Free Republic

The Turkish Islamic charity behind a flotilla of aid ships that was raided by Israeli forces on its way to Gaza had ties to terrorism networks, including a 1999 al-Qaida plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport, France's former top anti-terrorism judge said Wednesday. The Istanbul-based Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief, known by its Turkish acronym IHH, had "clear, long-standing ties to terrorism and Jihad," former investigating judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

<p>Just minutes after the cameras went dark in the Senate hearing room on Condoleezza Rice on April 8, ABC News anchor Peter Jennings invited Richard Clarke — now an ABC News consultant — to comment.</p> <p>Mr. Clarke reiterated his central allegation that the Bush administration failed to "shake the trees" by daily meetings with Cabinet officials together and contrasted that to his own behavior during the Millennium crisis. "And by having the Cabinet members come to the White House every day in crisis mode and then go back to their departments and look for anything that is anywhere in the departments in December 1999, we were able to get the kind of information we needed to stop the [Millennium] attacks," Mr. Clarke said.</p>