“The Religion of Peace ” CAIRO (AP) — Flames lit up downtown Cairo, where massive clashes raged Sunday, drawing Christians angry over a recent church attack, Muslims and Egyptian security forces. At least 24 people were killed and more than 200 injured in the worst sectarian violence since the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in February. The rioting lasted late into the night, bringing out a deployment of more than 1,000 security forces and armored vehicles to defend the state television building along the Nile, where the trouble began. The military clamped a curfew on the area until 7 a.m. The clashes spread to nearby Tahrir Square, drawing thousands of people to the vast plaza that served as the epicenter of the protests that ousted Mubarak. On Sunday night, they battled each other with rocks and firebombs, some tearing up pavement for ammunition and others collecting stones in boxes. At one point, an armored security van sped into the crowd, striking a half-dozen protesters and throwing some into the air. Protesters retaliated by setting fire to military vehicles, a bus and private cars, sending flames rising into the night sky. After midnight, mobs roamed downtown streets, attacking cars they suspected had Christian passengers. In many areas, there was no visible police or army presence to confront or stop them. Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s 80 million people, blame the country’s ruling military council for being too lenient on those behind a spate of anti-Christian attacks since Mubarak’s ouster. As Egypt undergoes a chaotic power transition and security vacuum in the wake of the uprising, the Coptic Christian minority is particularly worried about the show of force by ultraconservative Islamists. Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, addressing the nation in a televised speech, said the violence threatened to throw Egypt’s post-Mubarak transition off course. “These events have taken us back several steps,” he said. “Instead of moving forward to build a modern state on democratic principles we are back to seeking stability and searching for hidden hands — domestic and foreign — that meddle with the country’s security and safety.” “I call on Egyptian people, Muslims and Christians, women and children, young men and elders to hold their unity,” Sharaf said. The Christian protesters said their demonstration began as a peaceful attempt to sit in at the television building. But then, they said, they came under attack by thugs in plainclothes who rained stones down on them and fired pellets. “The protest was peaceful. We wanted to hold a sit-in, as usual,” said Essam Khalili, a protester wearing a white shirt with a cross on it. “Thugs attacked us and a military vehicle jumped over a sidewalk and ran over at least 10 people. I saw them.” Wael Roufail, another protester, corroborated the account. “I saw the vehicle running over the protesters. Then they opened fired at us,” he said. Khalili said protesters set fire to army vehicles when they saw them hitting the protesters. Ahmed Yahia, a Muslim resident who lives near the TV building, said he saw the military vehicle plow into protesters. “I saw a man’s head split into two halves and a second body flattened when the armored vehicle ran over it. When some Muslims saw the blood they joined the Christians against the army,” he said. Television footage showed the military vehicle slamming into the crowd. Coptic protesters were shown attacking a soldier, while a priest tried to protect him. One soldier collapsed in tears as ambulances rushed to the scene to take away the injured. At least 24 people were killed in the clashes, Health Ministry official Hisham Sheiha said on state TV. State media reported that Egypt’s interim Cabinet was holding an emergency session to discuss the situation. The protest began in the Shubra district of northern Cairo, then headed to the state television building along the Nile where men in plainclothes attacked about a thousand Christian protesters as they chanted denunciations of the military rulers. “The people want to topple the field marshal!” the protesters yelled, referring to the head of the ruling military council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi. Some Muslim protesters later joined in the chant. Later in the evening, a crowd of Muslims turned up to challenge the Christian crowds, shouting, “Speak up! An Islamic state until death!” Armed with sticks, the Muslim assailants chased the Christian protesters from the TV building, banging metal street signs to scare them off. It was not immediately clear who the attackers were. Gunshots rang out at the scene, where lines of riot police with shields tried to hold back hundreds of Christian protesters chanting, “This is our country!” Security forces eventually fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. The clashes then moved to nearby Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising against Mubarak. The army closed off streets around the area. The clashes left streets littered with shattered glass, stones, ash and soot from burned vehicles. Hundreds of curious onlookers gathered at one of the bridges over the Nile to watch the unrest. After hours of intense clashes, chants of “Muslims, Christians one hand, one hand!” rang out in a call for a truce. The stone-throwing died down briefly, but then began to rage again. In the past weeks, riots have broken out at two churches in southern Egypt, prompted by Muslim crowds angry over church construction. One riot broke out near the city of Aswan, even after church officials agreed to a demand by ultraconservative Muslims known as Salafis that a cross and bells be removed from the building. Aswan’s governor, Gen. Mustafa Kamel al-Sayyed, further raised tensions by suggesting to the media that the church construction was illegal. Protesters said the Copts are demanding the ouster of the governor, reconstruction of the church, compensation for people whose houses were set on fire and prosecution of those behind the riots and attacks on the church. Last week, the military used force to disperse a similar protest in front of the state television building. Christians were angered by the treatment of the protesters and vowed to renew their demonstrations until their demands are met. http://news.yahoo.com/24-dead-worst-cairo-riots-since-mubarak-ouster-232452205.html
Obama Administration Release documents about Fast and Furious
The Whitehouse Knew Something, “Surprise Surprise”]
September 30, 2011 9:35 PM
New Fast and Furious docs released by White House By Sharyl Attkisson WASHINGTON – Late Friday, the White House turned over new documents in the Congressional investigation into the ATF “Fast and Furious” gunwalking scandal. The documents show extensive communications between then-ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix office Bill Newell – who led Fast and Furious – and then-White House National Security Staffer Kevin O’Reilly. Emails indicate the two also spoke on the phone. Such detailed, direct communications between a local ATF manager in Phoenix and a White House national security staffer has raised interest among Congressional investigators looking into Fast and Furious. Newell has said he and O’Reilly are long time friends. ATF agents say that in Fast and Furious, their agency allowed thousands of assault rifles and other weapons to be sold to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels. At least two of the guns turned up at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry last December. The email exchanges span a little over a month last summer. They discuss ATF’s gun trafficking efforts along the border including the controversial Fast and Furious case, though not by name. The emails to and from O’Reilly indicate more than just a passing interest in the Phoenix office’s gun trafficking cases. They do not mention specific tactics such as “letting guns walk.” A lawyer for the White House wrote Congressional investigators: “none of the communications between ATF and the White House revealed the investigative law enforcement tactics at issue in your inquiry, let alone any decision to allow guns to ‘walk.'” Among the documents produced: an email in which ATF’s Newell sent the White House’s O’Reilly an “arrow chart reflecting the ultimate destination of firearms we intercepted and/or where the guns ended up.” The chart shows arrows leading from Arizona to destinations all over Mexico. In response, O’Reilly wrote on Sept. 3, 2010 “The arrow chart is really interesting – and – no surprise – implies at least that different (Drug Trafficking Organizations) in Mexico have very different and geographically distinct networks in the US for acquiring guns. Did last year’s TX effort develop a similar graphic?” The White House counsel who produced the documents stated that some records were not included because of “significant confidentiality interests.” Also included are email photographs including images of a .50 caliber rifle (left) that Newell tells O’Reilly “was purchased in Tucson, Arizona (part of another OCDTF case).” OCDTF is a joint task force that operates under the Department of Justice and includes the US Attorneys, ATF, DEA, FBI, ICE and IRS. Fast and Furious was an OCDTF case. An administration source would not describe the Tucson OCDTF case. However, CBS News has learned that ATF’s Phoenix office led an operation out of Tucson called “Wide Receiver.” Sources claim ATF allowed guns to “walk” in that operation, much like Fast and Furious. Congressional investigators for Republicans Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) have asked to interview O’Reilly by September 30. But the Administration informed them that O’Reilly is on assignment for the State Department in Iraq and unavailable. One administration source says White House national security staffers were “briefed on the toplines of ongoing federal efforts, but nobody in White House knew about the investigative tactics being used in the operation, let alone any decision to let guns walk.” http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20114184-10391695.html
Obama Wants to Protect Illegal’s in Alabama
Herman Cain Says Liberals Want To Destroy America and He\'s Right
The Obama administration asked an appeals court on Friday to block the enforcement ofAlabama’s strict immigration law — widely considered to be the toughest in the nation — arguing it invites discrimination against foreign-born citizens and legal immigrants and is at odds with federal policy.
The Justice Department filed the challenge to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals inAtlanta. It claimedAlabama’s new law “is highly likely to expose persons lawfully in theUnited States, including school children, to new difficulties in routine dealings.”
State Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, upper right, talks with tomato farmers about the Alabama immigration law on Chandler Mountain in Steele,Ala., Monday, Oct. 3, 2011.
The overhaul allows authorities to question people suspected of being in the country illegally and hold them without bond. It also lets officials check the immigration status of students in public schools.
A federal judge in Alabama up held those two key aspects of the law, which have already taken effect.
Those provisions that took effect are what help make the Alabama law stricter than similar laws passed in Arizona,Utah,Indiana and Georgia. Other federal judges have blocked all or parts of the laws in those states.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Friday that President Obama has been clear on his position that “efforts to address the issue of America’s broken immigration system through a patchwork of state laws will only create more problems than it solves.”
Alabama shrugged off the appeal.
“The fact that the Department of Justice has appealed comes as no surprise,” Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said. “I remain committed to seeing that this law is fully implemented. We will continue to defend this law against any and all challenges.”
Immigration became a hot issue in Alabama over the past decade as the state’s Hispanic population grew by 145 percent to about 185,600. While the group still represents only about 4 percent of the population, some counties in north Alabama have large Spanish-speaking communities and schools where most of the students are Hispanic.
The Justice Department’s appeal said parts of the law conflict with federal rules, and that “attempts to drive aliens `off the grid’ will only impede the removal process established by federal law.” It also said the legislation could impact diplomatic relations with foreign countries.
“Alabamais not in a position to answer to other nations for the consequences of its policy,” it said. “That is the responsibility of the federal government, which speaks for all the states and must ensure that the consequences of one state’s foray in to the realm of immigration law are not visited upon the nation as a whole.”
It also said requiring officers to report people without adequate credentials to federal immigration officials “unnecessarily diverts resources from federal enforcement priorities and precludes state and local officials from working in true cooperation with federal officials.”
As Usual Nancy Pelosi on the Wrong Side: She Loves Occupy Wall Street Crowd
During a press conference Thursday afternoon, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi praised those participating in the “Occupy Wall Street” protests. “God bless them,” Pelosi said, “for their spontaneity. It’s independent … it’s young, it’s spontaneous, and it’s focused. And it’s going to be effective.”
“The message of the protesters is a message for the establishment everyplace,” said the House Democrats’ leader. “No longer will the recklessness of some on Wall Street cause massive joblessness onMain Street.”
Pelosi did not comment on–and was not asked about–the law-breaking that occurred during the protest over the weekend. About 700 protesters were arrested by New York Citypolice after the protesters “swarmed the Brooklyn Bridge and shut down a lane of traffic for several hours,” according to CBS News.
When the Tea Party movement emerged in 2009, then-Speaker of the House Pelosi called them “astroturf” and “un-American” people who were “carrying swastikas.”
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/pelosi-occupy-wall-street-protesters-god-bless-them_595117.html
Harry Reid Wants to Punish Millionaires
Sources Say Sen. Reid Wants Millionaire Surtax to Pay for Jobs Bill
WASHINGTON– Senate Democrats are considering a surtax on millionaires to offset the cost of President Barack Obama’s $445 billion jobs bill, according to several party aides.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., outlined plans for a 5 percent surcharge in a closed-door meeting with the rank and file, according to participants, as Obama traveled to Texas to deliver his most caustic challenge yet to House Republicans who have not allowed a vote on the legislation unveiled nearly a month ago.
“What’s the problem? Do they not have the time? They just had a week off. Is it inconvenient?” he said in Mesquite, Texas, singling out House Majority Leader Eric Cantor for special criticism.
There was no indication Cantor, R-Va., or the House Republicans would agree.
The move would be an effort to win more support for the package within the Democratic Party. Republicans have said they oppose the plan, and even some Senate Democrats have been critical of aspects of the plan.
After three weeks of presidential demands for Congress to pass his jobs bill without delay, White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said Obama was open to Reid’s changes.
“We offered a balanced way to pay for the American Jobs Act, but if Congress has a better idea that ensures that everyone pays their fair share, we’re open to it,” Pfeiffer said.
On a day rich in political maneuvering, Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell announced he was ready for an immediate vote on the bill, even though he opposes it. Reading aloud on the Senate floor from a copy of Obama’s speech, he said, “I do think the president makes an important point that he is entitled to a vote.”
The request was blocked by Reid, who called it a “political stunt” and said he would make sure the bill comes to the floor this month. Aboard Air Force One, White House press secretary Jay Carney accused Republicans of gamesmanship.
The parliamentary dance aside, the day’s events underscored that as submitted by the White House, Obama’s bill would not only fail in the Republican-controlled House, but faced enough opposition from Democrats to endanger its prospects in the Senate, as well.
“There’s the good, the bad and the ugly. The ugly was $447 billion,” said Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., referring to the overall size of the president’s request.
Yet while Republicans and Democrats appear to be pointing to a showdown that could reverberate into the 2012 election campaign, some elements of the measure could clear Congress with relative ease by year’s end.
As an example, Republicans have not ruled out extending and expanding the payroll tax cuts that took effect on Jan. 1, at a cost of $247 billion over a decade, the single priciest item in Obama’s legislation.
Democrats said Reid’s proposed millionaires’ surtax was designed to quell much if not all of the opposition from his own rank and file, a subject that Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking leader, referred to in an interview with reporters.
“We’re also obviously going to work on the number of votes to support it. It may not be the exact plan offered by the president, but I think he, when he presented it to us, said that we need to be open to some variations and modifications,” Durbin said.
The payroll tax cut extension faces little if any opposition from Democrats, and Obama’s request for more than $100 billion in new spending as a way of creating jobs is also popular within his own party.
To pay for his $447 billion plan, Obama has proposed higher taxes on family incomes over $250,000 and on the oil and gas industry.
The first request troubles Democratic senators from states like New York, New Jerseyand California, where large numbers of families could be hit by the increase. The second has drawn opposition most prominently from Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, whose state is home to numerous oil and gas operations.
The president also proposed higher taxes on hedge fund managers and corporate jet owners, and those increases, too, would disappear under the changes Reid is expected to unveil as early as Wednesday.
His office declined comment on the emerging plan for a surcharge on millionaires, but several Democrats, speaking anonymously to discuss the developments, said it was being drafted to cover the entire $447 billion cost of the legislation.
In political terms, Democrats appear to be hoping that Republicans will oppose both the higher taxes on million-dollar-earners and the president’s call for new spending aimed at reducing joblessness, thus leaving the GOP open to a charge of protecting the wealthy at the expense of the unemployed.
Reid predicted that by the time the jobs bill comes to the Senate floor, almost all Democrats would be behind it. “There could be — I don’t know who — but there could be some that don’t support it. But it would be a rare situation,” he added.
In his speech in Texas, Obama referred to Cantor one day after the Virginia Republican said the White House’s “all or nothing approach is unreasonable.”
“Eric Cantor said that right now, he won’t even let this jobs bill have a vote in the House of Representatives. That’s what he said. Won’t even let it be debated,” the president said.
“At least put this jobs bill up for a vote so that the entire country knows exactly where members of Congress stand,” Obama said. “Put your cards on the table.”
Cantor’s spokesman rejected the criticism.
“If House Republicans sent our plan forAmerica’s job creators to the president, would he promise not to veto it in its entirety? Would he travel district to district and explain why he’d block such common-sense ideas to create jobs?” Brad Dayspring said. “House Republicans have different ideas on how to grow the economy and create jobs, but that shouldn’t prevent us from trying to find areas of common ground with the president.”
House Republicans have begun passing legislation to block or roll back administration regulations on several industries, saying their removal will create jobs.
While Republican lawmakers appear receptive to tax cuts the president has called for, they have expressed strong opposition to his proposed new spending.
Attorney General Eric Holder Being Investigated For Lying About “Fast and Furious”
“Give Me a Break, Everyone Knows He’s Lying”
House Republicans Request Special Counsel to Probe Holder on ‘Fast and Furious’
EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans are calling for a special counsel to determine whether Attorney General Holder perjured himself during his testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on Operation Fast and Furious, Fox News has learned.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, was sending a letter to President Obama on Tuesday arguing that Holder cannot investigate himself, and requesting the president instruct the Department of Justice to appoint a special counsel.
The question is whether Holder committed perjury during a Judiciary Committee hearing on May 3. At the time, Holder indicated he was not familiar with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives program known as Fast and Furious until about April 2011.
“I’m not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks,” Holder testified.
However, a newly discovered memo dated July 2010 shows Michael Walther, director of the National Drug Intelligence Center, told Holder that straw buyers in the Fast and Furious operation “are responsible for the purchase of 1,500 firearms that were then supplied to the Mexican drug trafficking cartels.”
Other documents also indicate that Holder began receiving weekly briefings on the program from the National Drug Intelligence Center “beginning, at the latest, on July 5, 2010,” Smith wrote.
“These updates mentioned, not only the name of the operation, but also specific details about guns being trafficked to Mexico,” Smith wrote in the letter to Obama.
“Allegations that senior Justice Department officials may have intentionally misled members of Congress are extremely troubling and must be addressed by an independent and objective special counsel. I urge you to appoint a special counsel who will investigate these allegations as soon as possible,” Smith wrote.
In response to the release of the memos, a Justice Department official said that the attorney general “has consistently said he became aware of the questionable tactics in early 2011 when ATF agents first raised them publicly, and then promptly asked the (inspector general) to investigate the matter.”
The official added that in March 2011, Holder testified to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee of that development, and regularly receives hundreds of pages, none of which contained information on potential problems with Fast and Furious.
“The weekly reports (100 + pages) are provided to the office of the AG and (deputy attorney general) each week from approximately 24 offices and components. These are routine reports that provide general overviews and status updates on issues, policies, cases and investigations from offices and components across the country. None of these reports referenced the controversial tactics of that allowed guns to cross the border,” the official said.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., “of all people, should be familiar with the difference between knowing about an investigation and being aware of questionable tactics employed in that investigation since documents provided to his committee show he was given a briefing that included the fast and furious operation in 2010 – a year before the controversy emerged,” the official continued.
Issa told Fox News on Tuesday morning that Holder saying he didn’t understand the question rather than he didn’t know of the program is not a successful defense to perjury.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, adde that months before Holder testified — on Jan. 31 — he came to Grassley’s office, where Grassley gave him a letter detailing the investigation of Fast and Furious.
“If he read my letter, he knew on January 31,” Grassley told Fox News. “He probably actually knew about it way back in the middle of last year or earlier.
Grassley said since he’s not a lawyer he’s not going to make a judgment on whether Holder committed perjury.
“But I can tell you this. They’re doing everything they can, in a fast and furious way, to cover up all the evidence or stonewalling us. But here’s the issue, if he didn’t perjure himself and didn’t know about it, the best way that they can help us, Congressman Issa and me, is to just issue all the documents that we ask for and those documents will prove one way or the other right or wrong.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/04/house-republicans-to-request-special-counsel-to-probe-holder-on-fast-and/#ixzz1Zq2IBkAu