National & World News & Views

• Lawyer memos warn Diebold may have violated state law
  Okay, it’s not a tale of that vaunted “vast right-wing conspiracy,” but suddenly the case against Diebold’s electronic-voting machines is gaining momentum. Last week, an advisory panel for the California secretary of state recommended ditching the machines for the November presidential elections. ... What wasn’t reported locally is Exhibit A, internal documents from lawyers for Texas-based Diebold Election Systems, Inc. In these documents, the attorneys concede that the company used uncertified voting machines during elections before January 28, 2004.
• Five things you can do because your vote matters
  Register to vote, update your address, or change your party registration in a few easy steps. ... Begin by entering your email address and selecting your state.
• Sandra Mackey: A city that lives for revenge
  The United States is in a no-win situation in Falluja. Yesterday, fighting increased in and around the city of 300,000, the place where four civilian contractors were burned to death last month. Even if American forces storm and subdue the town, it is unlikely that there will be peace there anytime soon. It didn't have to be this way. Had the United States taken more time to understand the city — a place where even Saddam Hussein ventured cautiously — it might have been able to avoid the current showdown.
• Senator Byrd and Representative Obey: Show us the money
  Dear Mr. President, On Sept. 14, 2001, just three days after the tragic events of September 11, the Congress of the United States established a $40 billion Emergency Response Fund to assist the victims of those terrorist attacks and to strengthen homeland and national security. In response to the extraordinary events of that day, the Congress chose to grant an extraordinary amount of flexibility to the Executive Branch. However, the terms of the law were clear.
• Rebuilding aid for Iraq shifted to pay war expenses
  Seven months after Congress approved the largest foreign aid package in history to rebuild Iraq, less than 5 percent of the $18.4 billion has been spent and occupation officials have begun shifting more than $300 million earmarked for reconstruction projects to administrative and security expenses. ... Of the $18.4 billion in Iraqi aid approved by Congress in October, just $2.3 billion had been steered to projects through March 24, the CPA told Congress this month. Only $1 billion has actually been spent ....
• Eyewitness: On the ground in Falluja
  As US military commanders in Iraq say they are planning to pull back from Falluja, BBC News Online spoke to two Iraqi residents of Falluja to get a picture of life in the besieged city. ... Mr Alani says that siege of the city and the shelling is just increasing support for the insurgents in the city. "It's not a matter of whether I or anyone else in the city supports the 'resistance' to the Americans. I don't support them, but the way the Americans have dealt with and are dealing with this city makes me hate every American here, more and more."
• Buzzflash interview with Ambassador Wilson, Author of "The politics of truth"
  “... I detail what the Administration did or rather did not do with my report from Niger, and how I responded to what I felt was a lie in the President’s State of the Union Address that needed to be corrected. I did my civic duty and held my government to account for statements it had made. The government acknowledged that the sixteen words about Iraq purchasing uranium from Niger did not rise to the level of inclusion in the State of the Union Address. And then the Administration went out to savage my family and myself.”
• Poynter online interview: Koppel Defends “The Fallen”
  After almost two and a half decades anchoring ABC News’ “Nightline,” Ted Koppel says he is surprised that anyone could think that his special “The Fallen,” scheduled to air Friday night, is a ratings ploy or an attempt to make a political statement. For 40 minutes Friday night, Koppel will read the names and show the faces of American servicemen and women who have died in the Iraq War.
• The military's mounting mental health problems
  Over the past year there have been an unusually high number of suicides among U.S. troops in Iraq, and hundreds of soldiers experiencing psychological problems have been evacuated from the country. Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld's recent announcement authorizing the extension – by at least three months – of the tours of duty of some 20,000 soldiers set to return home, and the possibility of intensified urban warfare may add to the stress suffered by soldiers serving in Iraq.

Last updated: April 30, 2004