitarian conditions, press upon the Iraqis the need for weapons inspections and gain insight into the dangerous implications a unilateral, preemptive strike would have on U.S. national interest. These are subject areas generally ignored in our current discourse.</p>

Chemical and biological agents were tested in Florida, Alaska, Hawaii, Maryland and Utah. By THOM SHANKER N.Y. TIMES NEWS SERVICEposted 10/09/02 WASHINGTON -- The Defense Department, acknowledging a much wider testing of toxic weapons on its forces, said it had used chemical warfare and live biological agents during Cold War-era military exercises on American soil, as well as in Canada and Britain, according to secret documents cleared for release to Congress on Wednesday. Sixteen newly declassified reports describe how chemical and biological exercises, previously undisclosed, used deadly substances like VX and sarin to test the vulnerability of American forces to...

Think of Mike Thompson as the silent partner. He's the Californian who accompanied his fellow House Democrats, David Bonior and Jim McDermott, on the journey to Iraq that Republicans can't stop talking about. That's because Bonior and McDermott couldn't stop talking as they worked their way through hospitals, schools and meetings with various Iraqi officials. McDermott was particularly outspoken. He stood on Iraqi soil urging Americans to take Saddam Hussein's promises on weapons inspections at "face value" and said President Bush was willing to "mislead the American people." The more Bonior and McDermott talked, the less Thompson was seen or...

If Democrats fail to win back the House, it's likely that some in the party will look for the seeds of defeat in a late-September weekend in Baghdad, where visiting Democratic Congressmen asked the world to put faith in the word of Saddam Hussein. "It's just a disaster," said one top Democratic official, who requested anonymity. "Even the average person who doesn't believe we should go to war in Iraq is bound to see [the visit] as support for an enemy of the United States. And those who support the president on Iraq will think it's treasonous." Members and strategists...

Congressmen Jim McDermott and David Bonior have "MISLED" the American people about their Vietnam service.  During their Baghdad press conference, both McDermott and Bonior touted their Vietnam combat service, while calling President Bush a liar and praising Sadam Hussein's openness and cooperation.  Upon returning to the U.S., the two congressmen held a press conference and again highlighted their Vietnam combat service, as an obvious measure to boost their qualifications to remark on the horrors of war. Following the news conference, McDermott appeared on MSNBC and once again clearly established at the onset of the interview that he had served in...

The war is now well and truly politicized — and the Democrats have done it. I watched the sickening performance of Congressmen McDermott and Bonior from Baghdad last Sunday, and couldn't believe my eyes. Where are the condemnations? Why haven't Democrats openly distanced themselves from these foolish and scurrilous remarks? The truth is, Republicans, including most especially the president, have been almost shockingly quiet about this. What McDermott and Bonior said and did was infinitely worse than the remarks that led to Sen. Daschle's angry denunciation of the president on the Senate floor. It is the president who has...

VANITY: C-SPAN will broadcast a live news conference today at 10:00 AM ET from the US Capitol. The C-SPAN website does not give the exact location, but this would be a great opportunity for a DEMOCRAT TRAITOR FREEP!

You’ve Got 90!  (Buchanan, Press & Baghdad) Sept. 30 — Pat and Bill disagree about the three Democrats who went to Baghdad to convince Iraqis to let inspectors in. Was it a good or a bad move? PAT BUCHANAN:        We’ve got three Democratic congressmen, three members of your good party, Bill, over there in Baghdad, the Baghdad three. Or the Jane Fonda caucus, inside the Democratic cloakroom.        One of them is David Bonior, a respected leader, the No. 2 ranked Democrat. Another is Jim McDermott of the state of Washington. These gentlemen have...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Visiting U.S. lawmakers urged both Iraq and the United States on Monday not to interfere in the inspection process, adding that war is not the only way out of the crisis. "There is a way to solve this crisis without war. It is for the Iraqis not to interfere and for the United States not to interfere in the inspections process," Rep. David Bonior, a Michigan Democrat, said during a news conference. Rep. Jim McDermott, a Washington Democrat who has suggested the Bush administration may be misleading the American public on the dangers posed by Iraq,...

BREAKING - CAPTION THE PICTURE - Bonior (D-MI and Iraq) and McDermott (D-WA and Iraq) at the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad, September 30, 2002 "THIS JUST IN - THEY REMAIN DOWN ON THEIR BENDED KNEES TO MURDERERS: Congressmen David E. Bonior (D-MI and Iraq) and Jim McDermott (D-WA and Iraq) with Salem al-Kubaisi, head of the Arab and Foreign Relations Committee, at the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad, September 30, 2002. They called President Bush a liar, and apparently pled allegience to Saddam as they claimed America gave cancer and birth defects to Iraqi children. In contrast to their lies, shown...

BASRA, Iraq, Sept 29 (AFP) - Three anti-war US congressmen on a rare visit to Iraq on Sunday criticised the 12-year UN sanctions regime as "barbaric", saying that open weapons inspections must resume to ensure it is lifted. Democrat representative David Bonior of Michigan spoke of "the horrific and barbaric suffering ... particularly children are undergoing," after visiting a hospital, a paediatric clinc and two desalination plants in this southern Iraqi port city. He stressed along with colleagues Jim McDermott of Washington state and Mike Thompson of California "the absolute necessity to end the sanctions" through "fair, open, unrestricted...

"Daschle isn't a gas bag," Senior Enemy Agent Jack Hughes reports. "He's a whoopie cushion!" So let's all make whoopie with Tom, if only to cushion his fall. How many soapboxes did he mount last Wednesday before tumbling down to the Senate floor? He's now suspects some mean Republicans and White House operatives stole his lifts and elevator shoes. What's more, the urgency of the moment left him no time to touch up the coloring of his hair. This shouldn't be taken to mean that the flaming red on his neck and face wasn't his natural color. Fortunately for all...

Ba'th Party Arab political party and movement in the Middle East, principally in Syria and Iraq, where its local branches still hold the power of the countries.Alternative spellings of the party name are Ba'ath and Baath, but Ba'th is the most correct. IDEOLOGY The basic principles of the Ba'th Party were unity and freedom inside an Arab nation. The party also based itself on the belief that Arabs had a special mission to end Western colonialism.The Ba'th Party was nationalistic, populistic, socialistic and revolutionary. Its socialism was not communism but did involve land reform, public ownership of natural resources, transport,...

CYNTHIA McKINNEYPOSITION: Democrat Congresswoman from GeorgiaDONOR: Abdurahman Alamoudi AMMOUNT: $2000 on September 11, 2001 DETAILS: Alamoudi, President of the American Muslim Foundation, is a well known radical mohammedan activist known for publicly praising terrorist organizations. He worked closely as an informal advisor and affiliate of several Clinton administration officials (source). At an October 2000 rally in Washington, D.C. Alamoudi spoke to a radical islamic crowd announcing ""I have been labeled by the media in New York as being a supporter of Hamas. Any supporters of Hamas here? (cheers) Hear that, Bill Clinton? We are all supporters of Hamas ... I...

First, please don't forget to vote today. I doubt I have to remind anyone here that. Secondly, what's the turnout in your area? Lastly, Go Posthumus, Blanchard, both Dingells, Ficano, Jonathon Grant(over RINO Stewart), Alan Cropsey, Allen Lowe, Steve Vear, Dale Shugars(over RINO Upton), Michelle McManus, and Bob Gosselin.

Democrats hold first televised debate in Marquette By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN The Associated Press 7/18/02 3:51 PM MARQUETTE, Mich. (AP) -- The three Democratic candidates for governor held a heated debate Thursday in their first televised meeting. The hour-long verbal matchup at Northern Michigan University was one of two for the Democratic candidates before the Aug. 6 primary. All three aggressively challenged their opponents, shaking fingers at each other at times and raising their voices on more than one occasion. Former Gov. James Blanchard and U.S. Rep. David Bonior both accused Attorney General Jennifer Granholm of working too closely with...

Democratic gubernatorial camps at odds over debates By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN The Associated Press 6/25/02 6:44 PM LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Democratic candidates James Blanchard and David Bonior have agreed to appear together in at least four debates, but candidate Jennifer Granholm now says she wants to debate only twice before the Aug. 6 primary. Blanchard's debate negotiator, Bob Kolt, says Granholm is breaking the pledge she made when she accepted Blanchard's call to do five debates. In a June 4 news release, Granholm said, "I agree to five debates. ... I look forward to meeting you on the debate...

<p>It's getting chippy along the gubernatorial campaign trail. Nothing really nasty, just aggressive elbowing.</p> <p>U.S. Rep. David Bonior, who went into an attack mode early in the campaign, was the target of weekend jabs from contenders from both parties. Republican state Sen. Joe Schwarz branded Bonior "a socialist." Ex-Gov. Jim Blanchard, a fellow Democrat, called him a far-left "Nader Democrat."</p>