FERMOYLE'S NOTE: We have forces in Afghanistan that are trying to help the government there gain control, because we don't want to see the Taliban take over again. (The Taliban sheltered Al Qaeda before and after they planned 9/11.) There are grave concerns, however, that the government we are trying to help is corrupt and incompetent and will be unable to ever gain support of the people there.
NEW YORK TIMES
By ROD NORDLAND and ALISSA J. RUBIN
Published: September 18, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan — Hundreds of polling stations either closed or came under attack and at least 10 civilians were killed in Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections on Saturday, even as officials insisted the vote was generally safe nationwide.
The city of Kandahar seemed particularly hard hit. Explosions were heard every half hour through the morning, and 31 rockets were fired by insurgents, according to an intelligence official there, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media. Kandahar Gov. Tooryalai Wesa toured polling places to encourage voters to turn out, but his own convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, slightly damaging his armored car but hurting no one.
Nationwide, authorities could only confirm that 92 percent of the planned 5,816 polling centers had opened as planned, and no word had been heard from the other 8 percent, raising concerns that security conditions had forced them to close, according to the Independent Election Commission. The commission had previously canceled about 1,000 polling centers because the authorities could not secure them.
Halfway through the voting day, even in a safe neighborhood of downtown Kabul, only 150 men and 130 women had cast their ballots at the Naderia High School. But there was little violence in the capital, and late in the day, long lines began to form at some of the centers around the city.
Outside the capital, in the rural Guldara District in Kabul Province, village polling places were lightly attended. And in one spot, only four women voted, other than official election observers. In the more populated district center, however, 650 people, including 150 women, had voted, and others were streaming in an hour before polls closed at 4 p.m.
In Kandahar, the Taliban papered the city with nightletters on the eve of the election, warning people not to vote in “Americanized elections” and that anyone doing so would be a target.
In Dand District just outside the city, polling places set aside for women had not received a single voter, although several hundred men had cast ballots. In the center of the city, another women’s polling center had attracted only 23 voters in the morning.
Kandahar is the traditional stronghold of the Taliban where NATO and Afghan forces have stepped up military operations recently.
Those who did vote in Kandahar were nervous. “I am so scared to come to the polling station,” said Shafiqa, 49, “my family insisted I not come, but I have to because this is my country and I want to use my vote for someone I like.”
In Kunduz Province, northern Afghanistan, 16 civilians were injured during election-related violence, some while casting their votes and others in their homes when rockets were fired into them by insurgents. A statement posted on a pro-Taliban website claimed the insurgents had attacked more than 100 polling centers.
However, the Afghan monitoring organization, the Free and Fair Elections Foundation, said generally the elections were safe. “Though there were numerous attacks, none were severe enough to disrupt voting on a wide scale,” F.E.F.A. said in a statement.
There were numerous accounts of fraud.
In the first reported instance of fraud, a woman who worked for the I.E.C. in Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, was arrested with 1,500 fake voter registration cards, according to Dawood Ahmadi, the spokesman for the Helmand governor’s office. He said the employee, whom he did not name, was the daughter of a female candidate, Habiba Sadat.
In Paktika Province, a man was arrested for trying to use 1,600 fake voter registration cards on behalf of a parliamentary candidate, Rahmatullah Wahid Yar, according to Rohullah Samoon, the spokesman for the governor.
At a polling center at the Ghazi Khan High School in Kunduz city, journalists and election observers watched as I.E.C. officials and supporters of some of the candidates locked the doors for two hours and filled out ballots themselves.
F.E.F.A. also said that in nearly 3,000 polling centers — about half of the total — its monitors discovered that the ink used to mark voters’ fingers to prevent repeated voting was easily washed off, even though it was supposed to have been indelible.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Obama Declares an End to Combat Mission in Iraq
WASHINGTON — President Obama declared an end on two weeks ago to the seven-year American combat mission in Iraq, saying that the United States has met its responsibility to that country and that it is now time to turn to pressing problems at home.
In a prime-time address from the Oval Office, Mr. Obama balanced praise for the troops who fought and died in Iraq with his conviction that getting into the conflict had been a mistake in the first place.
“We have sent our young men and women to make enormous sacrifices in Iraq, and spent vast resources abroad at a time of tight budgets at home,” Mr. Obama said. “Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibility. Now, it’s time to turn the page.”
Seeking to temper partisan feelings over the war on a day when Republicans pointed out that Mr. Obama had opposed the troop surge generally credited with helping to bring Iraq a measure of stability, the president offered some praise for his predecessor, George W. Bush. Mr. Obama acknowledged their disagreement over Iraq but said that no one could doubt Mr. Bush’s “support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security.”
Mr. Obama spoke for about 18 minutes, saying that violence would continue in Iraq and that the United States would continue to play a key role in nurturing a stable democracy there. He celebrated America’s fighting forces as “the steel in our ship of state,” and pledged not to waver in the fight against Al Qaeda.
Over the last decade, “we have spent over a trillion dollars at war, often financed by borrowing from overseas,” he said. “And so at this moment, as we wind down the war in Iraq, we must tackle those challenges at home with as much energy and grit and sense of common purpose as our men and women in uniform who have served abroad.”
The United States still has 49,700 soldiers in Iraq. That is less than a third of the number of troops in Iraq during the surge in 2007. Under an agreement between Iraq and the United States, the remaining troops are to leave by the end of 2011, though some Iraqi and American officials say they think that the agreement may be renegotiated to allow for a longer American military presence.
The remaining “advise and assist” brigades will officially concentrate on supporting and training Iraqi security forces, protecting American personnel and facilities, and mounting counterterrorism operations.
In a prime-time address from the Oval Office, Mr. Obama balanced praise for the troops who fought and died in Iraq with his conviction that getting into the conflict had been a mistake in the first place.
“We have sent our young men and women to make enormous sacrifices in Iraq, and spent vast resources abroad at a time of tight budgets at home,” Mr. Obama said. “Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibility. Now, it’s time to turn the page.”
Seeking to temper partisan feelings over the war on a day when Republicans pointed out that Mr. Obama had opposed the troop surge generally credited with helping to bring Iraq a measure of stability, the president offered some praise for his predecessor, George W. Bush. Mr. Obama acknowledged their disagreement over Iraq but said that no one could doubt Mr. Bush’s “support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security.”
Mr. Obama spoke for about 18 minutes, saying that violence would continue in Iraq and that the United States would continue to play a key role in nurturing a stable democracy there. He celebrated America’s fighting forces as “the steel in our ship of state,” and pledged not to waver in the fight against Al Qaeda.
Over the last decade, “we have spent over a trillion dollars at war, often financed by borrowing from overseas,” he said. “And so at this moment, as we wind down the war in Iraq, we must tackle those challenges at home with as much energy and grit and sense of common purpose as our men and women in uniform who have served abroad.”
The United States still has 49,700 soldiers in Iraq. That is less than a third of the number of troops in Iraq during the surge in 2007. Under an agreement between Iraq and the United States, the remaining troops are to leave by the end of 2011, though some Iraqi and American officials say they think that the agreement may be renegotiated to allow for a longer American military presence.
The remaining “advise and assist” brigades will officially concentrate on supporting and training Iraqi security forces, protecting American personnel and facilities, and mounting counterterrorism operations.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Planned Koran Burning Draws International Scorn
NEW YORK TIMES
The international outcry over a tiny Florida congregation’s plan to burn copies of the Koran on Sept. 11 intensified on Thursday, drawing vocal condemnations from world leaders and touching off angry protests in corners of the Muslim world.
Officials in Muslim countries urged restraint, seeking to head off any violent reactions if the Florida church goes ahead with its plans to set fire to several copies of the Koran on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks this Saturday.
Meanwhile, President Obama joined a litany of high-ranking American officials to condemn the Koran burning, saying that the act, amplified by a global media, could put American troops at risk and fan anger against the United States. Mr. Obama called the planned event “a destructive act” and said it would be a “recruitment bonanza for Al Qaeda.”
American embassies and consulates were reviewing their security policies, and several diplomatic missions in the Muslim world posted statements prominently on their Web sites condemning the planned event. The State Department issued a travel alert on Thursday saying the burning could catalyze violent anti-American demonstrations.
In 2005, violent protests erupted in Afghanistan and Pakistan world after Newsweek published report — one it later retracted — saying that American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had flushed a Koran down the toilet. At least 17 deaths were blamed on the riots.
Terry Jones, the pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida who is at the center of the Koran uproar, has so far resisted calls to cancel the bonfire.
The relationship between the United States and the Muslim world, deeply strained by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been further aggravated in recent months by a furious debate over an Islamic group’s plans to build a community center two blocks from the World Trade Center site.
The president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, condemned the planned burning as despicable and said it could cause “irreparable damage to inter-faith harmony and also to world peace.” Leaders in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, and India urged President Obama to intervene.
But American officials have said they could do little to prevent the congregation from exercising its constitutional right to free speech.
In Nigeria, which has been wracked by violence between the predominately Muslim north and Christian south, President Goodluck Jonathan posted a message on his Facebook page saying that burning the Koran would “assault the sensibilities of our Muslim brothers and sisters.”
Addressing Mr. Jones, Mr. Jonathan wrote, “Be mindful of the Golden Rule taught by Jesus Christ: Do unto others as you would want others to do unto you.”
The French, British and German governments, all with troops serving in Afghanistan, have joined the condemnations.
The international outcry over a tiny Florida congregation’s plan to burn copies of the Koran on Sept. 11 intensified on Thursday, drawing vocal condemnations from world leaders and touching off angry protests in corners of the Muslim world.
Officials in Muslim countries urged restraint, seeking to head off any violent reactions if the Florida church goes ahead with its plans to set fire to several copies of the Koran on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks this Saturday.
Meanwhile, President Obama joined a litany of high-ranking American officials to condemn the Koran burning, saying that the act, amplified by a global media, could put American troops at risk and fan anger against the United States. Mr. Obama called the planned event “a destructive act” and said it would be a “recruitment bonanza for Al Qaeda.”
American embassies and consulates were reviewing their security policies, and several diplomatic missions in the Muslim world posted statements prominently on their Web sites condemning the planned event. The State Department issued a travel alert on Thursday saying the burning could catalyze violent anti-American demonstrations.
In 2005, violent protests erupted in Afghanistan and Pakistan world after Newsweek published report — one it later retracted — saying that American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had flushed a Koran down the toilet. At least 17 deaths were blamed on the riots.
Terry Jones, the pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida who is at the center of the Koran uproar, has so far resisted calls to cancel the bonfire.
The relationship between the United States and the Muslim world, deeply strained by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been further aggravated in recent months by a furious debate over an Islamic group’s plans to build a community center two blocks from the World Trade Center site.
The president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, condemned the planned burning as despicable and said it could cause “irreparable damage to inter-faith harmony and also to world peace.” Leaders in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, and India urged President Obama to intervene.
But American officials have said they could do little to prevent the congregation from exercising its constitutional right to free speech.
In Nigeria, which has been wracked by violence between the predominately Muslim north and Christian south, President Goodluck Jonathan posted a message on his Facebook page saying that burning the Koran would “assault the sensibilities of our Muslim brothers and sisters.”
Addressing Mr. Jones, Mr. Jonathan wrote, “Be mindful of the Golden Rule taught by Jesus Christ: Do unto others as you would want others to do unto you.”
The French, British and German governments, all with troops serving in Afghanistan, have joined the condemnations.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Senate confirms Elena Kagan to Supreme Court
The Oval
By J. Scott Applewhite, AP
Chalk up another legacy for President Obama, as the Senate confirms Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.
Kagan, who will be the fourth woman in history to serve on the high court after she is sworn in on Saturday, won the job on a Senate vote of 63-37.
"I am confident that Elena Kagan will make an outstanding Supreme Court justice," Obama said in a brief statement from Chicago. He also noted that for the first time in history, the nine-member court will have three female justices serving at the same time; Kagan will join Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, Obama's first high court appointee.
Currently the U.S. Solicitor General, Kagan has "earned her place at the top of the legal profession," said Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
Kagan's background as a Supreme Court law clerk, as well as stints in the Senate and in the Clinton and Obama administrations, also gives her "experience in all three branches of our government," Leahy said. "This is unique."
Kagan watched the vote from her office at the Justice Department.
Only five Republicans voted in favor of Kagan's nomination. Last year, just nine Republicans voted for Sotomayor.
Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass, one of Kagan's home state senators, voted against her. Brown had joined Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., in introducing the former Harvard Law School dean to the Judiciary Committee, but he was carefully non-committal during that appearance.
In a statement, Brown cited Kagan's lack of judicial experience. "When it comes to the Supreme Court, experience matters," he said. "No classroom can substitute for the courtroom itself."
Kagan also lost the vote of one Democrat, Ben Nelson of Nebraska.
The 63-37 tally is the third closest Supreme Court vote since the rejection of Robert Bork in 1987; only justices Clarence Thomas (52-48) and Samuel Alito (58-42) had narrower confirmations.
Other Democrats portrayed Kagan as a hard-working groundbreaker who opened doors for conservatives to join the faculty of Harvard Law School Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., called her "a superbly qualified nominee" and defended her lack of judicial experience by noting that more than one-third of the nation's justices came to the high court "without having worn a judge's robe."
In addition to her lack of judicial experience, Republicans bashed Kagan for espousing liberal views on abortion and gun control. In Kagan, Obama has appointed "someone who shares his progressive, elitist vision and is willing to advance it from the bench," warned Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Kagan's ascension as the 112th Supreme Court justice may not mean that much in terms of the court's philosophical direction. She replaces retired Justice John Paul Stevens, part of a four-person liberal bloc that includes Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Obama appointee Sotomayor, who joined the court last year.
Chief Justice John Roberts leads a five-member conservative group that includes Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito; Kennedy is sometimes a swing vote in close cases.
In his statement, Obama noted that the Senate Judiciary Committee conducted 17 hours of hearings on Kagan, and that she answered more than 500 questions from the senators.
"I'd say they got a pretty good look at Elena Kagan," Obama said.
By J. Scott Applewhite, AP
Chalk up another legacy for President Obama, as the Senate confirms Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.
Kagan, who will be the fourth woman in history to serve on the high court after she is sworn in on Saturday, won the job on a Senate vote of 63-37.
"I am confident that Elena Kagan will make an outstanding Supreme Court justice," Obama said in a brief statement from Chicago. He also noted that for the first time in history, the nine-member court will have three female justices serving at the same time; Kagan will join Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, Obama's first high court appointee.
Currently the U.S. Solicitor General, Kagan has "earned her place at the top of the legal profession," said Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
Kagan's background as a Supreme Court law clerk, as well as stints in the Senate and in the Clinton and Obama administrations, also gives her "experience in all three branches of our government," Leahy said. "This is unique."
Kagan watched the vote from her office at the Justice Department.
Only five Republicans voted in favor of Kagan's nomination. Last year, just nine Republicans voted for Sotomayor.
Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass, one of Kagan's home state senators, voted against her. Brown had joined Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., in introducing the former Harvard Law School dean to the Judiciary Committee, but he was carefully non-committal during that appearance.
In a statement, Brown cited Kagan's lack of judicial experience. "When it comes to the Supreme Court, experience matters," he said. "No classroom can substitute for the courtroom itself."
Kagan also lost the vote of one Democrat, Ben Nelson of Nebraska.
The 63-37 tally is the third closest Supreme Court vote since the rejection of Robert Bork in 1987; only justices Clarence Thomas (52-48) and Samuel Alito (58-42) had narrower confirmations.
Other Democrats portrayed Kagan as a hard-working groundbreaker who opened doors for conservatives to join the faculty of Harvard Law School Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., called her "a superbly qualified nominee" and defended her lack of judicial experience by noting that more than one-third of the nation's justices came to the high court "without having worn a judge's robe."
In addition to her lack of judicial experience, Republicans bashed Kagan for espousing liberal views on abortion and gun control. In Kagan, Obama has appointed "someone who shares his progressive, elitist vision and is willing to advance it from the bench," warned Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Kagan's ascension as the 112th Supreme Court justice may not mean that much in terms of the court's philosophical direction. She replaces retired Justice John Paul Stevens, part of a four-person liberal bloc that includes Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Obama appointee Sotomayor, who joined the court last year.
Chief Justice John Roberts leads a five-member conservative group that includes Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito; Kennedy is sometimes a swing vote in close cases.
In his statement, Obama noted that the Senate Judiciary Committee conducted 17 hours of hearings on Kagan, and that she answered more than 500 questions from the senators.
"I'd say they got a pretty good look at Elena Kagan," Obama said.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Obama Picks Kagan as Justice Nominee
NEW YORK TIMES
WASHINGTON — President Obama nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan as the nation’s 112th justice, choosing his own chief advocate before the Supreme Court to join it in ruling on cases critical to his view of the country’s future.
After a monthlong search, Mr. Obama informed Ms. Kagan and his advisers on Sunday of his choice to succeed the retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.
In settling on Ms. Kagan, the president chose a well-regarded 50-year-old lawyer who served as a staff member in all three branches of government and was the first woman to be dean of Harvard Law School. If confirmed, she would be the youngest member and the third woman on the current court, but the first justice in nearly four decades without any prior judicial experience.
That lack of time on the bench may both help and hurt her confirmation prospects, allowing critics to question whether she is truly qualified while denying them a lengthy judicial paper trail filled with ammunition for attacks. As solicitor general, Ms. Kagan has represented the government before the Supreme Court for the past year, but her own views are to a large extent a matter of supposition.
Perhaps as a result, some on both sides of the ideological aisle are suspicious of her. Liberals dislike her support for strong executive power and her outreach to conservatives while running the law school. Activists on the right have attacked her for briefly barring military recruiters from a campus facility because the ban on openly gay men and lesbians serving in the military violated the school’s anti-discrimination policy.
Replacing Justice Stevens with Ms. Kagan presumably would not alter the broad ideological balance on the court, but her relative youth means that she could have an influence on the court for decades to come, underscoring the stakes involved.
In making his second nomination in as many years, Mr. Obama was not looking for a liberal firebrand as much as a persuasive
WASHINGTON — President Obama nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan as the nation’s 112th justice, choosing his own chief advocate before the Supreme Court to join it in ruling on cases critical to his view of the country’s future.
After a monthlong search, Mr. Obama informed Ms. Kagan and his advisers on Sunday of his choice to succeed the retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.
In settling on Ms. Kagan, the president chose a well-regarded 50-year-old lawyer who served as a staff member in all three branches of government and was the first woman to be dean of Harvard Law School. If confirmed, she would be the youngest member and the third woman on the current court, but the first justice in nearly four decades without any prior judicial experience.
That lack of time on the bench may both help and hurt her confirmation prospects, allowing critics to question whether she is truly qualified while denying them a lengthy judicial paper trail filled with ammunition for attacks. As solicitor general, Ms. Kagan has represented the government before the Supreme Court for the past year, but her own views are to a large extent a matter of supposition.
Perhaps as a result, some on both sides of the ideological aisle are suspicious of her. Liberals dislike her support for strong executive power and her outreach to conservatives while running the law school. Activists on the right have attacked her for briefly barring military recruiters from a campus facility because the ban on openly gay men and lesbians serving in the military violated the school’s anti-discrimination policy.
Replacing Justice Stevens with Ms. Kagan presumably would not alter the broad ideological balance on the court, but her relative youth means that she could have an influence on the court for decades to come, underscoring the stakes involved.
In making his second nomination in as many years, Mr. Obama was not looking for a liberal firebrand as much as a persuasive
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Arrest Made in Times Square Bomb Case
NEW YORK TIMES
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM, MARK MAZZETTI and PETER BAKER
Federal agents and police detectives arrested a Connecticut man, a naturalized United States citizen from Pakistan, shortly before midnight Monday for driving a car bomb into Times Square on Saturday evening in what turned out to be an unsuccessful attack, Justice Department officials announced.
The man, Faisal Shahzad, 30, was taken into custody at Kennedy Airport on board an Emirates flight to Dubai, according to the airline and an early-morning statement Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. delivered at the Justice Department in Washington. Two other passengers were removed from the plane, Emirates said, but it was unclear whether they were connected with the bombing attempt.
Mr. Shahzad was believed to have recently bought the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder that was found loaded with gasoline, propane, fireworks and fertilizer in the heart of Times Square, a person briefed on the investigation said. Charges against Mr. Shahzad, who had returned recently from a trip to Pakistan, were not announced, but he was expected to be charged Tuesday in federal court.
“Over the course of the day today, we have gathered significant additional evidence that led to tonight’s arrest,” Mr. Holder said. “The investigation is ongoing, as are our attempts to gather useful intelligence, and we continue to pursue a number of leads.” He continued, “But it’s clear that the intent behind this terrorist act was to kill Americans.”
Pakistan’s interior minister, Rehman Malik, said Tuesday that his country would cooperate with American officials as they continued their investigation, Reuters reported. In a statement, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg thanked law enforcement officials, saying their “swift efforts led to this arrest after only 48 hours of around-the-clock investigation.”
“I hope their impressive work serves as a lesson to anyone who would do us harm,” he said. The authorities began focusing on Mr. Shahzad after they tracked the sport utility vehicle to its previously registered owner in Bridgeport, Conn., who had advertised it for sale on several Web sites. The former owner said the buyer paid cash, and the sale was handled without any formal paperwork.
The former owner told investigators that it appeared the buyer was of Middle Eastern or Hispanic descent, but could not recall his name. It was unclear how agents from the Joint Terrorist Task Force identified Mr. Shahzad. Federal authorities provided few details on Monday night about the suspect or the scope of any conspiracy in the failed attack.
The authorities have been exploring whether the man or others who might have been involved in the attempted bombing had been in contact with people or groups overseas, according to federal officials.
Officials cautioned that the investigation of possible international contacts did not mean they had established a connection to a known terrorist group. “It’s a prominent lead that they’re following, the international association,” said a senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a continuing investigation. “But there’s still a lot of information being gathered.”
Mr. Shahzad was taken into custody after he was identified by the Department of Homeland Security’s United States Customs and Border Protection, according to a joint statement issued by the office of the Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the southern district of New York, the F.B.I. and the New York Police Department.
Mr. Shahzad was already aboard Emirates flight 202 to Dubai when officials called it back before departure, the airline said. All of the passengers were taken off the plane, and they, their luggage and the Boeing 777 were screened before the flight was allowed to depart, about seven hours late, at 6:29 a.m.
President Obama was notified of the arrest at 12:05 a.m. by his counterterrorism adviser, John O. Brennan, the sixth time he had been briefed on the case over the past day, said Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary.
Early Tuesday, at Mr. Shahzad’s former home in Shelton, Conn., just outside Bridgeport, a neighbor said that Mr. Shahzad and his wife, Huma Mian, spoke limited English and kept mostly to themselves. The couple had two young children, a girl and a boy, said the neighbor, Brenda Thurman.
Ms. Thurman said the couple had lived at the house at 119 Long Hill Avenue for about three years before moving out last year. Mr. Shahzad left around May, she said, and his wife followed about a month later.
The recent sale of the Pathfinder began online. An advertisement that appears to be for the vehicle, which had 141,000 miles on the odometer and was listed for sale at $1,300 on at least two Web sites, emphasized that it was in good condition — “CLEAN inside and out!!” — with a recently repaired alternator and a new gas pump, distributor and front tires.
The police earlier on Monday sifted through footage from 82 city cameras mounted from 34th Street to 51st Street between Avenue of the Americas and Eighth Avenue, and from untold number of business and tourist cameras.
Investigators initially focused on a man who appeared to be in his 40s who was seen on one video, walking away from the area where the Pathfinder was parked and through Shubert Alley, which runs between 44th and 45th Streets. He looked over his shoulder at least twice and pulled off a shirt, revealing a red T-shirt underneath.
The New York police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, said investigators still wanted to speak to that man but acknowledged that he might not be connected to the failed bombing.
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM, MARK MAZZETTI and PETER BAKER
Federal agents and police detectives arrested a Connecticut man, a naturalized United States citizen from Pakistan, shortly before midnight Monday for driving a car bomb into Times Square on Saturday evening in what turned out to be an unsuccessful attack, Justice Department officials announced.
The man, Faisal Shahzad, 30, was taken into custody at Kennedy Airport on board an Emirates flight to Dubai, according to the airline and an early-morning statement Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. delivered at the Justice Department in Washington. Two other passengers were removed from the plane, Emirates said, but it was unclear whether they were connected with the bombing attempt.
Mr. Shahzad was believed to have recently bought the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder that was found loaded with gasoline, propane, fireworks and fertilizer in the heart of Times Square, a person briefed on the investigation said. Charges against Mr. Shahzad, who had returned recently from a trip to Pakistan, were not announced, but he was expected to be charged Tuesday in federal court.
“Over the course of the day today, we have gathered significant additional evidence that led to tonight’s arrest,” Mr. Holder said. “The investigation is ongoing, as are our attempts to gather useful intelligence, and we continue to pursue a number of leads.” He continued, “But it’s clear that the intent behind this terrorist act was to kill Americans.”
Pakistan’s interior minister, Rehman Malik, said Tuesday that his country would cooperate with American officials as they continued their investigation, Reuters reported. In a statement, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg thanked law enforcement officials, saying their “swift efforts led to this arrest after only 48 hours of around-the-clock investigation.”
“I hope their impressive work serves as a lesson to anyone who would do us harm,” he said. The authorities began focusing on Mr. Shahzad after they tracked the sport utility vehicle to its previously registered owner in Bridgeport, Conn., who had advertised it for sale on several Web sites. The former owner said the buyer paid cash, and the sale was handled without any formal paperwork.
The former owner told investigators that it appeared the buyer was of Middle Eastern or Hispanic descent, but could not recall his name. It was unclear how agents from the Joint Terrorist Task Force identified Mr. Shahzad. Federal authorities provided few details on Monday night about the suspect or the scope of any conspiracy in the failed attack.
The authorities have been exploring whether the man or others who might have been involved in the attempted bombing had been in contact with people or groups overseas, according to federal officials.
Officials cautioned that the investigation of possible international contacts did not mean they had established a connection to a known terrorist group. “It’s a prominent lead that they’re following, the international association,” said a senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a continuing investigation. “But there’s still a lot of information being gathered.”
Mr. Shahzad was taken into custody after he was identified by the Department of Homeland Security’s United States Customs and Border Protection, according to a joint statement issued by the office of the Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the southern district of New York, the F.B.I. and the New York Police Department.
Mr. Shahzad was already aboard Emirates flight 202 to Dubai when officials called it back before departure, the airline said. All of the passengers were taken off the plane, and they, their luggage and the Boeing 777 were screened before the flight was allowed to depart, about seven hours late, at 6:29 a.m.
President Obama was notified of the arrest at 12:05 a.m. by his counterterrorism adviser, John O. Brennan, the sixth time he had been briefed on the case over the past day, said Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary.
Early Tuesday, at Mr. Shahzad’s former home in Shelton, Conn., just outside Bridgeport, a neighbor said that Mr. Shahzad and his wife, Huma Mian, spoke limited English and kept mostly to themselves. The couple had two young children, a girl and a boy, said the neighbor, Brenda Thurman.
Ms. Thurman said the couple had lived at the house at 119 Long Hill Avenue for about three years before moving out last year. Mr. Shahzad left around May, she said, and his wife followed about a month later.
The recent sale of the Pathfinder began online. An advertisement that appears to be for the vehicle, which had 141,000 miles on the odometer and was listed for sale at $1,300 on at least two Web sites, emphasized that it was in good condition — “CLEAN inside and out!!” — with a recently repaired alternator and a new gas pump, distributor and front tires.
The police earlier on Monday sifted through footage from 82 city cameras mounted from 34th Street to 51st Street between Avenue of the Americas and Eighth Avenue, and from untold number of business and tourist cameras.
Investigators initially focused on a man who appeared to be in his 40s who was seen on one video, walking away from the area where the Pathfinder was parked and through Shubert Alley, which runs between 44th and 45th Streets. He looked over his shoulder at least twice and pulled off a shirt, revealing a red T-shirt underneath.
The New York police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, said investigators still wanted to speak to that man but acknowledged that he might not be connected to the failed bombing.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Gulf Coast Towns Brace as Huge Oil Slick Nears Marshes
NEW YORK TIMES
By LESLIE KAUFMAN and CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
COCODRIE, La. — Oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico unabated Saturday, and officials conveyed little hope that the flow could be contained soon, forcing towns along the Gulf Coast to brace for what is increasingly understood to be an imminent environmental disaster.
The spill, emanating from a pipe 50 miles offshore and 5,000 feet underwater, was creeping into Louisiana’s fragile coastal wetlands as strong winds and rough waters hampered cleanup efforts. Officials said the oil could hit the shores of Mississippi and Alabama as soon as Monday. The White House announced that President Obama would visit the region on Sunday morning.
Adm. Thad W. Allen, the commandant of the Coast Guard, who is overseeing the Obama administration’s response to the spill, said at a news conference Saturday evening that he could not estimate how much oil was leaking per day from the damaged underwater well. “There’s enough oil out there that it’s logical it’s going to impact the shoreline,” Admiral Allen said.
The imperiled marshes that buffer New Orleans and the rest of the state from the worst storm surges are facing a sea of sweet crude oil, orange as rust. The most recent estimate by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the wreckage of the Deepwater Horizon rig, which exploded on April 20 and sank days later, was gushing as much as 210,000 gallons of crude into the gulf each day. Concern is mounting that the flow may soon grow to several times that amount.
The wetlands in the Mississippi River Delta have been losing about 24 square miles a year, deprived of sediment replenishment by levees in the river, divided by channels cut by oil companies and poisoned by farm runoff from upriver. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita took large, vicious bites. The questions that haunt this region are how much more can the wetlands take and does their degradation spell doom for an increasingly defenseless southern Louisiana?
Many variables will dictate just how devastating this slick will ultimately be to the ecosystem, including whether it takes days or months to seal the leaking oil well and whether winds keep blowing the oil ashore. But what is terrifying everyone from bird watchers to the state officials charged with rebuilding the natural protections of this coast is that it now seems possible that a massive influx of oil could overwhelm and kill off the grasses that knit the ecosystem together.
Healthy wetlands would have some natural ability to cope with an oil slick, said Denise Reed, interim director of the Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Sciences at the University of New Orleans. “The trouble with our marshes is they’re already stressed, they’re already hanging by a fingernail,” she said. It is possible, she said, that the wetlands’ “tolerance for oil has been compromised.” If so, she said, that could be “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
By LESLIE KAUFMAN and CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
COCODRIE, La. — Oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico unabated Saturday, and officials conveyed little hope that the flow could be contained soon, forcing towns along the Gulf Coast to brace for what is increasingly understood to be an imminent environmental disaster.
The spill, emanating from a pipe 50 miles offshore and 5,000 feet underwater, was creeping into Louisiana’s fragile coastal wetlands as strong winds and rough waters hampered cleanup efforts. Officials said the oil could hit the shores of Mississippi and Alabama as soon as Monday. The White House announced that President Obama would visit the region on Sunday morning.
Adm. Thad W. Allen, the commandant of the Coast Guard, who is overseeing the Obama administration’s response to the spill, said at a news conference Saturday evening that he could not estimate how much oil was leaking per day from the damaged underwater well. “There’s enough oil out there that it’s logical it’s going to impact the shoreline,” Admiral Allen said.
The imperiled marshes that buffer New Orleans and the rest of the state from the worst storm surges are facing a sea of sweet crude oil, orange as rust. The most recent estimate by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the wreckage of the Deepwater Horizon rig, which exploded on April 20 and sank days later, was gushing as much as 210,000 gallons of crude into the gulf each day. Concern is mounting that the flow may soon grow to several times that amount.
The wetlands in the Mississippi River Delta have been losing about 24 square miles a year, deprived of sediment replenishment by levees in the river, divided by channels cut by oil companies and poisoned by farm runoff from upriver. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita took large, vicious bites. The questions that haunt this region are how much more can the wetlands take and does their degradation spell doom for an increasingly defenseless southern Louisiana?
Many variables will dictate just how devastating this slick will ultimately be to the ecosystem, including whether it takes days or months to seal the leaking oil well and whether winds keep blowing the oil ashore. But what is terrifying everyone from bird watchers to the state officials charged with rebuilding the natural protections of this coast is that it now seems possible that a massive influx of oil could overwhelm and kill off the grasses that knit the ecosystem together.
Healthy wetlands would have some natural ability to cope with an oil slick, said Denise Reed, interim director of the Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Sciences at the University of New Orleans. “The trouble with our marshes is they’re already stressed, they’re already hanging by a fingernail,” she said. It is possible, she said, that the wetlands’ “tolerance for oil has been compromised.” If so, she said, that could be “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
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