Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories): 1. NewsMax Poll: Bush Justified in Wiretapping 2. Indicted Officials May Sue Pro-Israel Lobby 3. Report: U.S. Can Prevent Nuclear Attack 4. NY Times Staffers Miffed Over Executive Bonuses 5. Jay Rockefeller's NSA Concerns "Political" 6. Bush Appointment Draws Praise 1. NewsMax Poll: Bush Justified in Wiretapping
Americans overwhelmingly support President Bush's authorization to the National Security Agency to tap the private conversations of U.S. citizens to search for evidence of terrorist activity, an exclusive NewsMax.com poll reveals.
In one of the largest responses to a NewsMax poll ever, more than 150,000 people across the Internet have made their opinions known about this controversy.
And they resoundingly say that the President was justified in taking this action to protect America.
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Here is a breakdown of the poll results for several key questions:
1) Has President Bush been justified in tapping the conversation of U.S. citizens? Justified – 80% Not Justified – 20%
2) Do you believe the President must have a court-approved warrant to conduct a wiretap? Yes – 23% No – 72% Not Sure – 5%
3) Do you believe President Bush's claim that he undertook this action to protect America? Yes – 83% No – 17%
4) How would you rate media coverage about President Bush's actions? Fair – 20% Unfair – 80%
NewsMax continues to update its online poll. You can still vote – just Go Here Now. 2. Indicted Officials May Sue Pro-Israel Lobby
America's main pro-Israel lobby and two former employees charged with passing classified information are in a bitter dispute over who should pay the pair's legal costs.
Steve Rosen, former director of foreign policy at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and Keith Weissman, who was the lobbying group's Iran analyst, are considering suing AIPAC for withholding promised payments for legal costs.
The two are also weighing a defamation suit against AIPAC for accusing them of unbecoming conduct.
"There is a clear collision course here," a former AIPAC staffer told the publication the Forward.
Rosen and Weissman are charged with communicating classified defense information they had received from former Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin to Israeli diplomats and journalists.
Franklin spoke of an Iranian plot to kill Americans and Israelis in Iraq, and said he relayed the information because he was "frustrated" with U.S. policy toward Iran and hoped to influence the administration, the Washington Post reported.
AIPAC hired attorney Abbe Lowell to represent Rosen, and John Nassikas to represent Weissman and signed a document declaring the organization would cover the legal costs, according to the Jerusalem Post.
But the two defendants were fired from AIPAC last spring, and their attorney fees have not been paid since then.
The hostility between the AIPAC leadership and the two former employees is expected to intensify when the pair goes on trial in April at the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va.
Defense attorneys will maintain that the two former employees were following the organization's routine practice and that AIPAC's top officials were fully aware of their actions.
"The evidence in this case will show that Dr. Rosen and Mr. Weissman always acted in AIPAC's interests, never were on their own and acted with the knowledge and approval of their superiors," attorney Lowell told the Forward.
AIPAC, on the other hand, maintains that Rosen and Weissman were fired in March due to "conduct that was not part of their job, and beneath the standards required of AIPAC employees," said spokesman Patrick Dorton.
AIPAC's bylaws require the organization to cover legal fees in a case such as this, except in certain cases including "gross negligence, bad faith, fraud" and "willful misconduct."
The Jerusalem Post reports: "The dispute demonstrates the extent of mistrust between both sides, with AIPAC trying to distance itself from its former staffers and Rosen and Weissman claiming every action they took was done in accordance with their job requirements and was meant only for the benefit of AIPAC."
3. Report: U.S. Can Prevent Nuclear Attack
Americans concerned about a possible terrorist attack using nuclear weapons can take solace in this fact: The U.S. is much better prepared to prevent such an attack than many believe.
That's the finding of an intensive probe by best-selling author Kenneth R. Timmerman that appears in the December issue of NewsMax Magazine "Avoiding Nuclear D-Day." [For more info our FREE offer – Go Here Now.]
Here are just a few of the revelations contained in Timmerman's exclusive report:
Exactly one month after 9/11, CIA Director George Tenet told the White House that terrorists had reportedly smuggled a 10-kiloton nuclear warhead into the Port of New York, hidden inside a cargo container.
The alarm set off a flurry of activity by Customs officials. They first used a radiation detection device, then a truck-mounted Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System, which uses gamma rays to produce a density map of the cargo packed inside containers.
The result: Officials were able to determine that there was nothing in the container other than what was supposed to be there.
The Automated Commercial System (ACS), a computer tracking system first set up in the 1980s and upgraded regularly since then, allows Customs officials to locate a suspect shipping container at a port within minutes.
The officials can see who shipped the container, what it is supposed to contain and, most importantly, where it is at any given moment.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection have installed 600 Radiation Portal Monitors at major U.S. entry points. Now 90 percent of tractor-trailers coming in from Canada pass through these highly sensitive detectors, as do 80 percent of passenger vehicles.
The devices – which can "see" through 16 inches of solid steel – reveal the presence of radiological material used to construct a dirty bomb or a nuclear device itself.
The so-called "nuclear suitcase weapon" is a myth.
A former Soviet general declared in 1997 that the U.S.S.R. had produced more than 100 suitcase-size nuclear bombs but could account for only 48 of them.
But a new book discloses that while the Soviets did produce nuclear mines, they were much larger and could not be transported by one person.
Thanks to the Container Security Initiative, announced in January 2002, Customs and Border Protection now has agreements with 38 of the world's largest ports to inspect cargo overseas, with the help of local Customs officials, before it ever leaves port.
In late 2001, U.S. intelligence picked up information that terrorists carrying heavy duffel bags had taken over a cargo vessel headed for New York and could be carrying a nuclear weapon.
The U.S. Coast Guard quickly organized a midnight boarding party, sending out about two dozen armed men on a 40-foot patrol boat.
The suspect vessel was intercepted 25 miles out at sea, and a search of the ship turned up nothing suspicious. It was one more successful test of the professionalism of America's homefront defenders.
Editor's Note:
Get the full details of America's preparation for a nuclear attack - Go Here Now.
4. NY Times Staffers Miffed Over Executive Bonuses
Rank-and-file staffers at the New York Times are none too happy about the company's decision to cancel a 15 percent discount for employees on stock purchases – while top executives are pocketing fat bonus packages.
Times Company chief executive Janet Robinson received 74,000 shares of New York Times stock -- worth nearly $2 million -- as of early January. She also received 149,000 stock options worth about $4 million, according to a Securities Exchange Commission document.
Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. received 30,000 shares of stock -- worth almost $800,000 -- plus stock options worth more than $4 million.
"The news of executive stock gifts rankled some Times newsroom staffers, who are still smarting from the paper's layoffs, hiring freeze, reduced expense policy and – most galling – the cancellation in December of the Times' 15 percent discount for employees on stock purchases," reports the New York Observer.
The Times announced the layoffs of 690 positions last year as the company's stock plummeted from more than $47 a share in January 2005 to a low of $26.16 early this year.
In a recent cost-cutting move, the Times even closed its nurse's office, where employees could get pain relievers or have their blood pressure taken.
But the Times still saw fit to award chief financial officer Leonard Forman, president Scott Heekin Canedy and vice chairman Michael Golden each with 12,000 shares of stock, worth more than $300,000. 5. Jay Rockefeller's NSA Concerns "Political"
Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller's stated concern over the National Security Agency's domestic wiretapping operation "appears to be politically advantageous," charges Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts.
In December the New York Times broke the story that the NSA had been wiretapping people inside the U.S. – without obtaining warrants – to search for evidence of terrorist activity.
The next day, President Bush acknowledged the operation, saying he had the authority to approve the wiretapping and that "leaders in Congress have been briefed more than a dozen times on this authorization and the activities conducted under it."
After Bush spoke, Rockefeller (W.Va.), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, confirmed that he had been briefed about the operation but claimed that since he was sworn to secrecy he could not voice his concerns until after the president acknowledged the surveillance program.
Rockefeller is a member of the so-called "gang of four," which consists of the top Republican and top Democrat of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the top party members of the House Intelligence Committee.
The other three are Roberts (R-Kan.), Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) and Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.). The four received briefings regarding the NSA but were barred from discussing them even with other senators, according to MSNBC.
After Bush spoke about the NSA operation, Rockefeller revealed that he'd written a letter to Dick Cheney in the summer of 2003, after a meeting with the vice president.
"I am retaining a copy of this letter in a sealed envelope to ensure that I have a record of this communication," the letter read.
Rockefeller wrote: "Without more information and the ability to draw on any independent legal or technical expertise, I simply cannot satisfy lingering concerns raised by the briefing we received."
He said sending a letter to Cheney was his only recourse.
Sen. Roberts took issue with that. He said in a statement that Rockefeller's action "appears to be politically advantageous."
He accused Rockefeller of "feigning helplessness" and said "a United States Senator has significant tools with which to wield power and influence over the executive branch."
Some Washington insiders have grumbled that the leaking of the NSA story was seemingly timed to precede the Senate vote on the Patriot Act, and wonder if Rockefeller orchestrated the leak to help prevent the act from passing.
Opined one Washington insider: "Rockefeller was trying to have it both ways – going along with a program he knew had merit but secretly recording an objection in case there was an opportunity to score political points later." 6. Bush Appointment Draws Praise
The appointment of Emilio Gonzalez, a former U.S. Army Colonel, to head the Homeland Security Department's Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services won enthusiastic approval from the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF).
"It is not surprising that the President chose Colonel Gonzalez to fill this important post because not only does Emilio have a long and distinguished record of government service, but he has an impressive breadth of knowledge on many issues," said CANF Chairman Jorge Mas Santos.
"His own experience as a young refugee from Cuba who came to realize the American dream makes him extremely sensitive and aware of those individuals he will be serving."
Gonzalez will be responsible for over 15,000 immigration employees at more than 250 offices in the U.S. and around the world.
Gonzalez is a noted commentator on Hispanic and international affairs who has appeared on local, national and international radio and television. He was director of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council, where he served as a key national security and foreign policy advisor to President Bush and Condoleezza Rice.
Gonzalez has spent most of his professional career involved in foreign affairs and international security policy issues. He has served in or traveled to almost every country in the Western Hemisphere on numerous occasions and has represented the U.S. on special diplomatic missions.
His distinguished military career spanned nearly three decades, during which time he served at the U.S. embassies in El Salvador and Mexico, taught at the United States Military Academy at West Point and headed the Office of Special Assistants for the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Southern Command.
Gonzalez has been awarded numerous decorations from the U.S. and has also been decorated by the governments of El Salvador, Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Editor's Notes:
Get the full details of America's preparation for a nuclear attack – Go Here Now.
4. NY Times Staffers Miffed Over Executive Bonuses
Rank-and-file staffers at the New York Times are none too happy about the company's decision to cancel a 15 percent discount for employees on stock purchases – while top executives are pocketing fat bonus packages.
Times Company chief executive Janet Robinson received 74,000 shares of New York Times stock -- worth nearly $2 million -- as of early January. She also received 149,000 stock options worth about $4 million, according to a Securities Exchange Commission document.
Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. received 30,000 shares of stock -- worth almost $800,000 -- plus stock options worth more than $4 million.
"The news of executive stock gifts rankled some Times newsroom staffers, who are still smarting from the paper's layoffs, hiring freeze, reduced expense policy and – most galling – the cancellation in December of the Times' 15 percent discount for employees on stock purchases," reports the New York Observer.
The Times announced the layoffs of 690 positions last year as the company's stock plummeted from more than $47 a share in January 2005 to a low of $26.16 early this year.
In a recent cost-cutting move, the Times even closed its nurse's office, where employees could get pain relievers or have their blood pressure taken.
But the Times still saw fit to award chief financial officer Leonard Forman, president Scott Heekin Canedy and vice chairman Michael Golden each with 12,000 shares of stock, worth more than $300,000.
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