Oregon terrorists plead guilty
The Attorney General says
the Patriot Act helped catch
the terrorists who admitted
to seditious conspiracy
By Shannon McCaffrey
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
WASHINGTON — Two members of
an Oregon terrorist cell pleaded guilty
Thursday to charges of seditious con
spiracy, and Attorney General John
Ashcroft credited the Patriot Act with
helping to nab the pair.
Ashcroft's vigorous defense of the an
titerrorism law came a day after U.S.
senators — including several conserva
tive Republicans — launched an effort
to weaken some of its most controver
sial police powers.
"I believe that the Patriot Act has
been one of the most important
tools that we've had in our arsenal
that has made it possible for us to
keep America safe, and I thank God
for the safety of this nation for the
last two years," Ashcroft said at a
news conference in Washington.
In federal court in Portland, Jeffrey
Leon Battle and Patrice Lumumba Ford
were charged with trying to travel to
Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks to fight with Taliban forces
against the U.S. military. They agreed to
serve 18 years in federal prison. Both
are American citizens.
Battle^ 33, and Ford, 32, were among
seven Portland Muslims charged with
attempting to wage war against the
United States. Ashcroft and others in
the Justice Department have cited the
case repeatedly as a victory in the war
on terrorism.
Four of the others charged in the case
already had pleaded guilty to other
charges, including Battle’s ex-wife, Oc
tober Lewis. Her role was to wire more
than $2,000 to her husband overseas.
The seventh person charged in the
case — Habis Abdu al Saoub — re
mains at large.
The men in the group flew to Chi
na but never made it to Afghanistan.
They were stopped at China's border
with Pakistan and returned to the
United States.
Ashcroft said the case was helped
by a provision in the Patriot Act that
permitted nationwide search war
rants to obtain e-mails from Internet
service providers.
A new bill sponsored by Sens. Larry
Craig, R-Idaho, and Richard Durbin, D
111., would put an expiration date on
that new warrant authority.
Craig, a conservative Republican
like Ashcroft, warned that he would
let certain powers in the Patriot Act
expire in two years unless revisions
were made to the sweeping law.
Other Republican senators push
ing for revisions include Michael
Crapo of Idaho and Lisa Murkowski
of Alaska.
"I would like for individuals to
understand how valuable these pro
visions are and for them to under
stand how profoundly these provi
sions respect the liberties of
Americans,* Ashcroft said when
asked about growing Republican op
position to the Patriot Art.
Ashcroft also said progress was be
ing made in the probe into who
leaked the name of a CIA covert of
ficer's name. He declined to provide
details but said he had "every confi
dence" in John Dion, the veteran
Justice Department counterespi
onage lawyer who's handling the
case.
Ashcroft continued to leave open
the possibility of appointing a spe
cial counsel in the politically
charged case or recusing himself.
"I have not foreclosed in any op
tion in this matter," he said.
(c) 2003, Knight Ridder/
Tribune Information Services.
Senate includes loan in Iraq aid
The Senate voted 5147
on Thursday to make Iraq
foot roughly half of the
cost for reconstruction
By Jill Zuckman
Chicago Tribune(KRT)
WASHINGTON — The Senate vot
ed Thursday night to defy President
Bush and require Iraq to repay ap
proximately $ 10 billion of a $20 bil
lion aid package to rebuild Iraq.
Eight Republican senators ignored
lobbying by Vice President Dick Ch
eney and Secretary of State Colin
Powell and joined 43 Democrats in a
51-47 vote to put their own stamp on
the massive $87 billion spending bill
that will also pay for American mili
tary operations in Iraq, Afghanistan
and elsewhere.
"I do not believe that it is in any
way unfair to ask the Iraqi people to
invest in their own future by repay
ing the American taxpayer some of
the funding used to construct their
infrastructure," said Sen. Susan
Collins, R-Maine.
It s very hard for me to go home
and explain how you have to give
$20 billion to a country that's sitting
on $1 trillion worth of oil," said Sen.
Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. "And the
net result of this policy we're pursu
ing is that the people who died to
liberate Iraq are going to be left
holding the bag."
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist,
R-Tenn., tried to stem the momen
tum for loans: "There is nothing in
this amendment that will make the
president's job easier or make our
soldiers safer. Nothing in this
amendment will save the taxpayers
money or ease the burden upon the
people of Iraq."
The setback to Bush's foreign poli
cy came as both the House and Sen
ate were poised to vote on the presi
dent's controversial spending
request by Friday. Congressmen
have agonized for days over the mat
ter, with Republicans divided over
giving the assistance outright, and
Democrats split over whether to
support the package at all.
The debate was fraught with politi
cal peril for both sides. Lawmakers
said they worried about voter unhap
piness with the cost of reconstruction
in Iraq and the mounting deficit at
home. And they worried how their
opponents would depict their votes
during next year's campaigns.
Ultimately, both chambers were
expected to pass the $87 billion
package in some form, but it may
come at a significant cost for the
White House. Since formally asking
for the money in early September,
Bush's approval ratings have fallen
significantly and the public's anxiety
about Iraq has risen.
The debate Thursday was sharp on
both sides. House Majority Leader
Tom DeLay, R-Texas, framed the issue
as a black-and-white measure of sup
port for the war on terrorism.
"To those who have feigned of
fense at their patriotism being ques
tioned, this isn't about your patriot
ism, it's about your judgment,"
DeLay said on the House floor.
"That whole debating tactic about, '1
support the troops, but' — that isn't
going to cut it this time. If you sup
port the war and you support the
troops, you must vote for this bill."
But even many Republicans in the
Senate expressed anxiety about
adding $87 billion to the federal
deficit, preferring to make at least a
portion of the package a loan rather
than giving it to Iraq outright as
Bush has demanded.
The White House, however, issued
a statement decrying the push to de
mand repayment, while stopping
short of a veto threat.
Loans "would slow efforts to sta
bilize the region and to relieve pres
sure on our troops, raise questions
about our commitment to building
a democratic and self-governing
Iraq, and impair our ability to en
courage other nations to provide
badly needed assistance without
saddling Iraq with additional unsus
tainable debt burden," said a state
ment from the Office of Manage
ment and Budget.
And Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,
cautioned senators against overre
acting. "Things are not going as well
as some people think and they're
not going as poorly as some people
allege," he said.
McCain said Iraqis will believe that
Americans were only in their country
for oil if the Senate requires them to
repay II.S. assistance.
Last week, Republicans on the
House Appropriations Committee
who were advocating for Iraqi repay
ment caved after Bush expressed his
displeasure to them personally. On
Thursday, the House voted 226-200
to reject loaning money to Iraq.
Democrats, meanwhile, have be
come increasingly outspoken in recent
days, taking Bush to task for bungling
the post-war planning that they con
tend has put IJ.S. troops in danger. This
signals a political shift from earlier de
bates on the war, when Democrats were
reluctant to challenge the president on
any Iraq-related initiative
"Initially there was a fear that a vote
against the (bill) would be misinter
preted as a lack of support for the
troops," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D
111., who opposed the measure from the
beginning. "Nothing could be further
from the truth. Every day, there is more
and more evidence that this adminis
tration cannot be trusted to provide for
the troops."
Schakowsky said many Democrats
had feared the prospect of 30-second
commercials blasting them for not sup
porting the soldiers in Iraq. But she said
Republicans should be fearful, too.
"There's another 30-second spot
which is more valid than theirs: 'Repre
sentative So-and-so said there's no mon
ey for schools, but voted to spend $87
billion for rebuilding Iraq,'" she said.
A liberal grass-roots organization,
MoveOn.Org, has already produced
ads attacking the administration for
its handling of Iraq, and plans to run
more ads in key states.
"It's our intention to keep talking
about the choice that Congress made
here and to hold them responsible for
their votes," warned Eli Pariser, cam
paign director for MoveOn.Org.
Even so, many Democrats said they
would vote for the spending package,
despite unhappiness with Bush's han
dling of the situation in Iraq.
"My vote for this bill is for one
reason only: to give our troops the
resources they need to carry out
their mission," said Rep. Rahm
Emanuel, D-Ill.
(c) 2003, Chicago Tribune.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/
Tribune Information Services.
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