Iraqi PM told Bush to withdraw US troops from Baghdad
quote:Pa. man's letter brings Secret Service
AFP 3:30 pm EST Sun 21 Jan 2007
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki proposed to President George W. Bush in November to withdraw US troops from Baghdad and let the Iraqi government take over security in the capital, a US newspaper reported.
Citing interviews with several unnamed administration officials, the Washington Post wrote that Maliki made the suggestion in a presentation to Bush on November 30 in Amman, Jordan.
But soon after, Bush rejected the idea, the paper said.
Instead, the president opted for a strategy announced this month to deploy an additional 21,500 US troops to Iraq, focusing on quelling sectarian violence in Baghdad and the western al-Anbar province.
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quote:McCain casts doubt on Gen. Casey as U.S. Army head
AP 2:52 pm EST Sun 21 Jan 2007
An elderly man who wrote in a letter to the editor about Saddam Hussein's execution that "they hanged the wrong man" got a visit from Secret Service agents concerned he was threatening President Bush.
The letter by Dan Tilli, 81, was published in Monday's edition of The Express-Times of Easton, Pa. It ended with the line, "I still believe they hanged the wrong man."
Tilli said the statement was not a threat. "I didn't say who — I could've meant (Osama) bin Laden," he said Friday.
Two Secret Service agents questioned Tilli at his Bethlehem apartment Thursday, briefly searching the place and taking pictures of him, he said.
The Secret Service confirmed the encounter. Bob Slama, special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Philadelphia office, said it was the agency's duty to investigate.
The agents almost immediately decided Tilli was not a threat, Slama said
"We have no further interest in Dan," he said.
Tilli said the agents appeared more relaxed when he dug out a scrapbook containing more than 200 letters that he has written over the years, almost all on political topics.
"He said, 'Keep writing, but just don't make no threats,'" Tilli said of one of the agents.
It wasn't Tilli's first run-in with the federal government over his letter writing. Two FBI agents from Allentown showed up at his home last year about a letter he wrote advocating a civil war to unseat Bush, he said.
quote:
By Donna Smith
Reuters 3:09 pm EST Sun 21 Jan 2007
Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain on Sunday said he might vote against Gen. George W. Casey's nomination as Army chief of staff, saying he had "serious concerns" about the man who has overseen the Iraq war since 2004.
"I have very serious concerns about General Casey's nomination," McCain said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"I'm concerned about failed leadership, the message that sends to the rest of the military," he added.
McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee and 2008 presidential hopeful, is a major advocate of President George W. Bush's plan to send more U.S. troops to Iraq to try to quell the sectarian violence there, an idea that had been resisted by Casey.
Bush named Lt. Gen. David Petraeus to take over in Iraq and nominated Casey to become Army chief of staff.
The Armed Services Committee is expected to hold a hearing on Petraeus this week. Petraeus enjoys strong congressional support and McCain said he fully backs him.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, told CNN's "Late Edition" that he thought Casey would be confirmed by the Senate, but Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said Casey will face tough scrutiny.
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Faire l'amour, pas la guerre
Make love not war
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