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**Leper Messiah** · September 10th, 04:56 PM

Bush Seeks to Toughen Anti-Terror Law
22 minutes ago

By Randall Mikkelsen

QUANTICO, Va. (Reuters) - Saying the nation's security was at stake, President Bush (news - web sites) on Wednesday called on Congress to "untie the hands" of law enforcement and pass tougher anti-terrorism legislation to deny bail to terror suspects and expand those eligible for the death penalty.

"The House and the Senate have a responsibility to act quickly on these matters. Untie the hands of our law enforcement officials so they can fight and win the war against terror," Bush said at an FBI (news - web sites) laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, outside Washington.

The initiative was a follow-up to hotly debated "USA Patriot Act" legislation passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which critics called an infringement on civil liberties.

On the eve of the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush hailed the Patriot Act but said there remained "unreasonable obstacles to investigating and prosecuting terrorism" that must be urgently addressed.

"Members of the Congress agree that we need to close the loopholes, not every member, but a lot of them agree with that. People in law enforcement are counting on Congress to follow through," he said.

Bush was taking a piecemeal approach of endorsing individual measures rather than submitting a "Patriot II" package that the Justice Department (news - web sites) had contemplated earlier, to additional protests from conservatives and liberals concerned about heavy-handed enforcement.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the aim was to prevent "further terrorist attacks."

The proposals were quickly attacked by the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites). "Further erosions of judicial oversight and the basic checks and balances that protect us and our democracy from political abuses of power ... are the wrong path to take," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office.

The original Patriot Act drew fire from civil liberties groups and their supporters in Congress, both liberal and conservative, who said it let the government abuse its ability to conduct surveillance and keep secret some search warrants.

ANTI-TERROR MEASURES

The Justice Department had reportedly been preparing a "Patriot II" package but met wide criticism earlier this year when the consideration was made public. A Senate Democratic source said Republicans have been seeking alternate ways to package new anti-terror measures.

Bush urged Congress to pass three major measures:

-- Allowing law enforcement authorities to bypass a judge or grand jury and issue "administrative subpoenas" in terrorism investigations where "time is of the essence." Such authority is available in other investigations such as drug probes.

"If we can use these subpoenas to catch crooked doctors, the Congress should allow law enforcement officials to use them in catching terrorists," Bush said.

-- Denying bail for terrorism suspects, to prevent them from fleeing. "Suspected terrorists could be released, free to leave the country, or worse, before the trial," he said, adding that this disparity in the law "makes no sense" and should be changed.

-- Imposing the federal death penalty for terror-related crimes, such as sabotage of a military or nuclear facility "in a way that takes innocent life." Bush said this "kind of technicality should never protect terrorists from the ultimate justice."

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) on Tuesday wrapped up a national tour aimed at bolstering support for the original Patriot Act legislation among wary law enforcement agencies and the public.

**Leper Messiah** · September 10th, 05:00 PM

Qaeda Leader Urges Fighters to Bury U.S. in Iraq
12 minutes ago

By Firouz Sedarat

DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri urged Iraqi fighters to kill Americans and turn Iraq (news - web sites) into their graveyard in an audio tape aired by Al Jazeera Arabic television Wednesday.

"To our struggling brothers in Iraq: we pray to God to be on your side in fighting the crusaders ... Rely on God and devour the Americans as lions do and bury them in the graveyard of Iraq," said the voice, which sounded like that of Zawahri.

Al Jazeera also aired what it said was new footage of al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) and his top aide Zawahri.

A voice said to be bin Laden's, in a separate audio tape, praised the suicide hijackers who flew planes into New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon (news - web sites) in Washington two years ago Thursday.

"Whoever wants to be taught about loyalty and honesty should have known them (the attackers) ... They were the most honest and the bravest," he said.

The CIA (news - web sites) and analysts around the world immediately began poring over the tapes to gauge their authenticity and scour them for clues of when and where they might have been made. Al Jazeera said the video was probably filmed in April or May.

Zawahri promised more attacks to "punish" the United States.

"With the help of God, we will cut the arms of anyone that touches us, prepare yourself for punishment for your crimes," said the voice.

He urged families of U.S. forces in Iraq to oppose the war before their loved ones are "returned home in coffins."

The voice tracks were played along with, but were separate from, video film which showed the two walking in an unidentified rocky mountainous area.

It showed a thin and haggard bin Laden walking downhill with Zawahri, both using walking sticks.

It also showed close-ups of bin Laden sitting next to a tree. Both men wore Afghan- or Pakistani-style clothes, with baggy trousers and long shirts and vests.

No new video pictures of bin Laden have been seen for many months, though al Qaeda has issued several audio messages over the last year.

More than 2,800 people died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that were widely blamed on al Qaeda and sparked the U.S. "war on terror."

The CIA was studying the latest tapes for clues about bin Laden.

"We believe he is alive, but we can't tell you when the picture was shot or when the audio was recorded," a U.S. intelligence official told Reuters.

U.S. officials have said bin Laden was believed to be in the border region between Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Pakistan.

The intelligence official noted that on the most recent tape, the audio was separate from the video, which did not show bin Laden speaking.

Another U.S. official said the release of tapes was an attempt to "show the flag" to followers.

**mizuno49** · September 10th, 05:26 PM

thanks for the info leper thats quite interesting

**Pink Floyd** · September 10th, 06:09 PM

omg bush iz teh dork i wyuld b a betr prez

**imhungry** · September 11th, 12:43 PM

yea, bush does suck. o well, terrorists shouldn't be able to get out on bail though. he should seriously have rumsfeild and the other dude (name excapes me at the moment) resign if he wants to get re-elected cuz thier plan is failing and no one is happy now

**alias** · September 11th, 12:58 PM

why does bush suck so much id like to some one else do better i doubt any one whould be able to handle this situation the right way.I for one am glad he handles it as well as he is.

but really why does every one hate him so much what did he do to you you make me sick sometimes

rory096 · September 11th, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by imhungry
yea, bush does suck. o well, terrorists shouldn't be able to get out on bail though. he should seriously have rumsfeild and the other dude (name excapes me at the moment) resign if he wants to get re-elected cuz thier plan is failing and no one is happy now

colin powell?

***Austin*** · September 11th, 04:01 PM

I think Bush is doin an awesome job.

**Tedrzz** · September 11th, 05:25 PM

It makes sense to me..

**Spudchucker** · September 11th, 05:45 PM

bush is doing a good job. The economy is bad now, but what everyone fails to see is that hes working for a long term good economy, like most other republicans do. Democrats go for good economy on short term notice, while republicans go for it on long term notice. In like 10 years well have a really strong economy, yet no one is going to remember bush for making it great.

and if someone said remove colin powell, they are nuts. he is by far the best at what he does. Its not often both republicans and democrats both choose the same guy in an office position

fishface313 · September 11th, 05:51 PM

a black president...haha only on 24...lol not being racist or anything but it wont happen untill a long time from now!!!

**Broken Ballz** · September 11th, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by fishface313
a black president...haha only on 24...lol not being racist or anything but it wont happen untill a long time from now!!!

Yea...But if it does happen anytime soon it ill probably be Colin Powell, he is one of the smartest people in our govt today. And ill be voteing for him in the next election.

**imhungry** · September 11th, 08:20 PM

NO NO NO!!! collin powell is GREAT! i love the guy. i am talkin thier iraq plan and the no super weapons crap. rummy and wulfsomething should fall on thier sword if they want nefuture in politics, even i it does get better. i woul vote for colin, and he is a republican, if he ran for pres.

**pballfreek19** · September 11th, 09:35 PM

It's not the president making the descisions. He can say he wants to do something, but he just can't administer that on his own. He has to put it in front of both senate, and the House. It has to pass in both.

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