WASHINGTON, D.C.
GOP senators pressure Holder
Letter warns attorney general against probe of alleged abuses by CIA
Leading GOP lawmakers cautioned U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder on Wednesday against opening an investigation into alleged CIA interrogation abuses, saying that such a probe could have serious national security repercussions.
“It is well past time for the Obama administration to lift the cloud that has been placed over those in the intelligence community and let them return to the job of saving American lives,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Holder signed by nine Republican senators. A probe that distracts the CIA, the lawmakers said, “could leave us more vulnerable to attack.”
Among those who signed the letter were Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), the Senate minority whip; Sen. Christopher Bond, (R-Mo.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee; and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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The letter underscored the political dynamic surrounding Holder’s deliberations over whether to launch a new criminal inquiry into whether CIA interrogators exceeded guidelines they were given by the Justice Department.
The letter cited an Aug. 9 report by Tribune Newspapers that said Holder was poised to appoint a criminal prosecutor, who would have latitude to examine cases in which prisoners died in CIA custody or were repeatedly subjected to harsh methods.
Justice Department officials have said that Holder was outraged by abuses described in a CIA inspector general’s report completed in 2004. That internal probe found that key Al Qaeda prisoners had been waterboarded hundreds of times, despite Justice Department warnings that repetition of the technique should “not be substantial.”
— Greg Miller, Tribune Newspapers
NEW YORK
Storm smashes hundreds of trees in Central Park
Hundreds of century-old trees lay snapped in half and uprooted throughout Central Park on Wednesday after a severe thunderstorm with winds as high as 80 m.p.h. barreled through New York City overnight. “I’ve never seen a wind of that velocity in New York City,” Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said. “It looks like pictures that I’ve seen of war zones where artillery shells have shredded trees.” Sweeping through Tuesday night, the storm laid waste to some of the park’s famous American elm trees.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
DUIs by women increase
The number of women arrested for drunken driving has jumped nearly 30 percent in the past decade, a dangerous trend that was all too evident when a wrong-way crash involving a woman in New York killed eight people.
The Transportation Department said the number of women arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs increased 28.8 percent from 1998 to 2007. The number of men arrested under the influence fell 7.5 percent during the same period.
Despite the new trend, drunken driving arrests remain dominated by men. In 1998, 676,911 men were arrested for being under the influence, compared with 626,371 arrests in 2007. More than 126,000 women were arrested for DUI in 1998, a number that increased to 162,493 in 2007.
NEW MEXICO
N. Korea sends envoys
SANTA FE — Gov. Bill Richardson said Wednesday that his meeting with North Korean diplomats offered a “hopeful sign” of improving relations with the reclusive nation, which reiterated its desire for direct talks with the United States.
The Democratic governor said he had “productive talks” with two representatives from the North Korean mission to the United Nations.
“The delegation indicated that North Korea is ready for a new dialogue with the United States regarding the nuclear issue,” Richardson said in a statement. “The question is whether to proceed with face-to-face bilateral talks, as the North Koreans prefer, or to utilize the six-party framework that the United States has advocated. The North Koreans clearly want bilateral talks and not the six-party framework.”
PAKISTAN
Deputy takes Taliban helm
PESHAWAR — The deputy head of the Pakistani Taliban announced Wednesday that he was temporarily assuming leadership of the militant group because its chief, whom Washington and Islamabad have said was almost certainly killed by a recent missile strike, was unwell.
The announcement by Maulvi Faqir Mohammad is another sign that Taliban commanders are jockeying for power after the reported death of Baitullah Mehsud in an Aug. 5 CIA missile strike in northwestern Pakistan’s tribal belt.
“I was the deputy leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban and now since Baitullah Mehsud is unable to perform as head of the organization due to health reasons and unable to come on the foreground, I am announcing I am assuming the role of acting chief,” Mohammad said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
HONDURAS
Group: Protesters abused
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TEGUCIGALPA — The rights group Amnesty International is alleging widespread abuse of protesters demanding the return of the Honduran president ousted in a coup, saying in a report Wednesday that hundreds of people have been beaten and detained under the interim government.
The organization said its monitors visited one prison where dozens of people were detained for hours after a protest, many with bruises and other injuries from police beatings.
Police denied they use excessive force against protesters.
The government of interim President Roberto Micheletti has cracked down on pro-Manuel Zelaya protests.