Let Bin Laden Stay Free, Says C.I.A. Man&Limbaugh dumped for air America&Kennedy: Democrats Need Progressive Agenda

[Guest guest]

Let Bin Laden Stay Free, Says C.I.A. Man

By Tony Allen-Mills

The Times UK

 

Sunday 09 January 2005

 

The world may be better off if Osama Bin Laden remains at large, according to

the Central Intelligence Agency's recently departed executive director.

 

If the world's most wanted terrorist is captured or killed, a power struggle

among his Al-Qaeda subordinates may trigger a wave of terror attacks, said AB

" Buzzy " Krongard, who stepped down six weeks ago as the CIA's third most senior

executive.

 

" You can make the argument that we're better off with him (at large), "

Krongard said. " Because if something happens to Bin Laden, you might find a lot

of people vying for his position and demonstrating how macho they are by

unleashing a stream of terror. "

 

Krongard, a former investment banker who joined the CIA in 1998, said Bin

Laden's role among Islamic militants was changing.

 

" He's turning into more of a charismatic leader than a terrorist mastermind, "

he said. " Some of his lieutenants are the ones to worry about. "

 

Krongard, 68, said he viewed Bin Laden " not as a chief executive but more like

a venture capitalist " .

 

He added: " Let's say you and I want to blow up Trafalgar Square. So we go to

Bin Laden. And he'll say, 'Well, here's some money and some passports and if you

need weapons, see this guy'.

 

" I don't see him keeping his fingers on everything because the lines of

communications are just too difficult. "

 

Several US officials have privately admitted that it may be better to keep Bin

Laden pinned down on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan rather than make him

a martyr or put him on trial. But Krongard is the most senior figure to

acknowledge publicly that his capture might prove counter-productive.

 

Krongard also acknowledged that the CIA was still having trouble planting

spies in Islamic militant ranks. " There are hundreds and hundreds of (Al-Qaeda)

cells - it's like a living, moving bit of protoplasm, " he said.

 

" In order to penetrate you not only have to be language-proficient, you also

have to commit acts that exceed criminality. It's very hard. "

 

His comments came as it emerged that new laws to combat the Al-Qaeda threat in

Britain and keep the Belmarsh terror suspects in jail will be unveiled next

month.

 

The draft terrorism bill will propose that " acts preparatory to terrorism "

become a criminal offence to catch those who provide accommodation, finance,

identity papers and other support. The bill will prove controversial because it

could be applied restrospectively against many of the 11 foreign terror suspects

being detained in Belmarsh, south London, and Broadmoor secure hospital.

 

Charles Clarke, the home secretary, is also planning to announce a civil

punishment for those suspected of " associating " with terrorist suspects, but

where there is insufficient proof to press charges.

 

http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/printer_011205Z.shtml

 

also

 

Limbaugh dumped for liberal show

 

January 12, 2005

 

By DANIEL BARLOW Southern Vermont Bureau

 

BRATTLEBORO — A southern Vermont-based radio station will trade in the rhetoric

of Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talk show hosts for the liberal

commentary of Air America next week.

 

WKVT-AM 1490 in Brattleboro will replace four of its weekday syndicated

conservative talk shows on Jan. 17 with programs from the fledgling liberal

radio network Air America, which launched in March.

 

The station will be the second in Vermont to broadcast Air America programs,

which include shows hosted by comedian Al Franken and actress Jeanne Garofalo.

 

The Brattleboro area is highly liberal in its political beliefs and the Air

America shows will be a better fit for the station's listeners than the

conservative programs hosted by Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly, said WKVT program

director Peter Case.

 

" We're calling this a right-to-left switch, " he said. " For many years, our

programming leaned to the right, but Brattleboro is a very liberal area and our

lineup had to reflect that. "

 

Added to WKVT's lineup Monday will be " Unfiltered, " hosted by Rachel Maddow,

Lizz Winstead and Chuck D; the " Al Franken Show; " the " Randi Rhodes Show; " and

the " Majority Report, " hosted by Garofalo and Sam Seider.

 

The Air America programs will replace daily radio shows hosted by Limbaugh,

O'Reilly, Howie Carr and Joy Brown, Case said.

 

" This is the 'clearing the air' campaign, " Case said. " These new shows will be a

better fit for the area. "

 

WKVT-AM 1490, which is owned by Michigan-based Saga Communications, broadcasts

in a 15-mile range in the Brattleboro area, hitting nearby towns such as

Dummerston and Hinsdale, N.H. A sister station, WKVT-FM 92.7, also broadcasts in

the area.

 

Air America Radio launched in March, and despite a rocky start marked by fired

executives and bounced checks, the network has expanded to more than 40 markets

across the country. It is also available on two satellite radio networks and

over the Internet.

 

Conservatives took over talk radio several years ago and Air America is the

start of liberal voices returning to the radio airwaves, said Lynn Bedell, the

chairwoman of the Windham County Democratic Party.

 

Air America's programming will fit well in a county that supported Massachusetts

Sen. John Kerry, 66 percent to 31 percent over President Bush in the

presidential election last year, Bedell said.

 

" Vermont is a blue state, but its deep blue in Windham County, " Bedell said.

" Airing Rush Limbaugh — you are bound to lose a lot of listeners down here. "

 

The move to the liberal programming was not based on finances, Case said. The

station pays to air both the conservative and liberal shows.

 

WKVT management had been considering the change for several months, Case said.

Recently, when word leaked of the possible lineup change, the station received

nearly 150 e-mails supporting a move to Air America's liberal programming, he

added.

 

" We've received between 15 and 20 more since the announcement thanking us, " he

said.

 

Starting Monday, WKVT-AM will also add the liberal-leaning " Ed Schultz Show. "

 

Combined, there will be a total of eight hours of liberal talk shows on the

station, a majority of it coming from Air America.

 

That's not good news for Milton Eaton of Brattleboro, who worked as secretary of

development for former Gov. Richard Snelling, a Republican. Eaton said he

listens to Limbaugh two or three times a week when he was in his car running

errands.

 

" It's really disappointing to hear that, " Eaton said. " There is such a liberal

media down here that Rush was a refreshing change. "

 

The station has not scrapped all of its conservative programming, Case said.

 

Political moderate and Imus in the Morning host Don Imus will still be the

station's staple morning show, and the weekend lineup features the Drudge

Report.

 

" People listened to Rush and the others because they challenged the listeners to

think, " Case said. " We think this new lineup will be just as challenging and

thought provoking. "

 

Contact Daniel Barlow at daniel.barlow.

 

http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005501120363

 

also

 

Kennedy: Democrats Need Progressive Agenda

 

 

 

 

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer

 

WASHINGTON - Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) offered a mild dig

at fellow Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites)'s presidential

campaign Wednesday, saying Democrats should have done a better job talking about

values.

 

Kennedy said relatively small swings in several states — including a shift of

60,000 votes in Ohio — could have triggered a different outcome or given

Democrats more seats in the House and Senate. He also rejected suggestions that

Bush's win was " somehow a sweeping or a modest or even a miniature mandate for

reactionary measures like privatizing Social Security (news - web sites). "

 

While Kennedy said it is too easy to blame the loss on a particular issue or

tactic, Democrats do need to " do a better job of looking within ourselves and

speaking out for the principles we believe in. "

 

" We were remiss in not talking more directly about them — about the fundamental

ideals that guide our progressive policies, " he said. He added that Kerry's loss

also showed that Democrats must communicate better with voters on issues of deep

conscience, including abortion, without yielding the party's support for a

woman's right to choose.

 

In a speech punctuated with broad liberal proposals to expand federal support

for education and Medicare, Kennedy outlined a progressive agenda for Congress

and the party.

 

" We cannot move our party or our nation forward under pale colors and timid

voices, " said Kennedy, who has served 42 years in the Senate. " We cannot become

Republican clones. If we do, we will lose again, and deserve to lose. "

 

He said Medicare should be gradually expanded to cover all citizens, and the

cost would be funded through payroll taxes and general revenues and offset by

savings through advances in technology.

 

He also called for greater federal support for college costs, saying that every

student who is admitted to college should be guaranteed the cost of earning a

degree.

 

Kennedy's speech came as Democrats — divided and battered by the second bitter

presidential defeat in a row — continue to wrangle over their party's direction.

 

But Kennedy declined to say who should lead the party as the next chairman of

the Democratic National Committee (news - web sites). He said the contest is

wide open and all of the candidates — including former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean

(news - web sites) — would bring a different experience and talent to the job.

 

Ever since Kerry's loss — and GOP's gains in both the House and Senate —

Democrats have been chewing over their inability to connect with enough voters

to wrest the Oval Office from a president weakened by a faltering economy and an

increasingly unpopular war.

 

And they have debated how to compete with Republicans for the support of social

conservatives whose votes may have been swayed by hot-button values issues like

abortion, religion and gay marriage.

 

On Wednesday, Kennedy also laid down markers for the coming congressional

session, vowing to defeat President Bush (news - web sites)'s efforts to revamp

Social Security and to reject policies that send jobs overseas.

 

In other comments, Kennedy deftly dodged a question about whether foreign-born

citizens should be allowed to become president.

 

" I didn't know David Ortiz was planning to run, " said Kennedy, referring to the

Boston Red Sox slugger who is Dominican.

 

He then looked out at his sister Eunice Shriver, who was in the audience, and

said, " Did you hear that, Eunice? "

 

Shriver's daughter Maria is married to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

(news - web sites), who has been talked about as a potential presidential

contender but was born in Austria.

 

Kennedy also mangled the name of the Democrats' new star, Illinois Sen. Barack

Obama, calling him " Osama bin ... Osama ... Obama. "

 

http://story.news./news?tmpl=story & u=/ap/20050112/ap_on_go_co/kennedy_d\

emocrats

 

also

 

Bush Talks of Crisis to Sell U.S. Retirement Plan

 

 

 

 

By Donna Smith

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) launched his plan to

revamp Social Security (news - web sites) with a push to convince the public and

Congress that it faces a crisis, even though supporters of the government-run

retirement program say he is exaggerating its financial problems.

 

The coming political struggle over his plan to allow workers to invest some of

their taxes in stocks and bonds -- in return for smaller guaranteed government

benefits when they retire -- is expected to be enormous.

 

Bush is taking on one of the social programs that has most clearly defined the

Democratic Party's view of government role in society since it was created in

1935 during the Great Depression to lift the elderly out of poverty.

 

Restructuring it into a more market based program has been described in a White

House memo as " one of the most important conservative undertakings of modern

times. "

 

For 70 years, the system has relied on taxes paid by workers to fund the

retirement of their elders. Backers of Bush's plan argue that the existing

pay-as-you-go financing cannot be sustained more than a few decades longer

because the growth in the elderly population will outpace the growth in workers

needed to support the system.

 

Lining up against the Bush proposal are the AARP senior citizens' group with

about 35 million members, unions, Democrats and several liberal organizations

who argue that Bush's plan to divert a portion of payroll taxes into individual

accounts will accelerate the program's financial problems.

 

Taking even two percent of the retirement takes out of the system, " would create

a shortfall of over a trillion dollars, " the AARP said in a recent letter to

lawmakers. " That amount eventually would have to be covered by raising taxes,

cutting benefits and/or taking on new debt. "

 

Even supporters of individual Social Security accounts acknowledge this will not

solve the financial problems posed by some 77 million baby boomers who will soon

start to retire. But they argue that individual accounts will preserve the

retirement program for younger generations and save them from onerous tax

burdens.

 

ADJUSTING BENEFITS

 

To deal with the financing problems posed by the baby boom generation, born

between 1946 and 1964, the White House is considering changing the way the

benefits are calculated, which opponents say will mean deep benefit cuts.

 

Bush told a group earlier this week that the current retirement program will be

broke by the time young people just starting their careers retire.

 

" By the time today's workers who are in their mid-20s begin to retire, the

system will be bankrupt, " Bush said on Tuesday as he launched what the White

House says will be a big push to build support for revamping the program.

 

While nearly everyone agrees the retirement program faces a long term financial

shortfall, private account opponents say Bush is exaggerating its problems in

order to make a case for private investment accounts.

 

Bush says Social Security has a $11 trillion indefinite funding shortfall.

Democrats and the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities say the

retirement system's shortfall amounts to a more manageable $3.7 trillion over

the next 75 years, the normal time used to measure its financial health.

 

According the Social Security's trustees, which include Treasury Secretary John

Snow and other members of Bush's cabinet, the program will begin paying out more

in benefits than taxes it collects in 2018.

 

But Social Security will continue to earn interest income from the U.S.

government bonds it holds in the trust fund. In 2028, benefit payments exceed

tax revenues and income and the trust fund is projected to be exhausted in 2042,

they said.

 

To some extent, the problem is not with Social Security which currently is

running a surplus and will hold $5.3 trillion in U.S. government bonds in its

trust fund in 2018, but with the rest of the budget. The problem is the

government will have to make good on the IOUs held by Social Security and that

will put a strain on the rest of the budget.

 

http://story.news./news?tmpl=story & u=/nm/20050112/pl_nm/retirement_cris\

is_dc

 

 

 

 

 

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" Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing

health care to all Americans is socialism. " -- anon

http://www.sharedvoice.org/unamerican/