Contrary to one of President Bush’s central claims for invading Iraq, Saddam Hussein had no direct connection to al-Qaida. That’s according to a new Pentagon-sponsored study of 600,000-plus Iraqi documents seized after the 2003 invasion.
The exhaustive review found no evidence of any operational link between Saddam and al-Qaida or the 9/11 hijakers.
None. Zip. The findings echo those of a 2006 report by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which concluded that Saddam was “distrustful of al Qaida and viewed Islamic extremists as a threat to his regime, refusing all requests from al Qaida to provide material or operational support.â€
Given the inconvenient truths in the report, it was no surprise to hear that the Bush administration blocked its widespread release this week. As usual, information that doesn’t fit the Bush storyline simply doesn’t exist..
Still, it’s good to have this reality check again before the general election rhetoric takes flight.
Everyone repeat: No Saddam link to al-Qaida.
Sexually transmitted diseases have been called a “hidden epidemic.†And a new study shows why: About 25 percent of teenage girls have a sexually transmitted disease, such as herpes, chlamydia, or human papillomavirus (HPV).
The study’s lead author, Dr. Sara Forhan of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called the results “alarming.†She said that “far too many young women are at risk for the serious health effects of untreated STDs, including infertility and cervical cancer.â€
The average age for teen girls to first have sexual intercourse is 15, according to the study. Like it or not, many teens are having sex, and they need to know about the health risks and guard against them.
Parents should know that teens who aren’t promiscuous are still at high risk of STDs. Among girls age 14 to19 who said they’d had one sexual partner in their life, 20 percent had contracted an STD.
The study underscores the need for good education, screening and prevention, including the new vacine against HPV.
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer had little choice but to resign, given that his career was based on integrity, justice and public accountability. He referred to his implication in a prostitution investigation as a “private failing,†but it was much more than that. As columnist Leonard Pitts wrote on today’s Opinion pages, Spitzer’s betrayal also hurts public life. “Do you know how hard it is to believe?†Pitts wrote. “To overcome cynicism and inertia and place fragile trust in the hands of someone who claims to represent values higher than expediency and self? . . . Do you know how much less likely you are ever to give belief again?â€
Former Texas regulator Kathleen Hartnett White’s commentary in today’s Opinion pages in support of the Holcomb coal-plant expansion deserves some response.
She would have approved the plant, she argues, because it “complied with all applicable legal requirements.†But Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Rod Bremby’s decision was based on his legal authority, upheld by a Kansas attorney general opinion, to intervene to protect Kansans’ health.
She also makes misleading, unsupported assertions on science, claiming that the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change portrays global warming as an “uncertain, remote, gradual risk with impacts predicted in 100 years or more.â€
To the contrary, the panel’s study is unequivocal on the high risks of warming, the environmental damage already under way, and the urgency of controlling carbon and greenhouse gases now.
A further note: White left her position last year under a storm of criticism. The Dallas Morning News said in a scathing editorial: “She has been an apologist for polluters, consistently siding with business interests instead of protecting public health. Ms. White worked to set a low bar as she lobbied for lax ozone standards and pushed through an inadequate anti-pollution plan. She also voted to approve TXU’s pollution-intensive Oak Grove coal units, ignoring evidence that emissions from the lignite plant could thwart North Texas’ efforts to meet air quality standards.â€
Air Force officials say European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co., parent company of Airbus, built a $100 million fuel boom on spec to demonstrate its technological know-how.
Boeing, meanwhile, promised a new boom but didn’t build a prototype.
It was that kind of aggressive one-upmanship from EADS/Northrop Grumman that apparently made the difference with Air Force officials, according to a New York Times story.
“Northrop Grumman brought their A game,†Sue C. Payton, assistant secretary of the Air Force, told Congress last week.
Questions remain, though, whether the playing field was fair.
Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Rod Bremby plans to testify today in Washington, D.C., before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.
State Rep. Josh Svaty, D-Ellsworth, who’s accompanying Bremby, called it “an opportunity to express some frustration†about the Environmental Protection Agency’s failure to develop carbon dioxide regulations. “We do not have any direction from the federal government.â€
Contrary to one of President Bush’s central claims for invading Iraq, Saddam Hussein had no direct connection to al-Qaida. That’s according to a new Pentagon-sponsored study of 600,000-plus Iraqi documents seized after the 2003 invasion.
