President Bush is the Most Dangerous Man in this World Who Invents Latest Devices of Mass Destruction Daily, seven years Old Prithu Told me in an Excl

President Bush is the Most Dangerous Man in this World Who Invents Latest Devices of Mass Destruction Daily, seven years Old Prithu Told me in an Exclusive Interview!

Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 71

Palash Biswas

President Bush is the Most Dangerous Man in this World Who Invents Latest Devices of Mass Destruction Daily, seven years Old Prithu Told me in an Exclusive Interview!

We did not meet for long time. Rajiv, my Nainital days friend brought the latest issue of Pahaar for me right from nainital and I was insisting to meet.

On 16th September, 2008, I visited his home in Singhbari near Mukundpur on EM Bypass. Rajiv was still in his office. Meena was busy in the kitchen.
I just decided to chat with the children. Rajiv has two kids.

Golu, who is a standard five student. Tathagat

And Prithu, a standard Three student, just seven years old.

The beginning was very casual. I loved the smart boys and they also love me.

In Meerut, I befriended all the Old men and Ladies in the locality and enjoyed to share their life and experience.

In Kolkata, I have some most respected Old personalities known nationwide as my friends. But now, I am getting old. Now, I enjoy to share the lost childhood with my little friends in my circle.

I have already written about Tatai, a Little boy in my neighbourhood. A little chat with the boy gives me maximum energy to enjoy the rest of the day as well as my workload.

Prithu and Golu received me with their childish warmth and we sat in the drawing room.

I asked Prithu, `Master Prithvijeet Singh, in what class do you read in nowadays’

`Standard Three!’ was the innocent answer.

Naughtily I asked, `just prove it, i don`t believe that you are such a big guy!’

He spoke on the utility of water, a science topic.

I asked him to recite some poem.

He recited.

In the heart of a seed buried deep,so deep!

A dear little plant fast asleep!

Then he informed, `I write poems myself!’

i told him,` I also used to write poems while I was student of class three’.

The boy did not challenge me.

I asked him to recite his poem.

He recited:

One Two Three Puppies gone out

They eat yummy Fish

And say Bow! Wow!

I got the jingle! but I asked him, I don`t understand yummy! What is this!

He answered,`It is tasty as chocolate!’

Meanwhile I was also chatting with Golu. He is growing fast.

Golu challenged me, `Uncle you may not defeat Prithu in any topic. he is very quick to answer any question! Just try!’

I am aware of the growing IQ amongst the 21st century children as they are equipped with Internet and TV channels. We in comparison had never had the access to the Information bank. I am also aware of little Quiz masters! I was ready to get stereotype answers. But the next hour proved to be stunning for even a man emerged in constant source of information like me!
I blundered to ask,` Dear Prithu! just assess Ms Mamata Bannerjee!’

He answered without any pause,` Mamata Bannerjee is the Greatest Striking leader India has ever produced!’

I stumbled. But decided to use a bouncer!

I asked, ` What about dada, Saurabh Ganguli?’

His instant answer was, ` Saurabh Ganguli is a former Cricketer who may come back!’

Amazing! I thought any sports editor would be proud to coin such a explosive exclusive sentence! I was impressed with his punch of spontaneous humour and satire and right choice of diction.

Yes, it is not abnormal. I talk to every child in my sight anywhere.i learn from them. Believe me, it is an infinite source of energy and inspiration. Post modern children seem not confused at any point. They never hesitate to express them in most accurate words. They are not biased.

I got it that Prithu might be one of the lot. But I tried hard to know the mind set of a seven years old kid. And set another fiercest bouncer for him!

I asked, `What do you think about President George Bush?’

The answer stunned me! My God!

He was answering for the rest of the world!

He told quite emphatically,` President Bush is the most dangerous man who invents devices of Mass Destruction daily!’

I surrendered.

`Prithu, let me have an exclusive formal interview!’

Golu asked, `Where would you get it published?”

I told,` I would post it in my Blog! rest of the world should know how you children deal modern social realism and modern times!’

Golu demanded,`Let us have a print of the item’.

I agreed. My friend Rajiv does not use Cell Phone. Though Meena has one. I myself am not habitual of Cell Phones. though I have one and my wife savita receives the calls. We are on the same wave length. but I have Internet and cable connection. Golu and Prithu use Computer and knows about the use of Internet thanks to their schooling! but Rajiv skipped the Net Connection. He also skipped cable. The children have the access to only National Door Darshan Network! later, I came to understand why they favour Nuclear energy with such a positive mindset contrarily to their attitude towards international and national affairs alien to the children of our generation. For us it was never so spontaneous. We never were privileged of quality schooling. We never knew technology. Even newspapers were out of our reach in remote areas as well as in urban or suburban areas!

Rajiv entered and wished me.

I told him, `Just wait! I am busy to get an exclusive interview’.

Rajiv smiled and went into the bathroom.

Prithu demanded,` Uncle! My grand Pa and Grand Ma should have the copy!’

`Why not your parents?’ I wondered.

Prithu answered,` Papa is always busy with his works!’

Golu added,` Mummy is always busy in her kitchen.’

Prithu finished,` but Grand Pa and Grand Ma have all the time in the Universe just for us!’

I know the young couples around me who love to be alone and happy. they deprive their children the proper family environment. They never have any time for the kids. Most of the children have no relations. No Grand Pa. No Grand Ma. it leads to large scale personality disorder and drug addiction. Be Aware!

I agreed to the precondition and the formal interview progressed. Rajiv entered the studies. Meena was still in the Kitchen.

Rajiv just warned Golu, Let the interviewer question! Not you!’

`O.K. Papa,’ he assured.
I asked, `what do you think about Kolakta?’

Prithu: `What is Kolkata?The British just inserted a Victoria memorial right into its heart!’

Golu instantly commented,`Howrah Bridge is also constructed by the British!’

question: Just comment on the visiting Aussies Cricket team!

Prithu: Aussies love Bomb blasts in India. They hate Bomb Blasts in Pakistan. They skipped challenger Trophy. but they are visiting India!

Question: What do you think about our Home Town Nainital?

Prithu: Nainital is a Lovable place without Pollution!

Kolakat is the worst polluted city in India!

Question: Do you like NCERT books?

Prithu: NCERT books are interesting. Not Boring.

Question: Is computer helpful?

Prithu: It is helpful but we have no Net. but computer is also harmful as the children tend to be indulged in video games!

Question: And TV?

Answer: The Government is more concerned for the ladies. TV programmes are made to entertain the ladies. We children have little space.

Question: do you know about Big Bang?

Prithu: I know. big Bang Experiment is Good. We know only four percent of facts about the Universe. Big Bang may unfold unknown mysteries!

Question: And the risks involved?

Prithu: I am not afraid of Astrology. The possibility of Black hole s to be created ,is very remote. It is an imagination, the scientists claim and we believe.

Rajiv Emerged from his study and set a question forgetting his own warning to Golu, `What is Imagination?’

Prithu: The capacity to see beyond!

Question: Internets?

Prithu: Internet is only good to update information about the latest styles of George Bush!

Question: Indo US Nuclear deal?

Answer: It is in national interest. We have to get Nuclear energy to deal with energy crisis!

Question:Dr Manmohan Singh?

Prithu: He is good. clean. He is not Corrupt.

Question: Lalu Prasad Yadav?

Prithu: He is an excellent Railway Minister.

Question: Mrs Pratibha Patil?

Prithu: She is a good President.

Question: Shopping Malls?

Prithu: A market place is better than a shopping mall! We get every item in a shopping mall. But it is a closed enclosure while the market place is wide open!

Question:Osama Bin Laden?

Prithu: Osama Bin Laden is more powerful than United States of America!

Question: War and civil war?

Prithu answered quite philosophically, ` Future is responsible for war and civil War!”
Prithu could not explain his view. He does not understand the strategic affairs neither the strategic alliances. But I got the impression that he might be hinting on the strategy of Future which ignites War and Civil War! For example, Star wars!


Rajiv has been my one of my close friends in Nainital during my college days. His father was the Sub Divisional Magistrate posted in Nainital. Rajiv had been a brilliant student in his student life. He passed intermediate from Pant Nagar Government Inter College. We met after the Pant Nagar Genocide 13th April, 1978. I reported the event in Nainital Samachar with Shekhar Pathak and Girda. The report was republished in dinman edited by Raghubir Sahai. Then, Rajiv was a BSC student in Pant Nagar university. He was involved in dramatic activities in Nainital. Zahoor Alam, DK, Dheeraj, Munnu and Umesh Tiwari Biswas made his friend circle. Suddenly he broke into our group. Bhanu Pratap Singh and Anil Joshi also belonged to Bureaucrat family background and though we were good Friends, we never admitted them in our group. Even some of the Yugmanch actors were known as careerist. We always tried to avoid them.

In those days, Me and Deepti Sundar Mallick shared a room in Bengal Hotel on Mal road. Deepti accompanied me from Dineshpur. We shared our reading experiences during junior classes in Dinesh Pur High school. He was much involved with music. He had his musical troupe in Nainital. Both of us landed in GIC Hostel in Craig land. Where we were ragged very hard. I was targeted mercilessly just for my excellent result from a remote school. We could not bear this. our English teacher, the grand Old man JC Pant, whom we respected most, was the warden of the Hostel.We just came down to plains and complained wildly against our hostel life. My father`s Dhimri Block Comrade, a well respected advocate in Nainital, Harish Dhaundiyal was our local guardian. Ex ministers Dungar Singh Bisht and Pratap Bhaiya were also very affectionate. But we refused to return the Hostel.

My father shifted us in Bengal Hotel. The owner Sadanad Guha Majumdar was my father`s friend. His wife was a sisterly figure for us. We remained there until we passed Intermediate. Kapilesh Bhoj had been in Craig land. We had already become the students of Tara Chandra Tripathi. I was writing in Hindi. My articles were being published since 1973. I had been a regular contributor to the local daily, Dainik Parvatiya. Bhoj and me always shared our creative experience. Meanwhile, Bhoj introduced me to Pawan Rakesh who was also a student in GIC. He was a commerce student. Then, we met Girda. In 1975, Bhoj and me were shifted in the house of Tara Chandra Tripathi at Mohan Niwas just above the Mid Lake Library.

In 1976, we returned to Bengal hotel once again. Now we were B.A. final year students. Emergency was proclaimed. We joined SFI. We were engaged in underground activities and were linked to All India network of Progressive Writers thanks to Sabyasachi, the editor of Uttarardha, published from Mathura. We participated in an all India Writers` underground meeting against emergency in Kota, Rajsthan. Where we met and befriended with Suneet Chopra, now a national leader of CPIM organisation. He was just marred then and was pleading in favour of marriage. Bhoj was in dilemma as his marriage was fixed and he was not yet ready for it.Eventually he got married without informing friends in Nainital. Rakesh leacked the news. Returning from Kota, we met Pradeep Tamta who was also a student in DSB and lived in the Langham House Hostel. he was associated with the Naxalite group in Terai led by MS. While some of our Nainital and Almora friends were linked with Chandrapulla Reddy group.

In Chipko movement, while the students led the mainstream movement since Nainital club Fire in 1978, Gandhian and Sarvodayee faction led by Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Sunder Lal Bahuguna lodged strongest protest against the Violence option we opted for. Uttarakhand Sangharsh Vahini was formed. Raja Bahuguna, now CPIML leader joined us. We were a strongest group fro ever. And we launched a fortnightly mag, Nainital Samchar. We had Yugmach artists led by Zahoor as our best associates and were doing our Kumauni version of experiments with Street Play ranging from Bhartendu, Badal Sarkar to Brecht!

This was the background while Rajiv entered our group as a trespasser. We never allowed him. but he broke in. He had always been very elegant with his intellect. He had aesthetic sense with surgical precison. Very soon, I became a part of the family of SDM, Nainital. The family is still intact even after I left Nainital in 1979. While I was working as a professional journalist, Rajiv got admission in JNU. He left. Then he got admission in Meerut where from he was supposed to complete his Phd. in Sociology. Then he left research work and joined as lecturer in a Bulandshahar college. He was in regular contact with us in those days.suddenly he was absconding. We heard he became an Officer in the tourism department in Kumaun Vikas Mandal. Then the news came, he left for Pune Film Institute. We also got the news when he left the institute and was working as assistant director.

It was perhaps in 1999, while he appeared in Kolakat at my home in Sodepur on a fine morning. We came to know that was a married man now. We met Meena, his wife later.

Rajiv joined film division Kolkata as a director.

One night while I was busy on News desk he appeared in our editorial and informed me that he was making a documentary on Jehanabad genocide culture and I had to accompany him in outdoor shooting. I just refused. i knew nothing of the medium. But we discussed the script in my office, in his office and in his residence with some Vodka. He made the film and got a national prize from the President of India. Next time, he involved me in script writing in his documentary , `Small is Beautiful’. Then I was the Script, Screenplay and dialogue writer in his first feature film, `Vasseyat’,(The Will). We shot the film in Banaras. Rajiv assembled everyone belonging seventies in Nainital. Girda, Zahoor, DK, Neeraj, Idrish and we made a Nainital on the waves of the Ganges in Banars for one full month in December, 2000. Niraml Pandey was also there. He was in a Bollywood film Aanch, being shot there. He spent some time with our unit. Uday Yadav from our friend circle in Allahabad also joined us as Local manager.His kala commune team was working with us. I spent some time with our dear poet Gyanendra Pati also.

next year I was doing a feature film with Joshy Joseph in Manipur.

Imaginary Lines.

But it was very hard to work with Joshy. he is a complete dictator. He always dominated the writer. I disliked it most despite his excellent vision.

Joshy and me decided to join Adoor Gopal Krishnan as assistant directors. Suddenly I got news from Nainital that my father was indisposed. I had to go to Nainital. Death of my father broke my growing relations with the Celluloid.

But it could not break my friendship with Rajiv and Joshy.

I am proud of them.



News Analysis
For the Nominees, New Roles and New Risks
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/us/politics/25assess.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1222351216-dkHZVnSiWlQm59IVlw67qg&oref=slogin
By MICHAEL COOPER
Published: September 24, 2008
Senators John McCain and Barack Obama became the leaders of their respective parties in an entirely new way Wednesday, as Congress looked to them for guidance — and political cover — on the proposed $700 billion rescue of the financial sector, a bailout that many lawmakers fear will prove unpopular even if they think it necessary.

The new role is a risky one for both presidential nominees. It puts them directly on the line over an issue whose politics are mutating almost by the hour, forcing them to balance a sense that the country is angry about the prospect of being stuck with the bill for Wall Street’s excesses against a chance that failure to act quickly could have dire economic consequences.

Whatever the risk, Senators McCain and Obama were all-in by the end of the day Wednesday, having been invited by President Bush to the White House on Thursday to help negotiate a deal that could win enough support from both parties to pass.

The politics are especially complex for Mr. McCain, who took the bigger gamble earlier in the day by assertively claiming a leadership role, saying he would suspend his campaign to help broker a solution and calling on Mr. Obama to postpone their first debate, scheduled for Friday night.

After weeks of increasingly aggressive attacks on Mr. Obama — and no doubt aware of a series of polls suggesting an erosion in his support — Mr. McCain cast himself as willing to set aside partisan politics to do what was right for the country, and challenged Mr. Obama to do the same. But he now also faces the task of rallying support from his own party, which is divided over the rescue and has long viewed him with a degree of wariness.

For days the two candidates had been offering general principles and distancing themselves in similar ways from the proposal that the Bush administration had put on the table. But if their substantive approaches were not very different, their tones were, with Mr. McCain sounding increasingly populist and Mr. Obama more technocratic.

That in turn had stoked the fears of Congressional Republicans. Many worried that they were being asked to go out on a limb for an unpopular incumbent president, only to risk being chastised for doing so by their party’s presidential nominee should he come out against whatever plan was eventually adopted, leaving them exposed to a backlash from voters.

In that sense, Mr. McCain’s move Wednesday was welcome news to Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Democrats in Congress have been more united in their willingness to go along with a plan if they can win most of the concessions they are seeking from the administration. But they, too, looked to their nominee for guidance. Many were reluctant to tie Mr. Obama’s hands by authorizing a lame-duck administration to spend money he hoped to use to expand access to health care, foster research for renewable energy and cut taxes for the middle class.

After Mr. McCain got out ahead of him Wednesday by publicly committing himself to help find a solution, Mr. Obama remained cautious, suggesting that he would not necessarily rush back to Washington or plunge into the negotiations himself. Still, Mr. McCain’s tactic focused attention on the two of them as the political leaders with the most power to get a deal completed.

So after trying to float above the issue, both men found themselves holding perhaps more sway than they would have cared to over the fate of a financial-crisis solution that may offer no good answers, only less bad ones.

Now Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama are each feeling their way in a confused environment where the politics are almost as tangled as the complicated credit default swaps that have snarled the financial sector. The two candidates are being tested in real time, with real consequences, as lawmakers look to them for cues as they seek to balance their impulses to strike populist notes of defiance against the bailout with the need to adopt a solution that may or may not work but that could certainly alienate voters.

“I guess I wouldn’t want to be in either of their shoes,” said Bruce Bartlett, a former Treasury Department economist who has worked for Republican presidents but has been a severe critic of President Bush.

The candidates had been inching forward almost daily toward engaging in the bailout. Mr. McCain struck a negative tone Monday in Scranton, Pa., warning that “we won’t solve a problem caused by poor oversight with a plan that has no oversight.” On Tuesday he continued to press for changes to the proposal, but sounded a more urgent note that something must be done, declaring in Michigan that “further inaction is simply not an option.” By Wednesday afternoon, he had announced that he would suspend his campaign to try to forge consensus on the rescue.

Mr. Obama, too, went from offering broad critiques of the proposal, and general outlines for changes, to calling Mr. McCain on Wednesday with the idea that they could present a united front on the issue, laying out the areas of common ground on a way forward. (Both have called for greater oversight and for assurances that taxpayer dollars not be used to enrich executives, among other provisions.)

Now the question is who will be seen as politicizing the issue, and who will come across as more presidential: Mr. McCain, with his decision to suspend campaigning and his striking call to delay the first of the debates, or Mr. Obama, with his warning that presidents must be able to multitask and that a dramatic return to Washington would “infuse Capitol Hill with presidential politics.”

Thursday, September 25, 2008
WASHINGTON NEWS
Bush Warns "Entire Economy Is In Danger"
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_080925.htmMedia reports are casting President Bush's televised address last night as both a warning to the nation on the severity of the financial crisis and an attempt to push Congress into passing his proposed bailout. A number of the stories remark on Bush's stark warnings about the health of the economy. Roll Call, for example, says Bush "sketched a frightening view of the economic danger," and used "unusually blunt and even dramatic language." The New York Times reports Bush told the country that "'a long and painful recession' could occur if Congress does not act quickly." Like many other media outlets this morning, the Times quotes the President saying, "Our entire economy is in danger." Bush's speech highlighted "a growing sense of urgency on the part of the administration that Congress must act to avert a far-reaching economic collapse." USA Today notes the President also said, "Without immediate action by Congress, America could slip into a financial panic. ... More banks could fail, including some in your community." He also "warned that inaction could cause millions of layoffs, bank failures, business closures, lost retirement savings, more foreclosures, a further drying up of credit." McClatchy, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post run similar reports.

The speech is also seen as a response to critics who accused the President of not having played a lead role in the government's efforts to defuse the crisis. USA Today reports, for example, that Bush faced "criticism from some Democrats for being AWOL in the debate," and the Wall Street Journal says that "until now," the President had "relied largely on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson -- a former Goldman Sachs CEO -- and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to make the case for the plan," but "Republican support has been so soft that Democrats worried they would have to take on most of the responsibility -- and political risk -- for passing the package." And "to spread that risk, Democrats on Tuesday called on Mr. Bush to address the nation."

The Politico describes Paulson as "the captain of a crowded lifeboat" who "struggled to stay afloat in Congress Wednesday, battling the waves crashing in on his Wall Street rescue plan." With his speech, Bush was "lending a hand" and taking "back the helm long enough Wednesday night to deliver a nationally televised address," but "to the surprise of some in his own administration, Bush spent precious political capital by using the speech to try to help McCain by bringing him into what have been delicate negotiations with Congress."

McCain, Obama To Attend White House Talks Today The AP notes Bush "spoke just after inviting Democrat Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain, one of whom will inherit the mess in four months, and key congressional leaders to an extraordinary White House meeting Thursday to hammer out a compromise." In his speech, the President "explicitly endorsed several of the changes that have been demanded in recent days from the right and left. But he warned that he would draw the line at regulations he determined would hamper economic growth." Another AP story and a report in the Los Angeles Times, among other media stories, note both Obama and McCain have said they will attend the meeting.


Deal On Bailout Looming?
Before President Bush's speech last night, ABC World News reported his televised appearance was "not coming a moment too soon, as opposition seems to be growing here in Congress for the legislation that could be the most important of Mr. Bush's presidency." NBC Nightly News said "a lot of Americans and many in Congress seem to be saying today: 'Wait a minute. What's in here, and what's it going to cost all of us?,'" and as a result "the original plan is in trouble. They talked all day in Washington," and "they're still talking tonight."

The CBS Evening News, however, said that "away from the overheated rhetoric, sources say negotiators are moving closer to a deal. The Bush Administration now has signed off on oversight, meaning the treasury secretary will have to answer for how he spends the bailout dollars. And Democrats apparently have won their fight on executive compensation, meaning the salaries and severance of top executives would be somehow capped if their companies unload bad assets on the government." Along similar lines, George Stephanopoulos said on ABC World News that "the Democrats think they are making progress on working towards a deal. The White House is saying the same thing."

The Hill (9/25, Soraghan) reports that "according to a Democratic source," Democrats and Republicans "on key committees are nearing agreement...and will sit down Thursday morning to craft a final bipartisan plan." The aide "said that 'not too many' issues remain unresolved for the 10 a.m. meeting." Roll Call also says "senators on both sides coalesced around a proposal late Wednesday that Members predicted would pass before Wall Street's opening bell on Monday." The Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today also report a deal could be near.

CBO Head: Bailout Could Make Crisis Worse. The Washington Post reports, "The director of the Congressional Budget Office said yesterday that the proposed Wall Street bailout could actually worsen the current financial crisis." Appearing before the House Budget Committee, Peter R. Orszag "said the bailout could expose the way companies are stowing toxic assets on their books, leading to greater problems." Said Orszag, "Ironically, the intervention could even trigger additional failures of large institutions, because some institutions may be carrying troubled assets on their books at inflated values. ... Establishing clearer prices might reveal those institutions to be insolvent." The Financial Times and New York Times also report on Orszag's comments.

Markets Await Outcome Of Bailout Debate ABC World News reported that amid the "uncertainty and the negotiations" on the financial bailout plan, it was "a relatively calm day on Wall Street. The Dow was virtually unchanged, losing just 29 points. That's far less volatile than recent days." The AP notes the Dow now stands at "10,825.17. The decline leaves the Dow down more than 560 points, or about 5 percent, for the week." Yesterday, "the Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 2.35, or 0.20 percent, to 1,185.87, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 2.35, or 0.11 percent, to 2,155.68."

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Offshore Drilling Still Faces Hurdles
Roll Call reports this morning that that despite the Democrats' "stunning reversal" allowing the "offshore drilling moratorium to expire," energy "lobbyists say that...it is just the first of many steps that will be needed before new oil platforms...are actually built and put to use." Companies that seek to drill offshore "face a lengthy regulatory process with the federal government and hurdles within individual states as well. All of that gives plenty of room for green groups to stop the drilling or to use the ban as a bargaining chip in energy legislation negotiations next year."

Opinion Divided On Reason For Record Oil Spike. The Wall Street Journal reports, "As theories swirl around Monday's unprecedented jump in oil futures," US "officials suggested that a financial trader was responsible, though market participants suspect an oil producer might have been caught in dire need of extra barrels." The Journal adds, "U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman doused suggestions that an oil company or other commercial-industry participant with a need for crude oil for delivery next month entered the Nymex futures market to secure it." However, "several analysts contended that the wild trading...reflected an oil company that suddenly found itself short crude oil after hurricanes Gustav and Ike shut down most production in the Gulf of Mexico and barrels at the main delivery point for Nymex crude had dwindled."


House To Investigate Rangel.
The CBS Evening News reported last night the House "plans to investigate one of its own, New York Congressman Charles Rangel. He's come under fire for, among other things, failure to pay taxes on a luxury villa he owns in the Dominican Republic." The New York Democrat "has rejected calls that he step down as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee." Roll Call notes the House ethics committee voted yesterday "to establish an investigative subcommittee to examine a multitude of allegations that" Rangel "violated the chamber's rules." According to a statement issued by the committee, "the four-member subcommittee will examine Rangel's ownership of a Dominican Republic villa, living arrangements, use of House parking facilities and fundraising efforts on behalf of a City College of New York center bearing his name."

The Hill interviewed Rangel, who likened "the ethics controversy swirling around him to being in a hospital bed," saying, "Everyone's coming to see you, but you wish you weren't in the hospital." The Hill adds "it is clear that Rangel, the amicable 78-year-old serving in his 19th term, is not pleased with how House Republican leaders and the press have treated him." Rangel "said about a dozen Republicans privately apologized to him for voting with" Minority Leader John Boehner to investigate him, "saying they were under political pressure. Asked if Boehner privately apologized to him, Rangel said, 'Hell, no!,'" adding that "Boehner is 'insecure' in his leadership post."


Latest House Spending Bill Loaded With 2322 Earmarks.
ABC World News reported last night, "Under pressure of an October 1st deadline to pass a new budget, the House today followed what has become a tradition of late and punted. Instead of passing separate appropriations bills to fund each department of government as the Congress is supposed to do, the House instead passed a giant $630 billion omnibus spending bill which will fund the government for six months instead of the full fiscal year." Roll Call notes that the continuing resolution passed "without a single challenge to the thousands of earmarks worth billions of dollars, infuriating government watchdogs and fiscal hawks who thought changes made this Congress would stem the earmark tide." Roll Call adds that President Bush "had threatened to veto bills that didn't reduce earmarks by half but caved in negotiations with lawmakers." Taxpayers for Common Sense "counted 2,322 earmarks worth $6.6 billion."

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Top

CAMPAIGN NEWS
McCain Suspends Campaign, Seeks To Delay Friday's Debate.
Coverage of Sen. John McCain's announcement that he is suspending his campaign immediately, and is not likely to participate in Friday's scheduled first debate with Sen. Barack Obama, led all three network news broadcasts last night and dominated cable news programming both before and after the President's address. ABC World News reported that McCain "said he would suspend campaigning, no speeches, no fund-raising, no commercials, and go back to Washington to help solve the economic crisis." According to NBC Nightly News, McCain aides say he "made his decision to freeze his own political schedule mid-morning. That came after meeting with economic advisers and after phoning a number of members of Congress. Advisers said that included Hillary Clinton." The CBS Evening News said McCain "says he made that dramatic decision after becoming convinced the Administration's Wall Street bailout plan had almost no chance of passage, thereby imperiling the economy. ... The goal, McCain said, is to reach agreement before the stock market opens on Monday."

The networks presented McCain's decision straightforwardly, with little political analysis or speculation as to ulterior motives. On the other hand, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and Chris Mathews repeatedly posited last night that McCain was forced to "reset" his campaign due to "deteriorating" poll numbers. This morning's papers echo that theme, with the New York Times contending in a front-page article that McCain "made his decision to try to delay the debate as he has been struggling to find his political footing on the financial crisis and a number of recent polls showed that more Americans trust Mr. Obama to handle the economy than Mr. McCain." The Washington Post's Harold Meyerson and the New York Times' Gail Collins also take up this theme in their columns today.

A major theme in the news coverage is the notion that McCain is taking a major gamble with his campaign. The Washington Post, in a front-page article titled, "Selfless Or Reckless? McCain Gambles On Voters' Verdict," says McCain "is a gambler by nature, and the bet he placed Wednesday may be among the biggest of his political life." According to the Wall Street Journal, "The dramatic gestures were in keeping with a career with many such moments. As in the past, it was both high risk and high reward. It draws attention to him at a time when Democrats stand to benefit from economic turmoil and helps him recast the question as one of leadership, where he is viewed positively. But he risks coming off as exploiting a very real problem for political gain." The Politico, in an article titled, "McCain Plan A 'Stunt' Or 'Smart Move,'" says "opinion often broke sharply along partisan lines. ... But several observers said they thought McCain's move bolstered his leadership credentials and demonstrated a willingness to put national interest ahead of partisan politics."


Obama To Attend Debate With Or Without McCain
ABC World News reported that Sen. John McCain "called for a delay in Friday's first presidential debate. Barack Obama was having none of that, saying the new president will have to deal with more than one thing at once and he said he'll be at the debate." ABC added that yesterday afternoon, the bipartisan commission on presidential debates released a statement "saying that it is moving forward with its plans for Friday night's debate at the University in Oxford, Mississippi." The CBS Evening News said Sen. Obama "did not take the bait." Fox News' Special Report added that Obama "will continue all of this campaigning activities, including preparing for the debate, running commercials" and "raising money."

There does appear to be a chance the debate will feature both candidates. Sen. Lindsey Graham, McCain's representative in debate negotiations, told the AP that McCain "will not attend the debate unless there is agreement on a solution that is publicly endorsed by Obama, McCain, the White House and congressional leaders." On MSNBC last night, former GOP strategist Mike Murphy predicted that Sen. McCain will end up participating Friday night.

Obama Reportedly Surprised By McCain's Announcement NBC Nightly News said that McCain's move "came as a shock" to Obama. The New York Times adds that Obama "said that he and Mr. McCain had spoken for about five minutes by telephone on Wednesday afternoon, but during that conversation he said he was not left with the impression that Mr. McCain planned to skip the debate."


Obama Tops McCain In Most National Polls.
Even as the country's attention focuses on the financial crisis, an issue many analysts believe helps Sen. Obama, most polls suggest the issue â?? at least for now â?? may not be giving the Illinois senator much of a boost. One polls shows a larger lead -- a Fox News poll of 900 registered voters conducted September 22-23 shows Sen. Barack Obama leading 45%-39% -- but the rest show a tighter race.

A Los Angeles Times /Bloomberg News poll of 1,287 registered voters, including 838 likely voters, taken September 19-22 shows Obama leading McCain 46%-44% among registered voters and 49%-45% among likely voters.

An NBC Nightly News /Wall Street Journal poll of 1,085 registered voters taken September 19-22 shows Obama leading McCain 46%-45%.

The Gallup daily presidential tracking poll of 2,712 registered voters taken September 21-23 shows Obama leading McCain 47%-44%.

The Rasmussen Reports automated daily presidential tracking poll for September 24 shows Obama leading McCain 48%-46%.

The Battleground tracking poll shows McCain leading Obama 48%-46%. The survey of 800 likely voters was conducted over September 17-18, and 21-23.

A Zogby Interactive online poll of 2,331 likely voters taken September 19-20 shows Obama leading McCain 47%-44%.


Obama Said To Be "Breaking Open" Contest At State Level
The Politico reports that "state by state," Sen. Barack Obama "is showing signs of breaking open a presidential race that looked deadlocked through much of September."

Obama Up In 3 Colorado Surveys A Rasmussen Reports automated poll of 700 likely Colorado voters taken September 23 shows Obama leading McCain 50%-47%. An Insider Advantage /Poll Position poll of 505 likely Colorado voters taken September 23 shows Obama leading McCain 50%-41%. A TIME /CNN poll of 932 registered Colorado voters, including 794 likely voters, taken September 21-23 shows Obama leads 51%-45% among registered voters and 51%-47% among likely voters.

Obama Up In Pair Of Pennsylvania Polls A TIME /CNN poll of 920 registered Pennsylvania voters, including 730 likely voters, taken September 21-23 shows Obama leading McCain 52%-43% among registered voters and 53%-44% among likely voters. A Strategic Vision (R) poll of 1,200 likely Pennsylvania voters taken September 20-22 shows Obama leading McCain 47%-46%.

McCain Up 3 In Florida A Strategic Vision (R) poll of 1,200 likely Florida voters taken September 20-22 shows McCain leading Obama 48%-45%.

Polls Conflict In New Hampshire A Marist poll of 763 New Hampshire Registered Voters taken September 17-21 shows Obama leading McCain 48%-45% among registered voters and 51%-45% among likely voters. However, a Rasmussen Reports automated poll of 700 likely New Hampshire voters taken September 23 shows McCain leading Obama 49%-47%.

Obama Holds Significant Lead In Iowa A Marist poll of 714 Iowa Registered Voters taken September 18-21 shows Obama leading McCain 46%-41% among registered voters and 51%-41% among likely voters.

Obama Leads In Michigan A TIME /CNN poll of 966 registered Michigan voters, including 765 likely voters, taken September 21-23 shows Obama leads McCain 51%-44% among registered voters and 51%-46% among likely voters.

McCain Holds Double-Digit Lead In Montana A TIME /CNN poll of 903 registered Montana voters, including 737 likely voters, taken September 21-23 shows McCain leading 54%-43% among likely voters.

McCain Up 4 In West Virginia A TIME /CNN poll of 876 registered West Virginia voters, including 694 likely voters, taken September 21-23 shows McCain leading Obama 50%-46% among likely voters.

McCain Holds Edge In Battleground States An NPR/Greenberg (D) poll of 800 likely voters in battleground states (Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin) shows McCain leading Obama 46%-44%. In addition, 49% expect Obama to do better in the debate, while 34% expect McCain to do better.


Palin Meets Key Foreign Leaders
The AP reports Gov. Sarah Palin spent another day meeting with world leaders "as part of an effort by" the McCain campaign "to counter criticism that the former small-town mayor lacks the experience to be vice president, let alone president in an emergency." Palin met with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and jointly with Sen. John McCain, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko. According to the Financial Times, Palin "was in listening mode but not in talking mode."

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George W. Bush
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For other persons of the same name, see George Bush.
George Walker Bush


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

43rd President of the United States
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 20, 2001
Vice President Dick Cheney
Preceded by Bill Clinton

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46th Governor of Texas
In office
January 17, 1995 – December 21, 2000
Lieutenant Bob Bullock (1995 – 1999)
Rick Perry (1999 – 2000)
Preceded by Ann Richards
Succeeded by Rick Perry

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Born July 6, 1946 (1946-07-06) (age 62)
New Haven, Connecticut
Nationality American
Political party Republican
Spouse Laura Bush
Children Barbara Pierce Bush and Jenna Welch Hager
Residence White House (official)
Crawford, Texas (private)
Alma mater Yale University
Harvard Business School
Occupation Businessman (oil, baseball)
Religion United Methodist[1][2]
Signature
Website The White House
Military service
Service/branch Texas Air National Guard
Alabama Air National Guard
Years of service 1968 – 1973
Rank First Lieutenant
George Walker Bush (/'d???d? 'w?k? 'b??/ (help·info); born July 6, 1946) is the forty-third and current President of the United States. He served as the forty-sixth Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being sworn in as President on January 20, 2001. His current term will end at noon (ET) on January 20, 2009.[3]

Bush is the eldest son of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush. After graduating from Yale University, Bush worked in his family's oil businesses. Shortly after marrying his wife, Laura, he unsuccessfully ran for the United States House of Representatives in 1978. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team before defeating Ann Richards to become Governor of Texas in 1994. In a close and controversial election, Bush was elected to the Presidency in 2000 as the Republican candidate, receiving a majority of the electoral votes but narrowly losing the popular vote.

As President, Bush's main policies have largely focused on foreign policy and the economy. He has enacted large tax cuts, the No Child Left Behind Act,[4] and his tenure has seen a national debate on immigration. [5] After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks Bush initiated the global War on Terrorism; this included an invasion of Afghanistan that same year. The Bush Administration introduced the Bush Doctrine and in March 2003, the invasion of Iraq was begun.

Bush ran for re-election against the Democratic Party's nominee, Senator John Kerry, in 2004. Though Kerry debated Bush's handling of the Iraq War and domestic issues,[6] Bush was re-elected on November 2, garnering 50.7% of the popular vote to his opponent's 48.3%.[7]

After his re-election, Bush received increasingly heated criticism.[8][9][10] During his two terms he has had nearly the highest and the lowest domestic Gallup poll approval ratings of American Presidents, ranging from around 90% immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks, to 28% in June 2008.[11][12]

Contents [hide]
1 Childhood to mid-life
1.1 Texas Air National Guard
2 Marriage and family
3 Early career
4 Governor of Texas
5 Presidential campaigns
5.1 2000 Presidential candidacy
5.1.1 Primary
5.1.2 General election
5.2 2004 Presidential candidacy
6 Presidency
6.1 Domestic policy
6.1.1 Economic policy
6.1.2 Education and health
6.1.3 Social services and Social Security
6.1.4 Environmental and energy policies
6.1.5 Stem cell research and first use of veto power
6.1.6 Immigration
6.1.7 Civil liberties and terrorist detainees
6.1.8 Hurricane Katrina
6.1.9 Midterm dismissal of U.S. attorneys
6.1.10 Public views and perception
6.2 Foreign policy
6.2.1 September 11, 2001
6.2.2 War on Terrorism
6.2.3 Afghanistan
6.2.4 Iraq
6.2.5 North Korea
6.2.6 Syria
6.2.7 Foreign perceptions
6.2.8 Grenade attack
6.2.9 Other matters
6.3 Supreme Court appointments
7 See also
8 References
9 External links



Childhood to mid-life
Main articles: Early life of George W. Bush and Professional life of George W. Bush
There is no question that George W. Bush is one of the most controversial public figures in recent memory. Born in New Haven, Connecticut on July 6, 1946, Bush was the first child of George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush (born Pierce). He was raised in Midland and Houston, Texas, with his four siblings, Jeb, Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy. Another younger sister, Robin, died from leukemia at the age of three in 1953.[13] Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush, was a Senator from Connecticut, and his father served as U.S. President from 1989 to 1993.

During his 2000 presidential campaign, Vanity Fair magazine and The New York Times reported that Bush, as a child, was not accepted for admission by St. John's School in Houston, Texas, a prestigious private school.[14] In the two years following, Bush attended The Kinkaid School, the private school from which St. John's had broken away.[14] Ironically, Bush, then the Governor of Texas, served as the commencement speaker at St. John's Academy in 1995.[15]

Bush attended the all-boys school Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where he played baseball and during his senior year was the head cheerleader.[16][17] Following in his father's footsteps, Bush attended Yale University, where he received a Bachelor's degree in history in 1968.[18] As a college senior, Bush became a member of the secretive Skull and Bones society. By his own characterization, he was an average student.[19]


Texas Air National Guard

Lt. George W. Bush while in the Texas Air National GuardIn May 1968, Bush was accepted into the Texas Air National Guard, after scoring the lowest acceptable passing grade on the pilot's written aptitude test.[20][21][22] After training, he was assigned to duty in Houston, flying Convair F-102s out of Ellington Air Force Base.[23] Critics allege Bush was favorably treated because of his father's political standing, citing his lack of combat service and his irregular attendance.[24] The United States Department of Defense released all the records of Bush's Texas Air National Guard service, which remain in its official archives.[21] Although not accepted to the University of Texas School of Law in 1970,[25] he accepted a transfer to the Alabama Air National Guard in 1972 to work on a Republican senate campaign, and in October 1973 he was discharged from the Texas Air National Guard. Bush then attended Harvard University, where he earned his MBA,[26] and completed his six-year service obligation in the inactive reserve.[27]

During this time Bush had multiple accounts of alcohol abuse.[28] In one instance, Bush was arrested near his family's summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine for driving under the influence of alcohol at the age of thirty on September 4, 1976. He pleaded guilty, was fined US$150, and had his Maine driver's license suspended until 1978.[29] Soon after, Bush entered the oil industry in Texas.


Marriage and family
Further information: Bush family

George and Laura Bush with their daughters Jenna and Barbara, 1990In 1977, he was introduced by friends at a backyard barbecue to Laura Welch, a schoolteacher and librarian. Bush proposed to her after a three-month courtship and they were married on November 5 of that year.[30] The couple settled in Midland, Texas. Bush left his family's Episcopal Church to join his wife's United Methodist Church.[1] In 1981, Laura Bush gave birth to twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara;[30] they graduated from high school in 2000 and from the University of Texas at Austin and Yale University, respectively, in 2004.

Bush gave up alcohol in 1986 and credits his decision to stop drinking to his wife.[31] She is also credited with establishing a stabilizing effect on his private life.[30] While Governor of Texas, Bush said of his wife, "I saw an elegant beautiful woman who turned out not only to be elegant and beautiful, but very smart and willing to put up with my rough edges, and I must confess has smoothed them off over time."[30]


Early career
In 1978, Bush ran for the House of Representatives from Texas's 19th congressional district. His opponent, Kent Hance, portrayed him as being out of touch with rural Texans; Bush lost the election by 6,000 votes.[32] He returned to the oil industry, and began a series of small, independent oil exploration companies.[33] He created Arbusto Energy,[34] and later changed the name to Bush Exploration. In 1984, his company merged with the larger Spectrum 7, and Bush became chairman.[33] The company was hurt by a decline in oil prices, and as a result, it folded into Harken Energy.[33][35] Bush served on the board of directors for Harken.[33] Questions of possible insider trading involving Harken have arisen, though the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) investigation of Bush concluded that he did not have enough insider information before his stock sale to warrant a case.[33][36]

Bush moved his family to Washington, D.C. in 1988 to work on his father's campaign for the U.S. presidency.[37][38] He worked as a campaign adviser and served as liaison to the media;[33] he assisted his father by campaigning across the country.[33] Returning to Texas after the successful campaign, he purchased a share in the Texas Rangers baseball franchise in April 1989, where he served as managing general partner for five years.[39] He actively led the team's projects and regularly attended its games, often choosing to sit in the open stands with fans.[40] The sale of Bush's shares in the Rangers in 1998 brought him over US$15 million from his initial US$800,000 investment.[41]


Governor of Texas
Main article: George W. Bush as Governor of Texas

Governor Bush with wife, Laura, and father, former President George H. W. Bush at the dedication of the George Bush Presidential Library, November 1997As Bush's brother, Jeb, sought the governorship of Florida, Bush declared his candidacy for the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election. Winning the Republican primary easily, Bush faced popular Democrat incumbent Governor Ann Richards. His campaign focused on four themes: welfare reform, tort reform, crime reduction, and education improvement.[33] Bush's campaign advisers were Karen Hughes, Joe Allbaugh, and Karl Rove.

Richards vetoed a bill allowing Texans to obtain permits to carry concealed weapons. Bush pledged to sign it (he did so after he became governor).[42] Following his debates with Richards, his popularity grew; he won the general election with 52 percent against Richards' 47 percent.[43]

Bush used a budget surplus to push through Texas's largest tax-cut of two billion dollars.[43] He extended government funding for organizations providing education, alcohol and drug use and abuse prevention, and reduction of domestic violence, so long as those organizations are religious. He proclaimed June 10, 2000 to be Jesus Day in Texas, a day on which he "urge[d] all Texans to answer the call to serve those in need."[44]

In 1998, Bush won re-election with a record[33] 69 percent of the vote.[45] He became the first governor in Texas history to be elected to two consecutive four-year terms.[33] In his second term, Bush promoted faith-based organizations and enjoyed high approval ratings.[33] Critics contended that during his tenure, Texas ranked near the bottom in environmental evaluations, but supporters pointed to his efforts to raise the salaries of teachers and improved educational test scores.[33]

Throughout Bush's first term, national attention focused on him as a potential future presidential candidate. Following his re-election, speculation soared.[33] Within a year, he had decided to seek the Republican nomination for the presidency.


Presidential campaigns

2000 Presidential candidacy
Main article: United States presidential election, 2000

Primary
In June 1999, while Governor of Texas, Bush announced his candidacy for President of the United States. With no incumbent running, Bush entered a large field of candidates for the Republican Party presidential nomination including Elizabeth Dole, John McCain, Steve Forbes, Dan Quayle, Pat Buchanan, Lamar Alexander, and others.

Bush portrayed himself as a compassionate conservative. He campaigned on a platform that included increasing the size of the United States Armed Forces, cut taxes, improve education, and aid minorities.[33] By early 2000, the race had centered on Bush and McCain.[33]

Bush won the Iowa caucuses, and although he was heavily favored to win the New Hampshire primary, he trailed John McCain by 19% and lost that primary.[46] However, the Bush campaign regained momentum and, according to political observers, effectively became the front runner after the South Carolina primary.[47] The South Carolina campaign was controversial for the use of telephone poll questions phrased negatively toward McCain.[46]


General election
On July 25, 2000, Bush surprised some observers by asking the Halliburton corporation's chief executive officer Dick Cheney, a former White House Chief of Staff, U.S. Representative, and Secretary of Defense, to be his running mate. Cheney was then serving as head of Bush's Vice-Presidential search committee. Soon after, he was officially nominated by the Republican Party at the 2000 Republican National Convention.

Bush continued to campaign across the country, and touted his record as Governor of Texas.[33] Bush's campaign criticized his Democratic opponent, incumbent Vice President Al Gore, over gun control and taxation.[48]

As the election returns came in on November 7, Bush won twenty-nine states including Florida. The closeness of the Florida outcome led to a recount.[33] Two initial counts went to Bush, but the outcome was tied up in courts for a month until reaching the U.S. Supreme Court. On December 9, in the Bush v. Gore case, the Court reversed a Florida Supreme Court ruling ordering a third count, and stopped an ordered statewide hand recount based on the argument that the use of different standards among Florida's counties violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.[33] The machine recount stated that Bush had won the Florida vote by a margin of 537 votes out of six million cast.[49] Bush received 271 electoral votes to Gore's 266.[50] However, he lost the popular vote by more than half a million votes,[49] making him one of three Presidents elected without receiving a plurality of the popular vote.




2004 Presidential candidacy
Main article: United States presidential election, 2004

George W. Bush speaks at a campaign rally in 2004.Bush commanded broad support in the Republican Party and did not encounter a primary challenge. He appointed Kenneth Mehlman as campaign manager, with a political strategy devised by Karl Rove.[51] Bush and the Republican platform included a strong commitment to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,[52] support for the USA PATRIOT Act,[53] constitutional amendments banning abortion and same-sex marriage,[52] reforming Social Security to create private investment accounts,[52] creation of an ownership society,[52] mandatory carbon emissions controls,[54] and the implementation of a temporary guest-worker program on immigration[52] (though this was criticized by conservatives).[55]

The Bush campaign advertised across the U.S. against Democratic candidates, including Bush's emerging opponent, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. Kerry and other Democrats attacked Bush on the war in Iraq, perceived excesses of the USA PATRIOT Act and for allegedly failing to stimulate the economy and job growth. The Bush campaign portrayed Kerry as a staunch liberal who would raise taxes and increase the size of government. The Bush campaign continuously criticized Kerry's seemingly contradictory statements on the war in Iraq,[33] and claimed Kerry lacked the decisiveness and vision necessary for success in the war on terrorism.

Bush carried thirty-one of fifty states for a total of 286 Electoral College votes. He won an absolute majority of the popular vote (50.7% to his opponent's 48.3%).[56] The last president to win an absolute majority of the popular vote had been Bush's father in the 1988 election. In addition, it was the first time since Herbert Hoover's election in 1928 that a Republican president was elected alongside re-elected Republican congressional majorities in both houses. Bush's 2.5% margin of victory was the narrowest for a victorious incumbent President up for re-election since Woodrow Wilson's 3.1% margin of victory against Charles Evans Hughes in 1916.


Presidency
Main articles: Presidency of George W. Bush, George W. Bush's first term as President of the United States, George W. Bush's second term as President of the United States, and George W. Bush Cabinet
The Bush Cabinet
Office Name Term

President George W. Bush 2001–present
Vice President Dick Cheney 2001–present

Secretary of State Colin Powell 2001–2005
Condoleezza Rice 2005–present

Secretary of Treasury Paul O'Neill 2001–2002
John Snow 2003–2006
Henry Paulson 2006–present

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld 2001–2006
Robert Gates 2006–present

Attorney General John Ashcroft 2001–2005
Alberto Gonzales 2005–2007
Michael Mukasey 2007–present

Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton 2001–2006
Dirk Kempthorne 2006–present

Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman 2001–2005
Mike Johanns 2005–2007
Ed Schafer 2008–present

Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans 2001–2005
Carlos Gutierrez 2005–present

Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao 2001–present

Secretary of Health and
Human Services Tommy Thompson 2001–2005
Michael Leavitt 2005–present

Secretary of Education Rod Paige 2001–2005
Margaret Spellings 2005–present

Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development Mel Martinez 2001–2003
Alphonso Jackson 2003–2008
Steve Preston 2008–present

Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta 2001–2006
Mary Peters 2006–present

Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham 2001–2005
Samuel Bodman 2005–present

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi 2001–2005
Jim Nicholson 2005–2007
James Peake 2007–present

Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge 2003–2005
Michael Chertoff 2005–present

Chief of Staff Andrew Card 2001–2006
Joshua Bolten 2006–present

Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency Christine Todd Whitman 2001–2003
Michael Leavitt 2003–2005
Stephen Johnson 2005–present

Director of the Office of
Management and Budget Mitch Daniels 2001–2003
Joshua Bolten 2003–2006
Rob Portman 2006–2007
Jim Nussle 2007–present

Director of the Office of
National Drug Control Policy John Walters 2001–present

United States Trade Representative Robert Zoellick 2001–2005
Rob Portman 2005–2006
Susan Schwab 2006–present

Domestic policy
Main article: Domestic policy of the George W. Bush administration

Economic policy
Main article: Economic policy of the George W. Bush administration
Facing opposition in the Congress, Bush held town hall-style public meetings across the U.S. in 2001 to increase public support for his plan for a US$1.35 trillion tax cut program—one of the largest tax cuts in U.S. history.[33] Bush argued that unspent government funds should be returned to taxpayers, saying "the surplus is not the government’s money. The surplus is the people’s money."[33] With reports of the threat of recession from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, Bush argued that such a tax cut would stimulate the economy and create jobs.[57] Others, including the Treasury Secretary at the time Paul O'Neill, were opposed to some of the tax cuts on the basis that they would contribute to budget deficits and undermine Social Security.[58] By 2003, the economy showed signs of improvement.[33]

Under the Bush Administration, real GDP has grown at an average annual rate of 2.5 percent,[59] considerably below the average for business cycles from 1949 to 2000.[60][61] The Dow Jones Industrial Average has grown by about 30 percent since January 2001[62] and stock market indexes have risen.[33] Unemployment originally rose from 4.2 percent in January 2001 to 6.3 percent in June 2003, but subsequently dropped to 4.5 percent as of July 2007.[63] Inflation-adjusted median household income has been flat while the nation's poverty rate has increased.[64] By August 2007, due to increases in domestic and foreign spending,[65] the national debt had risen to US$8.98 trillion dollars, an increase of over 70% from the start of the year 2000 when the debt was US$5.6 trillion.[66][67] The perception of President Bush's effect on the economy is significantly affected by partisanship with 67% of Republicans and 1% of Democrats approving of his performance.[68]

The United States entered 2008 during shaky economic times, consisting of a housing market correction, a subprime mortgage crisis and a declining dollar value.[69] In February, 63,000 jobs were lost, a 5-year record.[70] Many observers believed that a U.S. recession had begun.[71] To aid with the situation, Bush signed a US$170 billion economic stimulus package which aimed to improve the economic situation by sending tax rebate checks to many Americans and providing tax breaks for struggling businesses.[33] In September the economic crisis worsened, and President Bush proposed a financial rescue plan to buy back a large portion of the U.S. mortgage market.


Education and health
Since entering office, President Bush has undertaken a number of educational priorities. He increased funding for the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health in his first years of office, and created education programs to strengthen the grounding in science and mathematics for American high school students. Funding for the NIH was cut in 2006, the first such cut in 36 years, due to rising inflation.[72]


Bush signs the No Child Left Behind Act into law, January 2002One of the administration's early major initiatives was the "No Child Left Behind Act", which aimed to measure and close the gap between rich and poor student performance, provide options to parents with students in low-performing schools, and target more federal funding to low-income schools. This landmark education initiative was signed into law by President Bush in early 2002.[73] Many contend that the initiative has been successful, as cited by the fact that students in the U.S. have performed significantly better on state reading and math tests since Bush signed "No Child Left Behind" into law.[74] Critics argue that it is underfunded[75] and that NCLBA's focus on "high stakes testing" and quantitative outcomes is counterproductive.[76]

After being re-elected, Bush signed into law a Medicare drug benefit program that, according to Jan Crawford Greenburg, resulted in "the greatest expansion in America's welfare state in forty years;" the bill's costs approached $7 trillion.[77] In 2007, Bush opposed and vetoed State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) legislation, which was added by the Democrats onto a war funding bill and passed by Congress. The SCHIP legislation would have significantly expanded federally-funded health care benefits and plans to children of some low-income families from about 6 million to 10 million children. It was to be funded by an increase in the cigarette tax.[78][dead link] Bush viewed the legislation as a move toward the liberal platform of socialized health care, and claimed that the program could benefit families making as much as US$83,000 per year who would not have otherwise needed the help.[79]


Social services and Social Security
Following Republican efforts to pass the Medicare Act of 2003, Bush signed the bill, which included major changes to the Medicare program by providing beneficiaries with some assistance in paying for prescription drugs, while relying on private insurance for the delivery of benefits.[80] The retired persons lobby group AARP worked with the Bush Administration on the program and gave their endorsement. Bush said the law, estimated to cost US$400 billion over the first 10 years, would give the elderly "better choices and more control over their health care".[81]


President Bush speaks at the United States Coast Guard Academy commencement, May 2007Bush began his second term by outlining a major initiative to reform Social Security,[82] which was facing record deficit projections beginning in 2005. Bush made it the centerpiece of his domestic agenda despite opposition from some in the U.S. Congress.[82] In his 2005 State of the Union Address, Bush discussed the potential impending bankruptcy of the program and outlined his new program, which included partial privitization of the system,[82] personal Social Security accounts,[82] and options to permit Americans to divert a portion of their Social Security tax (FICA) into secured investments. Despite emphasizing safeguards and remaining open to other plans, Democrats opposed the proposal to partially privatize the system.[82]

Bush embarked on a 60-day national tour, campaigning vigorously for his initiative in media events, known as the "Conversations on Social Security", in an attempt to gain support from the general public.[83] Despite the energetic campaign, public support for the proposal declined[84] and the House Republican leadership decided not to put Social Security reform on the priority list for the remainder of their 2005 legislative agenda.[85] The proposal's legislative prospects were further diminished by the political fallout from the Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005.[86] After the Democrats gained control of both houses of the Congress as a result of the 2006 mid-term elections, the prospects of any further congressional action on the Bush proposal appeared to be dead for the remainder of his term in office.


Environmental and energy policies
Main article: Domestic policy of the George W. Bush administration#Environment
Upon arriving in office in 2001, Bush stated his opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, an amendment to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change which seeks to impose mandatory targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, citing that the treaty exempted 80 percent of the world's population[87] and would have cost tens of billions of dollars per year.[88] He also cited that the Senate had voted 95–0 in 1997 on a resolution expressing its disapproval of the protocol.

In 2002, Bush announced the Clear Skies Initiative,[89] aimed at amending the Clean Air Act to reduce air pollution through the use of emissions trading programs. It was argued, however, that this legislation would have weakened the original legislation by allowing higher levels of pollutants than were permitted at that time.[90] The initiative was introduced to Congress, but failed to make it out of committee.


President George W. Bush with Vice President Dick Cheney addressing the media at the State Department, August 14, 2006President Bush believes that global warming is real[91] and has noted that global warming is a serious problem, but he asserted there is a "debate over whether it's manmade or naturally caused".[92] The Bush Administration's stance on global warming has remained controversial in the scientific and environmental communities. Many accusations have been made against the administration[93] for allegedly misinforming the public and not having done enough to reduce carbon emissions and deter global warming.[94] During his 2008 State of the Union Address, however, Bush announced that the U.S. would commit US$2 billion over the next three years towards a new international fund to promote clean energy technologies and fight climate change, saying, "along with contributions from other countries, this fund will increase and accelerate the deployment of all forms of cleaner, more efficient technologies in developing nations like India and China, and help leverage substantial private-sector capital by making clean energy projects more financially attractive." He has also announced plans to reaffirm the United States' commitment to work with major economies, and, through the United Nations, to complete an international agreement that will slow, stop, and eventually reverse the growth of greenhouse gases; he stated, "this agreement will be effective only if it includes commitments by every major economy and gives none a free ride."[95]

Previously, in his 2007 State of the Union Address, Bush renewed his pledge to work toward diminished reliance on foreign oil by reducing fossil fuel consumption and increasing alternative fuel production.[96] Admist high gas prices in 2008, Bush lifted a ban on offshore drilling.[97] The move was largely symbolic, however, as there is still a federal law banning offshore drilling. Bush said, "This means that the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil reserves is action from the U.S. Congress."[97] Bush had said in June 2008, "In the long run, the solution is to reduce demand for oil by promoting alternative energy technologies. My administration has worked with Congress to invest in gas-saving technologies like advanced batteries and hydrogen fuel cells... In the short run, the American economy will continue to rely largely on oil. And that means we need to increase supply, especially here at home. So my administration has repeatedly called on Congress to expand domestic oil production."[98]

In 2006 Bush declared the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a national monument, creating the largest marine reserve to date. The Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument comprises 84 million acres (340,000 km²) and is home to 7,000 species of fish, birds and other marine animals, many of which are specific to only those islands.[99] The move was hailed by conservationists for "its foresight and leadership in protecting this incredible area."[100]


Stem cell research and first use of veto power
Federal funding for medical research involving the creation or destruction of human embryos through the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health has been forbidden by law since the Republican Revolution of 1995.[101] Bush has said that he supports stem cell research, but only to the extent that human embryos are not destroyed in order to harvest additional cells.[102] On August 9, 2001, Bush signed an executive order lifting the ban on federal funding for the 71 existing "lines" of stem cells,[103] but the ability of these existing lines to provide an adequate medium for testing has been questioned. Testing can only be done on twelve of the original lines, and all of the approved lines have been cultured in contact with mouse cells, which makes it unlikely the FDA would approve them for administration to humans.[104] On July 19, 2006, Bush used his veto power for the first time in his presidency to veto the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act. The bill would have repealed the Dickey Amendment, thereby permitting federal money to be used for research where stem cells are derived from the destruction of an embryo.[105]


Immigration

President Bush discusses border security near the El Paso, Texas, United States-Mexico border, November 2005In 2006, going beyond calls from conservatives to secure the border, Bush demanded that Congress allow more than twelve million illegal immigrants to work in the United States with the creation of a "temporary guest-worker program." Bush does not support amnesty for illegal immigrants,[106] but argues that the lack of legal status denies the protections of U.S. laws to millions of people who face dangers of poverty and exploitation, and penalizes employers despite a demand for immigrant labor.

The President urged Congress to provide additional funds for border security, and committed to deploying 6,000 National Guard troops to the Mexico–United States border.[107] In May-June 2007 Bush strongly supported the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 which was written by a bipartisan group of Senators with the active participation of the Bush administration.[108] The bill envisioned a legalization program for undocumented immigrants, with an eventual path to citizenship; establishing a guest worker program; a series of border and work site enforcement measures; a reform of the green card application process and the introduction of a point-based "merit" system for green cards; elimination of "chain migration" and of the Diversity Immigrant Visa; and other measures. Bush contended that the proposed bill did not amount to amnesty.[109]

A heated public debate followed, which resulted in a substantial rift within the Republican Party, the majority of conservatives opposed it because of its legalization or amnesty provisions.[110] The bill was eventually defeated in the Senate on June 28, 2007, when a cloture motion failed on a 46-53 vote.[111] President Bush expressed disappointment upon the defeat of one of his signature domestic initiatives.[112] The Bush administration later proposed a series of immigration enforcement measures that do not require a change in law.[113]

Civil liberties and terrorist detainees
Following the events of September 11, Bush issued an executive order authorizing the NSA to monitor communications between suspected terrorists outside the U.S. and parties within the U.S. without obtaining a warrant pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act,[114] maintaining that the warrant requirements of FISA were implicitly superseded by the subsequent passage of the Authorization for Use of Military Force.[115] The program proved to be controversial, as critics of the administration, as well as organizations such as the American Bar Association, claimed it was illegal.[116] In August 2006, a U.S. district court judge ruled that the Terrorist Surveillance Program was unconstitutional,[117] but the decision was later reversed.[118] On January 17, 2007, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales informed U.S. Senate leaders that the program would not be reauthorized by the President, but would be subjected to judicial oversight.[119]
On October 17, 2006 Bush signed into law the Military Commissions Act of 2006,[120] a bill passed in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on Hamdan v. Rumsfeld,[121] which allows the U.S. government the ability to prosecute unlawful enemy combatants by military commission rather than the standard trial. The bill also denies them access to habeas corpus and, while barring torture of detainees, allows the president to determine what constitutes torture.[120]
On March 8, 2008, Bush vetoed H.R. 2082, a bill that would have expanded Congressional oversight over the intelligence community and banned the use of waterboarding as well as other forms of enhanced interrogation techniques, saying that "[t]he bill Congress sent me would take away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror."[122]
President Bush has consistently stated that the United States does not torture. Bush can authorize the CIA to use the simulated-drowning method under extraordinary circumstances.[123] The CIA once considered certain enhanced interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding, legally permissible.[124] The CIA has exercised the technique on certain key terrorist suspects and were given permission to do so from a memo from the Attorney General. While the Army Field Manual argues "that harsh interrogation tactics elicit unreliable information",[124] the Bush administration states that these enhanced interrogations have "provided critical information" to preserve American lives.[125][126]

Hurricane Katrina
Main article: Political effects of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina, which was one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, struck early in Bush’s second term. Katrina formed in late August during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and devastated much of the north-central Gulf Coast of the United States, particularly New Orleans.[127]

Bush shakes hands with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on September 2, 2005 after viewing the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana on August 27,[128] and in Mississippi and Alabama the following day;[129] he authorized the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to manage the disaster, but his announcement failed to spur these agencies to action.[130] The eye of the hurricane made landfall on August 29, and New Orleans began to flood due to levee breaches; later that day, Bush declared that a major disaster existed in Louisiana,[131] officially authorizing FEMA to start using federal funds to assist in the recovery effort. On August 30, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff declared it "an incident of national significance,"[132] triggering the first use of the newly created National Response Plan. Three days later, on September 2, National Guard troops first entered the city of New Orleans.[133] The same day, Bush toured parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and declared that the success of the recovery effort up to that point was "not enough."[134]
As the disaster in New Orleans intensified, critics claimed that the president was misrepresenting his administration's role in what they saw as a flawed response. Leaders attacked the president for having appointed perceived incompetent leaders to positions of power at FEMA, notably Michael D. Brown;[135] it was also argued that the federal response was limited as a result of the Iraq War[136] and President Bush himself did not act upon warnings of floods.[137][138][139] Bush responded to mounting criticism by accepting full responsibility for the federal government's failures in its handling of the emergency.[133]

Midterm dismissal of U.S. attorneys
Main article: Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy
During Bush's second term, a controversy arose over the Justice Department's midterm dismissal of seven United States Attorneys.[140] The White House maintains the U.S. attorneys were fired for poor performance.[141] Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would later resign over the issue, along with other senior members of the Justice Department.[142][143] The House Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas for advisers Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten to testify regarding this matter, but Bush directed Miers and Bolten to not comply with those subpoenas, invoking his right of executive privilege. Bush has maintained that all of his advisers are protected under a broad executive privilege protection to receive candid advice. The Justice Department has determined that the President's order was legal.[144] In November 2007, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Patrick Leahy (VT-D), stated that the executive privilege claim was strange considering "the President had no involvement in these firings."
Although Congressional investigations have focused on whether the Justice Department and the White House were using the U.S. Attorney positions for political advantage, no official findings have been released. On March 10, 2008, the Congress filed a federal lawsuit to enforce their issued subpoenas.[145] On July 31, 2008, a United States district court judge ruled that President Bush's top advisers are not immune from Congressional subpoenas.[146]

Public views and perception
Main articles: Criticism of George W. Bush and Public perception of George W. Bush
See also: Movement to impeach George W. Bush and Fictionalized portrayals of George W. Bush

approve

disapprove

unsure
Gallup/USA Today Bush public opinion polling from February 2001 to May 2008. Blue denotes approve, red disapprove, and green unsure. Large increases in approval followed the September 11 attacks, the beginning of the 2003 Iraq conflict, and the capture of Saddam Hussein.Bush began his presidency with approval ratings near 50%.[147] Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Bush gained an approval rating of greater than 85%, maintaining 80–90% approval for four months after the attacks. Since then, his approval ratings and approval of his handling of domestic and foreign policy issues have steadily dropped. Bush has received heavy criticism for his handling of the Iraq War, his response to Hurricane Katrina, and to the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse, NSA warrantless surveillance of terrorists or individuals suspected of involvement with terrorist groups, Scooter Libby/Plamegate, and Guantanamo Bay detainment camp controversies.[148]
A March 13, 2008 poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press reported that 53% of Americans—a slim majority—believe that "the U.S. will ultimately succeed in achieving its goals" in Iraq.[149] That figure is up from 42 percent in September 2007 and the highest it has been since 2006.[149]
In May of 2004, Gallup reported that 89% of the Republican electorate approved of Bush.[150] This support has since somewhat waned, however, due mostly to a minority of Republicans' frustration with him on issues of spending, illegal immigration, and Middle Eastern affairs.[151] Within the United States Military, the president was strongly supported in the 2004 presidential elections.[152] When compared with Democratic challenger John Kerry, 73% of military personnel said that they would vote for Bush, versus 18% for Kerry.[152] According to Peter Feaver, a Duke University political scientist who has studied the political leanings of the U.S. military, members of the armed services supported Bush because they found him more likely to prosecute the War in Iraq than Kerry.[152]

President Bush thanks American military personnel, September 2007Bush's approval rating has been below the 50% mark in AP-Ipsos polling since December 2004.[153] Polls conducted in 2006 showed an average of 37% approval ratings for Bush;[154] the lowest for any second term president in this point of term since Harry S. Truman in March 1951, when his approval rating was 28%,[153][155] which contributed to what Bush called the "thumping" of the Republican Party in the 2006 mid-term elections.[156] Throughout 2007, Bush's approval rating hovered in the mid-thirties percentile,[157] although in a Reuters poll of October 17, 2007, Bush received a lower approval rating of 24%,[158] the lowest point of his presidency.[159] In response to the numbers, during a February 10, 2008 interview on Fox News Sunday Bush stated, "I frankly don't give a damn about the polls".[160] By April 2008, Bush's disapproval ratings were the highest ever recorded in the 70-year history of the Gallup poll for any president, with 69% of those polled disapproving of the job Bush was doing as president and 28% approving.[161] In September 2008, Bush's approval rating ranges from 19%[162] to 34% in polls performed by different agencies[163]
In 2006, 744 professional historians surveyed by Siena College regarded Bush's presidency as follows: Great: 2%; Near Great: 5%; Average: 11%; Below Average: 24%; Failure: 58%.[164] Thomas Kelly, professor emeritus of American studies at Siena College, said that "In this case, current public opinion polls actually seem to cut the President more slack than the experts do."[164] Similar outcomes were retrieved by two informal surveys done by the History News Network in 2004[165] and 2008.[166] The historian who organized the HNN polls said of the results: "It is in no sense a scientific sample of historians. The participants are self-selected, although participation was open to all historians. Among those who responded are several of the nation’s most respected historians, including Pulitzer and Bancroft Prize winners."[166] In response to the "worst president" accusations,[167][168] Bush said, "to assume that historians can figure out the effect of the Bush administration before the Bush administration has ended is... in my mind... not an accurate reflection upon how history works."[160]
Calls for Bush's impeachment have been made, though most polls have shown a plurality of Americans do not support impeachment.[169] The reasoning behind impeachment usually centers on the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy,[170] the Bush administration's justification for the war in Iraq,[171] and alleged violations of the Geneva Conventions.[172] Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat from Ohio, introduced 35 articles of impeachment on the floor of the House of Representatives against President Bush on June 9, 2008, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that impeachment is "off the table".[173]
Bush's intellectual capacity has been satirized by the media,[174] comedians, and other politicians.[175] Detractors tended to cite linguistic errors made by Bush during his public speeches, which are colloquially termed as Bushisms.[176]
In 2000 and again in 2004, Time magazine named George W. Bush as its Person of the Year, a title awarded to someone who the editors believe "for better or for worse, … has done the most to influence the events of the year."[177]

Foreign policy
Main article: Foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration

President George W. Bush, then-President of Mexico Vicente Fox and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper stand in front of "El Castillo" in Chichen Itza, March 30, 2006During his campaign for election as President, Bush's foreign policy platform included support for a stronger economic and political relationship with Latin America, especially Mexico, and a reduction of involvement in "nation-building" and other small-scale military engagements. The administration pursued a national missile defense.[178] Bush was president on September 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked passenger aircraft and flew them into the World Trade Center, killing roughly 3,000 people. In response, Bush launched the War on Terror, in which the United States military and an international coalition invaded Afghanistan and later Iraq.
Bush began his second term with an emphasis on improving strained relations with European nations. He appointed long-time adviser Karen Hughes to oversee a global public relations campaign. Bush lauded the pro-democracy struggles in Georgia and Ukraine. In March 2006, he visited India, leading to renewed ties between the two countries, particularly in areas of nuclear energy and counter-terrorism cooperation.[179] Midway through Bush's second term, it was questioned whether Bush was retreating from his freedom and democracy agenda, highlighted in policy changes toward some oil-rich former Soviet republics in central Asia.[180]

September 11, 2001

President Bush addresses rescue workers at Ground Zero in New York, September 14, 2001The September 11 terrorist attacks were a major turning point in Bush's presidency. That evening, he addressed the nation from the Oval Office, promising a strong response to the attacks but emphasizing the need for the nation to come together and comfort the families of the victims. On September 14, he visited Ground Zero, meeting with Mayor Rudy Giuliani and firefighters, police officers, and volunteers. Bush addressed the gathering via a megaphone while standing on a heap of rubble:
“ I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.[181] ”
In a September 20, 2001 speech, Bush condemned Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, and issued an ultimatum to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, where bin Laden was operating, to "hand over the terrorists, or… share in their fate."[182]

War on Terrorism
Main article: War on Terrorism
After September 11, Bush announced a global War on Terrorism. The Afghan Taliban regime was not forthcoming with Osama bin Laden, so Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime.[183] In his January 29, 2002 State of the Union address, he asserted that an "axis of evil" consisting of North Korea, Iran, and Iraq was "arming to threaten the peace of the world" and "pose[d] a grave and growing danger".[184] The Bush Administration proceeded to assert a right and intention to engage in preemptive war, also called preventive war, in response to perceived threats.[185] This would form a basis for what became known as the Bush Doctrine. The broader "War on Terror", allegations of an "axis of evil", and, in particular, the doctrine of preemptive war, began to weaken the unprecedented levels of international and domestic support for Bush and United States action against al Qaeda following the September 11 attacks.[186]
Some national leaders alleged abuse by U.S. troops and called for the U.S. to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and other such facilities. Dissent from, and criticism of, Bush's leadership in the War on Terror increased as the war in Iraq expanded.[187][188][189] In 2006, a National Intelligence Estimate expressed the combined opinion of the United States' own intelligence agencies, concluding that the Iraq War had become the "cause celebre for jihadists" and that jihad movement was growing.[190][191]

Afghanistan
Main article: War in Afghanistan (2001–present)

President George W. Bush and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan appear together in 2006 at a joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Kabul.On October 7, 2001, U.S. and Australian forces initiated bombing campaigns that led to the arrival on November 13 of Northern Alliance troops in Kabul. The main goals of the war were to defeat the Taliban, drive al Qaeda out of Afghanistan, and capture key al Qaeda leaders. In December 2001, the Pentagon reported that the Taliban had been defeated[192] but cautioned that the war would go on to continue weakening Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders.[192] Later that month the UN had installed the Afghan Interim Authority chaired by Hamid Karzai.[193][194]
Efforts to kill or capture al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden failed as he escaped a battle in December 2001 in the mountainous region of Tora Bora, which the Bush Administration later acknowledged to have resulted from a failure to commit enough U.S. ground troops.[195] Bin Laden and al Qaeda's number two leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, as well as the leader of the Taliban, Mohammed Omar, remain at large.
Despite the initial success in driving the Taliban from power in Kabul, by early 2003 the Taliban was regrouping, amassing new funds and recruits.[196] In 2006 the Taliban insurgency appeared larger, fiercer, and better organized than expected, with large-scale allied offensives such as Operation Mountain Thrust attaining limited success.[197][198][199] As a result, President Bush commissioned 3,500 additional troops to the country in March 2007.[200]

Iraq
Main article: Iraq War
Beginning with his January 29, 2002 State of the Union address, Bush began publicly focusing attention on Iraq, which he labeled as part of an "axis of evil" allied with terrorists and posing "a grave and growing danger" to U.S. interests through possession of weapons of mass destruction.[184] In the latter half of 2002, CIA reports contained assertions of Saddam Hussein's intent of reconstituting nuclear weapons programs, not properly accounting for Iraqi biological and chemical weapons, and that some Iraqi missiles had a range greater than allowed by the UN sanctions.[201][202] Claims that the Bush Administration manipulated or exaggerated the threat and evidence of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities would eventually become a major point of criticism for the president.[203][204]
In late 2002 and early 2003, Bush urged the United Nations to enforce Iraqi disarmament mandates, precipitating a diplomatic crisis. In November 2002, Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei led UN weapons inspectors in Iraq, but were forced to depart the country four days prior to the U.S. invasion, despite their requests for more time to complete their tasks.[205] The U.S. initially sought a UN Security Council resolution authorizing the use of military force but dropped the bid for UN approval due to vigorous opposition from several countries.[206]

President Bush, with Naval Flight Officer Lieutenant Ryan Philips, in the flight suit he wore for his televised arrival and speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in 2003.The war effort was joined by more than 20 other nations (most notably the United Kingdom), designated the "coalition of the willing".[207] The invasion of Iraq commenced on March 20, 2003 and the Iraqi military was quickly defeated. The capital, Baghdad, fell on April 9, 2003. On May 1, Bush declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq. The initial success of U.S. operations increased his popularity, but the U.S. and allied forces faced a growing insurgency led by sectarian groups; Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech was later criticized as premature.[208] From 2004 through 2007, the situation in Iraq deteriorated further, with some observers arguing that the country was engaged in a full scale civil war.[209] Bush's policies met with criticism, including demands domestically to set a timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq. The 2006 report of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, led by James Baker, concluded that the situation in Iraq was "grave and deteriorating". While Bush admitted that there were strategic mistakes made in regards to the stability of Iraq,[210] he maintained he would not change the overall Iraq strategy.[211][212]

President Bush shakes hands with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.In January 2005, free, democratic elections were held in Iraq for the first time in fifty years.[213] According to Iraqi National Security Advisor Mowaffak al-Rubaie, "This is the greatest day in the history of this country."[213] Bush praised the event as well, saying that the Iraqis "have taken rightful control of their country's destiny."[213] This led to the election of Jalal Talabani as President and Nouri al-Maliki as Prime Minister of Iraq. A referendum to approve a constitution in Iraq were held in October 2005, supported by the majority Shiites and many Kurds.[214]
On January 10, 2007 Bush addressed the nation from the Oval Office regarding the situation in Iraq. In his speech he announced a surge of 21,500 more troops for Iraq, as well as a job program for Iraqis, more reconstruction proposals, and US$1.2 billion for these programs.[215] On May 1, 2007, Bush used his veto for only the second time in his presidency, rejecting a congressional bill setting a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.[216] Five years after the invasion, Bush called the debate over the conflict "understandable" but insisted that a continued U.S. presence there is crucial.[217]
In March 2008 Bush praised the Iraqi government's "bold decision" to launch the Battle of Basra against the Mahdi Army, calling it "a defining moment in the history of a free Iraq".[218] He said he will carefully weigh recommendations from his commanders General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker about how to proceed after the military buildup ends in the summer of 2008. He also praised the Iraqis' legislative achievements, including a pension law, a revised de-Baathification law, a new budget, an amnesty law and a provincial powers measure that, he said, sets the stage for the Iraqi governorate elections, 2008.[219]
On July 31, 2008, Bush announced that with the end of July, American troop deaths had reached their lowest number—thirteen—since the war began in 2003.[220] Due to increased stability in Iraq, Bush announced the withdrawal of additional American forces, which reflected an emerging consensus between the White House and the Pentagon that the war has "turned a corner".[220] He also described what he saw as the success of the 2007 troop surge.[220]

North Korea
Main article: North Korea–United States relations
Bush publicly condemned Kim Jong-il of North Korea, naming North Korea one of three states in an "axis of evil," and saying that "[t]he United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons."[184] Within months, "both countries had walked away from their respective commitments under the U.S.-DPRK Agreed Framework of October 1994."[221] North Korea's October 9, 2006 detonation of a nuclear device further complicated Bush's foreign policy, which centered for both terms of his presidency on "[preventing] the terrorists and regimes who seek chemical, biological or nuclear weapons from threatening the United States and the world."[184] Bush condemned North Korea's claims, reaffirmed his commitment to "a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula," and stated that "transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States," for which North Korea would be held accountable.[222] On May 7, 2007, North Korea agreed to shut down its nuclear reactors immediately pending the release of frozen funds held in a foreign bank account. This was a result of a series of three-way talks initiated by the United States and including China.[223] On September 2, 2007, North Korea agreed to disclose and dismantle all of its nuclear programs by the end of 2007.[224]

Syria
President Bush has been supportive of expanding economic sanctions on Syria.[225] In early 2007, the U.S. Treasury Department, acting on a June 2005 executive order, froze American bank accounts of Syria's Higher Institute of Applied Science and Technology, Electronics Institute, and National Standards and Calibration Laboratory. Bush's order prohibits Americans from doing business with these institutions suspected of helping spread weapons of mass destruction[226] and being supportive of terrorism.[227] Under separate executive orders signed by Bush in 2004 and later 2007, the Treasury Department froze the assets of two Lebanese and two Syrians, accusing them of activities to "undermine the legitimate political process in Lebanon" in November 2007. Those designated included: Assaad Halim Hardan, a member of Lebanon's parliament and chief of the Syrian Socialist National Party central political bureau; Wi'am Wahhab, a former member of Lebanon's parliament; Hafiz Makhluf, a colonel and senior official in the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate and a cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad; and Muhammad Nasif Khayrbik, identified as a close adviser to Assad.[228]

Foreign perceptions

President Bush with President Pervez Musharraf of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in late 2006.President Bush has been criticized internationally and targeted by the global anti-war and anti-globalization campaigns, particularly for his administration's foreign policy.[229][230] Views of him within the international community are more negative than previous American presidents, with France[231] largely opposed to what he advocates and public opinion in Britain, an American ally since World War II, largely against him.
Bush was described as having especially close personal relationships with Tony Blair and Vicente Fox, although formal relations were sometimes strained.[232][233][234] Other leaders, such as Afghan president Hamid Karzai,[235] Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni,[236] Spanish president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero,[237] and Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez,[238] have openly criticized the president. Later in Bush's presidency, tensions arose between himself and Vladimir Putin, which has led to a cooling of their relationship.[239]
During the Bush presidency, attitudes towards the United States and the American people have become less favorable around the world.[240] In 2006, a majority of respondents in 18 of 21 countries surveyed around the world were found to hold an unfavorable opinion of Bush. Respondents indicated that they judged his administration as negative for world security.[241][242]

President Bush presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Pope John Paul II during a visit to the Vatican, June 2004A March 2007 survey of Arab opinion conducted by Zogby International and the University of Maryland found that Bush is the most disliked leader in the Arab world. More than three times as many respondents registered their dislike for Bush as for the second most unpopular leader, Ariel Sharon.[243]
The Pew Research Center's 2007 Global Attitudes poll found that out of 47 countries, a majority of respondents expressed "a lot of confidence" or "some confidence" in Bush in only nine countries: Israel, India, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, and Uganda.[244]
During a June 2007 visit to Albania Bush was greeted enthusiastically. The mostly Islamic Eastern European nation with a population of 3.6 million has troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan and the country's government is highly supportive of American foreign policy.[245] A huge image of the President now hangs in the middle of the capital city of Tirana flanked by Albanian and American flags.[246] The Bush administration's support for the independence of Albanian-majority Kosovo, while endearing him to the Albanians, has troubled U.S. relations with Serbia, leading to the February 2008 torching of the U.S. embassy in Belgrade.[247]

Grenade attack
On May 10, 2005, in Tbilisi, Georgia, Vladimir Arutyunian threw a live hand grenade toward the podium where Bush was giving a speech at Freedom Square. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili was seated nearby. It landed in the crowd about 65 feet (20 m) from the podium after hitting a girl, but it did not detonate. Arutyunian was arrested in July 2005, confessed, and was convicted and given a life sentence in January 2006.[248]

Other matters

Bush, Mahmoud Abbas, and Ariel Sharon meet at the Red Sea Summit in Aqaba, Jordan, June 4, 2003The Bush administration withdrew U.S. support for several international agreements, including the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) with Russia. Bush emphasized a careful approach to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians; he denounced Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat for alleged support of violence, but sponsored dialogs between prime ministers Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas. Bush supported Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan, and lauded the democratic elections held in Palestine after Arafat's death.
Bush also expressed U.S. support for the defense of Taiwan following the stand-off in April 2001 with the People's Republic of China over the Hainan Island incident, when an EP-3E Aries II surveillance aircraft collided with one of China's People's Liberation Army Air Force jet, leading to the detention of U.S. personnel. In 2003–2004, Bush authorized U.S. military intervention in Haiti and Liberia to protect U.S. interests.
In his State of the Union Address in January 2003, Bush outlined a five-year strategy for global emergency AIDS relief, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Bush announced US$15 billion for this effort—US$3 billion per year for five years—but requested less in annual budgets.[249]
Bush condemned the attacks by militia forces on the people of Darfur, and denounced the killings in Sudan as genocide.[250] Bush said that an international peacekeeping presence was critical in Darfur, but opposed referring the situation to the International Criminal Court.
On June 10, 2007, he met with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and became the first president to visit Albania.[251] Bush has voiced his support for the independence of Kosovo.[252]
Recently, Bush attended the 2008 Olympics as part of a good-will trip to Asia, where he described them as "exceeded expectations". [253]

Supreme Court appointments
Main article: George W. Bush Supreme Court candidates
In 2005, George W. Bush nominated John G. Roberts as the Supreme Court's Chief Justice after the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist. He was confirmed by the Senate on September 29, 2005.
Following the announcement of the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Bush nominated White House Counsel Harriet Miers to succeed O'Connor on October 3, 2005. However, Miers withdrew her nomination on October 27 after facing significant opposition. After Miers's withdrawal, Bush nominated another federal appellate judge, Samuel Alito, as his new choice to replace O'Connor. Alito was confirmed as the 110th Supreme Court Justice on January 31, 2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush
Weapon of mass destruction
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This article is about the weapon. For the musical group, see Keller Williams and the WMDs.
This article is about the weapon. For the Hip-hop album, see Weapons of Mass Destruction (album).
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A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a weapon which can kill large numbers of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures (e.g. buildings), natural structures (e.g. mountains), or the biosphere in general. The term covers several weapon types, including nuclear, biological, chemical (NBC), and radiological weapons. Additional terms used in a military context include atomic, biological, and chemical warfare (ABC warfare) and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear warfare (CBRN).
The phrase was predominantly used in reference to nuclear weapons during the Cold War; following the collapse of the Soviet Union and increasing tensions between the Middle East and the Western powers, the term broadened to its modern, more inclusive definition. It entered widespread usage in relation to the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Contents [hide]
1 Early uses of the term
1.1 Evolution of its use
2 Definitions of the term
3 WMD use and control
4 WMD use, possession and access
4.1 Nuclear weapons
5 United States politics
6 Media coverage of WMD
7 Public perceptions of WMD
8 WMD in popular culture
9 Common hazard symbols
10 Radioactive weaponry/hazard symbol
11 Biological weaponry/hazard symbol
12 See also
13 References
14 Further reading
14.1 Debate
14.2 Definition and origin
14.3 International law
14.4 Media
14.5 Public perceptions
15 External links


[edit] Early uses of the term
The first use of the term "weapons of mass destruction" on record is from The Times (London) in 1937 in reference to the aerial bombardment of Guernica, Spain:
“ Who can think at this present time without a sickening of the heart of the appalling slaughter, the suffering, the manifold misery brought by war to Spain and to China? Who can think without horror of what another widespread war would mean, waged as it would be with all the new weapons of mass destruction?[1] ”
At that time, there were no nuclear weapons; biological weapons were already being researched by Japan (see Unit 731),[2] and chemical weapons had seen wide use, most notably in World War I.
Following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and progressing through the Cold War, the term came to refer more to non-conventional weapons. The application of the term to specifically nuclear and radiological weapons is traced by William Safire to the Russian phrase oruziye massovovo porazheniya. He credits James Goodby (of the Brookings Institution) with tracing what he considers the earliest known English-language use soon after the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (although it is not quite verbatim): a communique from a November 15, 1945 meeting of Harry Truman, Clement Attlee and Mackenzie King (probably drafted by Vannevar Bush — or so Bush claimed in 1970) referred to "weapons adaptable to mass destruction". That exact phrase, says Safire, was also used by Bernard Baruch in 1946 (in a speech at the United Nations probably written by Herbert Bayard Swope).[3] The same phrase found its way into the UN resolution to create the Atomic Energy Commission (predecessor of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)), which used the wording "…atomic weapons and of all other weapons adaptable to mass destruction".
An exact use of this term was given in a lecture "Atomic Energy as an Atomic Problem" by J. Robert Oppenheimer. The lecture was delivered to the Foreign Service and the State Department, on September 17th, 1947. The lecture is reprinted in The Open Mind (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1955). "It is a very far reaching control which would eliminate the rivalry between nations in this field, which would prevent the surreptitious arming of one nation against another, which would provide some cushion of time before atomic attack, and presumably therefore before any attack with weapons of mass destruction, and which would go a long way toward removing atomic energy at least as a source of conflict between the powers."
An early use of the exact phrase in an international treaty was in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, however no definition was provided.

[edit] Evolution of its use
During the Cold War, the term "weapons of mass destruction" was primarily a reference to nuclear weapons. At the time, the US arsenal of thermonuclear weapons were regarded as a necessary deterrent against an all-out strike from the Soviet Union (see Mutual Assured Destruction), and the euphemism "strategic weapons" was used to refer to the American nuclear arsenal.
The term "weapons of mass destruction" continued to see periodic use throughout this time, usually in the context of nuclear arms control; Ronald Reagan used it during the 1986 Reykjavík Summit, when referring to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.[4] Reagan's successor, George H.W. Bush, used the term in an 1989 speech to the United Nations, using it primarily in reference to chemical arms.[5]
The end of the Cold War reduced U.S. reliance on nuclear weapons as a deterrent, causing it to shift its focus to disarmament. This period coincided with an increasing threat to U.S. interests from Islamic nations and independent Islamic groups. With the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and 1991 Gulf War, Iraq's nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons programs became a particular concern of the first Bush Administration.[6] Following the war, the Clinton Administration and other western politicians and media continued to use the term, usually in reference to ongoing attempts to dismantle Iraq's weapons programs.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks and the 2001 anthrax attacks, an increased fear of non-conventional weapons and asymmetrical warfare took hold of the United States and other Western powers. This fear reached a crescendo with the 2002 Iraq disarmament crisis and the alleged existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq that became the primary justification for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Because of its prolific use during this period, the American Dialect Society voted "weapons of mass destruction" (and its abbreviation, "WMD") the word of the year in 2002,[7] and in 2003 Lake Superior State University added WMD to its list of terms banished for "Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness".[8]

[edit] Definitions of the term
The most widely used definition of "weapons of mass destruction" is that of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons (NBC), although there is no treaty or customary international law that contains an authoritative definition. Instead, international law has been used with respect to the specific categories of weapons within WMD, and not to WMD as a whole.
The acronym NBC (for nuclear, biological and chemical) is used with regards to battlefield protection systems for armored vehicles, because all three involve insidious toxins that can be carried through the air and can be protected against with vehicle air filtration systems. However, there is an argument that nuclear weapons do not belong in the same category as chemical, biological, or "dirty bomb" radiological weapons, which have limited destructive potential (and close to none, as far as property is concerned), whereas nuclear weapons are immensely destructive and could be said to belong in a class by themselves.
The NBC definition has also been used in official U.S. documents, by the U.S. President,[9][10] the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency,[11] the U.S. Department of Defense,[12][13] and the U.S. Government Accountability Office.[14]
Other documents expand the definition of WMD to also include radiological or conventional weapons. The U.S. military refers to WMD as:
Weapons that are capable of a high order of destruction and/or of being used in such a manner as to destroy large numbers of people. Weapons of mass destruction can be high explosives or nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological weapons, but exclude the means of transporting or propelling the weapon where such means is a separable and divisible part of the weapon.[15]
The significance of the words separable and divisible part of the weapon is that missiles such as the Pershing II and the SCUD are considered weapons of mass destruction, while aircraft capable of carrying bombloads are not.
Within U.S. civil defense organizations, the category is now Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive (CBRNE), which defines WMD as:
(1) Any explosive, incendiary, poison gas, bomb, grenade, or rocket having a propellant charge of more than four ounces [113 g], missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce [7 g], or mine or device similar to the above. (2) Poison gas. (3) Any weapon involving a disease organism. (4) Any weapon that is designed to release radiation at a level dangerous to human life. This definition derives from US law, 18 U.S.C. Section 2332a[16] and the referenced 18 USC 921.[17] Indictments and convictions for possession and use of WMD such as truck bombs,[18] pipe bombs,[19] shoe bombs,[20] cactus needles coated with botulin toxin,[21] etc. have been obtained under 18 USC 2332a.
The U.S. FBI also considers conventional weapons (i.e. bombs) as WMD: "A weapon crosses the WMD threshold when the consequences of its release overwhelm local responders". Gustavo Bell Lemus, the Vice President of Colombia, at the 2001 United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, quoted the Millennium Report of the UN Secretary-General to the General Assembly, in which Kofi Annan said that small arms could be described as WMD because the fatalities they cause "dwarf that of all other weapons systems - and in most years greatly exceed the toll of the atomic bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki".[22]
Chemical weapons expert Gert G. Harigel considers only nuclear weapons true weapons of mass destruction, because "only nuclear weapons are completely indiscriminate by their explosive power, heat radiation and radioactivity, and only they should therefore be called a weapon of mass destruction". He prefers to call chemical and biological weapons "weapons of terror" when aimed against civilians and "weapons of intimidation" for soldiers. Testimony of one such soldier expresses the same viewpoint.[23] For a period of several months in the winter of 2002-2003, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz frequently used the term "weapons of mass terror," apparently also recognizing the distinction between the psychological and the physical effects of many things currently falling into the WMD category.
An additional condition often implicitly applied to WMD is that the use of the weapons must be strategic. In other words, they would be designed to "have consequences far outweighing the size and effectiveness of the weapons themselves".[24] The strategic nature of WMD also defines their function in the military doctrine of total war as targeting the means a country would use to support and supply its war effort, specifically its population, industry, and natural resources.
The Washington Post reported on 3/30/2006: "Jurors asked the judge in the death penalty trial of Zacarias Moussaoui today to define the term "weapons of mass destruction" and were told it includes airplanes used as missiles". Moussaoui was indicted and tried for the use of airplanes as WMD.(see above).

[edit] WMD use and control
See also: Arms control
The development and use of WMD is governed by international conventions and treaties, although not all countries have signed and ratified them:
Partial Test Ban Treaty
Outer Space Treaty
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
Seabed Arms Control Treaty
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)
Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC)
Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)
In 1996 the International Court of Justice provided an advisory opinion regarding the use and threat of use of nuclear weapons. The statement is an authoritative legal pronouncement but not legally binding. It stated that any threat of the use of force, or the use of force, by means of nuclear weapons that is contrary to Article 2, paragraph 4 of the United Nations Charter or that fails to meet all the requirements of Article 51 would be unlawful.
Adopted by the UN Security Council on April 28, 2004, UN Resolution 1540 recognizes the threat posed to international peace and security by nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as their means of delivery. It calls upon greater effort by nations to limit proliferation of such weapons.
Weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear weapons, are rarely used because their use is essentially an "invitation" for a WMD retaliation, which in turn could escalate into a war so destructive it could easily destroy huge segments of the world's population. During the Cold War, this understanding became known as mutually assured destruction and was largely the reason war never broke out between the WMD-armed United States and Soviet Union.

[edit] WMD use, possession and access
[edit] Nuclear weapons

U.S. nuclear warheads, 1945-2002Main article: List of countries with nuclear weapons
The only country to have used a nuclear weapon in war is the United States. There are eight countries that have declared they possess nuclear weapons and are known to have tested a nuclear weapon, only five of which are members of the NPT. The eight include: People's Republic of China; France; India; Pakistan; Russia; The United Kingdom; the United States of America; and North Korea. Israel is considered by most analysts to have nuclear weapons numbering in the low hundreds as well, but maintains an official policy of nuclear ambiguity, neither denying nor confirming its nuclear status. Iran is suspected by western countries of seeking nuclear weapons, a claim that it denies. South Africa developed a small nuclear arsenal in the 1980s but disassembled them in the early 1990s, making it the only country to have fully given up an independently developed nuclear weapons arsenal. Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine inherited stockpiles of nuclear arms following the break-up of the Soviet Union, but relinquished them to the Russian Federation. Countries with access to nuclear weapons through nuclear sharing agreements include: Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey. North Korea has claimed to have developed and tested nuclear devices; although outside sources have been unable to unequivocally support the state's claims, North Korea has officially been identified to have nuclear weapons.

[edit] United States politics
Due to the indiscriminate impact of WMDs, the fear of a WMD attack has shaped political policies and campaigns, fostered social movements, and has been the central theme of many films. Support for different levels of WMD development and control varies nationally and internationally. Yet understanding of the nature of the threats is not high, in part because of imprecise usage of the term by politicians and the media.
Fear of WMD, or of threats diminished by the possession of WMD, has long been used to catalyze public support for various WMD policies. They include mobilization of pro- and anti-WMD campaigners alike, and generation of popular political support. The term WMD may be used as a powerful buzzword,[25] or to generate a culture of fear.[26]. It is also used ambiguously, particularly by not distinguishing among the different types of WMD.[27]
A television commercial called Daisy, promoting Democrat Lyndon Johnson's 1964 presidential candidacy, invoked the fear of a nuclear war and was an element in Johnson's subsequent election.
More recently, the threat of potential WMD in Iraq was used by George W. Bush to generate public support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[28][29] Broad reference to Iraqi WMD in general was seen as an element of Bush's arguments.[27] As Paul Wolfowitz explained: "For bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction, because it was the one reason everyone could agree on."[30] To date, however, Coalition forces have found mainly degraded artillery shells. On June 21, 2006, United States Senator Rick Santorum claimed that "We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons." According to the Washington Post, he was referring to 500 such shells "that had been buried near the Iranian border, and then long forgotten, by Iraqi troops during their eight-year war with Iran, which ended in 1988." That night, "intelligence officials reaffirmed that the shells were old and were not the suspected weapons of mass destruction sought in Iraq after the 2003 invasion." The shells had been uncovered and reported on in 2004.[31] In 2004 Polish troops found 17 1980s-era rocket warheads, thwarting an attempt by militants to buy them at $5000 each. Some of the rockets contained extremely deteriorated nerve agent.[32]

[edit] Media coverage of WMD
[opinion needs balancing]
In 2004 the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM) released a report[33] examining the media’s coverage of WMD issues during three separate periods: India’s nuclear weapons tests in May 1998; the US announcement of evidence of a North Korean nuclear weapons program in October 2002; and revelations about Iran's nuclear program in May 2003. The CISSM report notes that poor coverage resulted less from political bias among the media than from tired journalistic conventions. The report’s major findings were that:
Most media outlets represented WMD as a monolithic menace, failing to adequately distinguish between weapons programs and actual weapons or to address the real differences among chemical, biological, nuclear, and radiological weapons.
Most journalists accepted the Bush administration’s formulation of the “War on Terror” as a campaign against WMD, in contrast to coverage during the Clinton era, when many journalists made careful distinctions between acts of terrorism and the acquisition and use of WMD.
Many stories stenographically reported the incumbent administration’s perspective on WMD, giving too little critical examination of the way officials framed the events, issues, threats, and policy options.
Too few stories proffered alternative perspectives to official line, a problem exacerbated by the journalistic prioritizing of breaking-news stories and the “inverted pyramid” style of storytelling.
In a separate study published in 2005,[34] a group of researchers assessed the effects reports and retractions in the media had on people’s memory regarding the search for WMD in Iraq during the 2003 Iraq War. The study focused on populations in two coalition countries (Australia and USA) and one opposed to the war (Germany). Results showed that US citizens generally did not correct initial misconceptions regarding WMD, even following disconfirmation; Australian and German citizens were more responsive to retractions. Dependence on the initial source of information led to a substantial minority of Americans exhibiting false memory that WMD were indeed discovered, while they were not. This led to three conclusions:
The repetition of tentative news stories, even if they are subsequently disconfirmed, can assist in the creation of false memories in a substantial proportion of people.
Once information is published, its subsequent correction does not alter people's beliefs unless they are suspicious about the motives underlying the events the news stories are about.
When people ignore corrections, they do so irrespective of how certain they are that the corrections occurred.
A poll conducted between June and September 2003 asked people whether they thought WMD had been discovered in Iraq since the war ended. They were also asked which media sources they relied upon. Those who obtained their news primarily from Fox News were three times as likely to believe that evidence confirming WMD had been discovered in Iraq than those who relied on PBS and NPR for their news, and one third more likely than those who primarily watched CBS.
Media source Respondents believing evidence of WMD had been found in Iraq since the war ended
Fox 33%
CBS 23%
NBC 20%
CNN 20%
ABC 19%
Print media 17%
PBS-NPR 11%
Based on a series of polls taken from June-September 2003.[35]
In 2006 Fox News reported the claims of two Republican lawmakers that WMDs had been found in Iraq,[36] based upon unclassified portions of a report by the National Ground Intelligence Center. Quoting from the report Senator Rick Santorum said "Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent". According to David Kay, who appeared before the US House Armed Services Committee to discuss these badly corroded munitions, they were leftovers, many years old, improperly stored or destroyed by the Iraqis.[37] Charles Duelfer agreed, stating on NPR's Talk of the Nation: "When I was running the ISG – the Iraq Survey Group – we had a couple of them that had been turned in to these IEDs, the improvised explosive devices. But they are local hazards. They are not a major, you know, weapon of mass destruction."[38]
Many news agencies, including Fox News, reported the conclusions of the CIA that, based upon the investigation of the Iraq Survey Group, WMDs have yet to be found in Iraq.[39][40]

Note:
From US Code Title 18.2332a [5]
(2) the term “weapon of mass destruction” means—
(A) any destructive device as defined in section 921 of this title;
(B) any weapon that is designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or
impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors;
(C) any weapon involving a biological agent, toxin, or vector (as those terms are defined in section 178 of this title); or
(D) any weapon that is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life;
From Title 18.921 [6]
(4) The term “destructive device” means—
(A) any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas—
(i) bomb,
(ii) grenade,
(iii) rocket having a propellant charge of more than four ounces,
(iv) missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce,
(v) mine, or
(vi) device similar to any of the devices described in the preceding clauses;
(B) any type of weapon (other than a shotgun or a shotgun shell which the Attorney General finds is generally recognized as
particularly suitable for sporting purposes) by whatever name known which will, or which may be readily converted to, expel
a projectile by the action of an explosive or other propellant, and which has any barrel with a bore of more than one-half
inch in diameter; and
(C) any combination of parts either designed or intended for use in converting any device into any destructive device described
in subparagraph (A) or (B) and from which a destructive device may be readily assembled.
The term “destructive device” shall not include any device which is neither designed nor redesigned for use as a weapon; any
device, although originally designed for use as a weapon, which is redesigned for use as a signaling, pyrotechnic, line throwing,
safety, or similar device; surplus ordnance sold, loaned, or given by the Secretary of the Army pursuant to the provisions of
section 4684 (2), 4685, or 4686 of title 10; or any other device which the Attorney General finds is not likely to be used as a
weapon, is an antique, or is a rifle which the owner intends to use solely for sporting, recreational or cultural purposes.
From Title 18.178 [7]
(1) the term “biological agent” means any microorganism (including, but not limited to, bacteria, viruses, fungi, rickettsiae or
protozoa), or infectious substance, or any naturally occurring, bioengineered or synthesized component of any such
microorganism or infectious substance, capable of causing—
(A) death, disease, or other biological malfunction in a human, an animal, a plant, or another living organism;
(B) deterioration of food, water, equipment, supplies, or material of any kind; or
(C) deleterious alteration of the environment;
(2) the term “toxin” means the toxic material or product of plants, animals, microorganisms (including, but not limited to,
bacteria, viruses, fungi, rickettsiae or protozoa), or infectious substances, or a recombinant or synthesized molecule,
whatever their origin and method of production, and includes—
(A) any poisonous substance or biological product that may be engineered as a result of biotechnology produced by a living
organism; or
(B) any poisonous isomer or biological product, homolog, or derivative of such a substance;
(3) the term “delivery system” means—
(A) any apparatus, equipment, device, or means of delivery specifically designed to deliver or disseminate a biological agent,
toxin, or vector; or
(B) any vector;
(4) the term “vector” means a living organism, or molecule, including a recombinant or synthesized molecule, capable of carrying a
biological agent or toxin to a host; and
(5) the term “national of the United States” has the meaning prescribed in section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 (a)(22)).
Based on this the sarin and mustard gas found DO classify as weapons of mass destruction.

[edit] Public perceptions of WMD
Awareness and opinions of WMD have varied during the course of their history. Their threat is a source of unease, security and pride to different people. The anti-WMD movement is embodied most in nuclear disarmament, and led to the formation of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
In 1998 University of New Mexico's Institute for Public Policy released their third report[41] on US perceptions - including the general public, politicians and scientists - of nuclear weapons since the break up of the Soviet Union. Risks of nuclear conflict, proliferation, and terrorism were seen as substantial. While maintenance of a nuclear US arsenal was considered above average in importance, there was widespread support for a reduction in the stockpile, and very little support for developing and testing new nuclear weapons.
Also in 1998, but after the UNM survey was conducted, nuclear weapons became an issue in India's election of March,[42] in relation to political tensions with neighboring Pakistan. Prior to the election the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced it would “declare India a nuclear weapon state” after coming to power. BJP won the elections, and on May 14, three days after India tested nuclear weapons for the second time, a public opinion poll reported that a majority of Indians favored the country’s nuclear build-up.
On April 15, 2004, the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) reported[43] that US citizens showed high levels of concern regarding WMD, and that preventing the spread of nuclear weapons should be "a very important US foreign policy goal", accomplished through multilateral arms control rather than the use of military threats. A majority also believed the US should be more forthcoming with its biological research and its Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty commitment of nuclear arms reduction, and incorrectly thought the US was a party to various non-proliferation treaties.
A Russian opinion poll conducted on August 5, 2005 indicated half the population believes new nuclear powers have the right to possess nuclear weapons.[44] 39% believes the Russian stockpile should be reduced, though not fully eliminated.

[edit] WMD in popular culture
Weapons of mass destruction and their related impacts have been a mainstay of popular culture since the beginning of the Cold War, as both political commentary and humorous outlet.
Nuclear weapons have been a central theme of movies since The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951); two of the most famous are Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) and Fail-Safe (1964). Biological weapons have also featured, as in Twelve Monkeys (1995). Several early James Bond films involve a madman, most notably Ernst Stavro Blofeld of the fictional terrorist organization S.P.E.C.T.R.E., who intends to use either nuclear or biological weapons in the quest for world domination. This has been parodied in the Austin Powers series with Dr. Evil.
WMDs are a popular theme in science fiction. The seminal novel Dune discusses atomic weapons, and its sequel Dune Messiah employs one called a Stone Burner. In the Star Wars universe, the Death Star is a moveable, multi-use WMD (meaning that it, unlike most WMD missiles, can be used thousands of times.) In the Babylon 5 universe, WMDs have been used a number of times, most directly by the Earth Alliance (the Earth-Minbari War uses nuclear weapons), the Army of Light (the Shadow War, also nuclear), the Centauri (Narn-Centauri War, planetary bombardment with asteroids by mass drivers), as well as on their own planet on the Isle of Selini to rid themselves of the Shadows (nuclear), and the Drakh (biological warfare against Earth). During Season 4, Episode 1 (09/03/1997 Stardate: 51003.7) of Star Trek: Voyager, Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) consults with Borg representative Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) on how to destroy Species 8472. Janeway calls Seven of Nine's "multikinetic neutronic mine. Five million isoton yield" a "Weapon of Mass Destruction." Following up on a statement from Tuvok (Tim Russ) that it would affect the entire Solar System destroying innocent worlds, Seven of Nine replies, "It would be efficient."
In the context of the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq under the guise of Saddam Hussein's alleged WMDs, the phrase became ubiquitous. A parody[45] based on Internet Explorer's "404 Not Found" message was created, poking fun at the state of international affairs, and for a time was the #1 hit for the Google search "weapons of mass destruction". Similarly, at the annual Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner, February 24, 2004, George W. Bush joked about being unable to find WMD in Iraq, saying "Those weapons of mass destruction must be somewhere", while showing images of himself searching the White House for something.[46][47] In 2003 an easyJet advertising campaign attracted controversy with a billboard ad featuring a woman's breasts with the phrase "discover weapons of mass distraction".
Sue Townsend continued her best-selling series of comic-political novels with the 2004 Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction. The eponymous hero trusts Tony Blair implicitly, and writes to him asking for proof of the WMDs' existence, so he can get a refund from the travel agency where he had deposited some money for a holiday in Cyprus, since this island is now apparently no longer safe to travel to.
The 2005 series of Doctor Who contained a double episode about an alien invasion in London. In one scene, when discussing whether an attack on the aliens' space craft was warranted, politicians claimed it was necessary because the aliens had "massive weapons of destruction" which could be deployed "within forty-five seconds" — a reference to Prime Minister Tony Blair's claim in the lead-up to the Iraq War that Saddam Hussein had WMDs could be deployed within 45 minutes. In The Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror XVII", aliens Kang and Kodos, spoofing the Iraq War, claim that they had to invade, as Earth was working on "Weapons of Mass Disintegration." In the episode ("Rekognize") of Da Ali G Show, Ali mistakenly refers to WMDs as "BLTs" (an acronym for the popular American sandwich made of bacon, lettuce, and tomato), going so far as to ask if there was mustard gas in the BLTs.
In 2005, the Paranoia RPG published a collection of new Straight-style missions under the title "WMD". Each mission revolved around a plot device with the initials WMD. At least one of the missions involved an actual device that might have been a WMD; but, in general they simply focussed on situations rife with a sense of stress, uncertainty and fear. The hit TV show 24 typically features a different weapon of mass destruction in each season: the second, fourth and sixth seasons feature nuclear weapons, the third features a weaponized virus, and the fifth, VX nerve gas, a chemical weapon of mass destruction. In the Nextwave comic book the Beyond Corporation© is testing out "Unusual Weapons of Mass Destruction" within the US, starting with a weapon called Fin Fang Foom.
Weapons of Mass Destruction is the title of an album released by the rapper Xzibit in 2004, who also called a car featured on Pimp My Ride a WMD. Faithless released the album No Roots in 2004 which contained the single "Mass Destruction", whose lyrics describe negative traits such as fear, racism, greed and inaction as "weapons of mass destruction".[48]
Air America Radio occasionally broadcasts an advertisement for its announcers saying the network is fighting back against "Weapons of Mass Deception."
However, the mocking of the term dates back well before the Iraq War, with Hugh Cook's 1992 fantasy novel The Witchlord and the Weaponmaster satirically mentioned that the avalanche is a terrible weapon of mass destruction, outlawed by civilised countries in the conduct of war.
In a 1955 episode of the radio comedy series Hancock's Half Hour entitled "The Chef That Died of Shame", there is a joke about a UN delegate wanting the hero's dumplings added to a list of "Banned Weapons of Mass Destruction".
In video gaming culture, (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and/or personal computer) the name "Weapons of Mass Destruction" is an example of a name used to identify a clan (group of players in the online multi-player community) with a "clan tag" [WMD] (abbreviated version of the clan's name.) The use of such violent themes for the naming of a gaming community are relatively common in current popular culture.

War economy
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A German poster telling the public how to save soap and oil during the war timeWar economy is the term used to describe the contingencies undertaken by the modern state to mobilise its economy for war production. Philippe Le Billon describes a war economy as a "system of producing, mobilising and allocating resources to sustain the violence". The war economy can form an economic system termed the "military-industrial complex". Many states increase the degree of planning in their economies during wars; in many cases this extends to rationing, and in some cases to conscription for civil purposes, such as the Women's Land Army and Bevin Boys in the United Kingdom in World War II.
Franklin D. Roosevelt said that if the Axis Powers win, then "we would have to convert ourselves permanently into a militaristic power on the basis of war economy."[1]
In what is known as total war, these economies are often seen as targets by many militaries. The Union blockade during the American Civil War is regarded as one of the first examples of this.
Concerning the side of aggregate demand, this concept has been linked to the concept of "military Keynesianism", in which the government's military budget stabilizes business cycles and fluctuations and/or is used to fight recessions.
On the supply side, it has been observed that wars sometimes have the effect of accelerating progress of technology to such an extent that an economy is greatly strengthened after the war, especially if it has avoided the war-related destruction. This was the case, for example, with the United States in World War I and World War II. Some economists (such as Seymour Melman) argue, however, that the wasteful nature of much of military spending eventually can hurt technological progress.
A New Zealand woman called Marilyn Waring, an author and academic holding a Ph.D. in political economy also criticised the structure of the war economy, in being a basis by which the United Nations supports and implicates war sustaining structures in developing nations[2]. This has follow on effects towards notions of Globalisation

[edit] Further reading
Appadurai, Arjun. (1991). "Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy". in M. Featherstone (ed.) Global Culture: Nationalism, Globalisation and Modernity. London: Sage. 295 - 310.
Franklin, Sarah, Lury, Celia & Stacey, Jackie. (2000). Global nature/global culture. London: SAGE.
Giddens, Anthony. (2002). Runaway World: How Globalisation is Shaping Our Lives (New Edition). London: Profile. 6 - 19.
Goldstein, Joshua S. (2001). War and gender: How gender shapes the war system and vice versa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Moeller, Susan. (1999). "Compassion Fatigue", Compassion Fatigue: How the Media Sells Disease, Famine, War and Death. New York & London: Routledge. 6 - 53.
Paolini, Albert. (1997). "Globalisation" in P. Darby (ed.) At the Edge of International Relations: Postcolonialism, Gender and Dependency. London & New York: Pinter. 33 -60.
[edit] References
^ [1][dead link]
^ The National Film Board of Canada. Who's Counting?: Marilyn Waring on Sex, Lies, and Global Economics. [Video]. Directed by Terre Nash (1995) ISBN 0-7722-0680-5


NCM submits its report on Karnataka violence to PMO
Press Trust of India - 3 hours ago
New Delhi, Sep 25 (PTI) Strongly criticising the BJP government in Karnataka for its failure to control communal violence, the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) today submitted its report to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
NCM indicts Orissa govt. for communal violence Hindu
As churches burn across the state, charges fly Times of India
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No change in Advani's travel plans
Hindustan Times - 1 hour ago
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday appeared unfazed by an email purportedly sent by the Indian Mujahideen threatening its prime ministerial candidate LK Advani, saying there would be no change in his travel plans because of the missive.
Man behind e-mail threat to Advani caught Zee News
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Sify
US Congress lists N-deal for approval
IBNLive.com - 1 hour ago
FINAL COUNTDOWN: The move comes hours before Manmohan Singh is due to meet with George Bush. New Delhi: The Indo-US Nuclear Deal has a real chance of making it to the final step in the US Congress on Thursday.
PM arrives in Washington for meeting with Bush Times of India
India-US in last nuclear push BBC News
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Sify PM arrives in Washington for meeting with Bush
Times of India, India - 1 hour ago
Singh will meet Bush at 17.10 hours local time (5.40 am IST tomorrow) at the Oval Office in the White House, followed by a working dinner in the Old Family ...
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ABC News Bush warns of ‘painful recession’
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WASHINGTON (AP, AFP) — President George W. Bush warned Americans and lawmakers reluctant to pass a $ 700-billion financial rescue plan that failing to act ...
President George W. Bush in bailout plea Melbourne Herald Sun
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ABC News George Bush issues dire warning as senators thrash out agreement
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - 29 minutes ago
And as the 43rd President of the United States – George W. Bush – explained how the world's most powerful economy had come to be in such dire straits, ...
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WELT ONLINE Bush calls Obama, McCain to White House
USA Today - 3 hours ago
As President Bush issued an unprecedented summons for both candidates and congressional leaders to join him at the White House to hammer out a way forward ...
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Financial Post Bush Administration, Congress Getting Nearer to Big Wall Street ...
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US bailout deal near as Bush to meet lawmakers RTE.ie
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New York Daily News Bush sells bailout to skeptical nation
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WASHINGTON — Public outrage over a $700-billion (US) bank bailout and dire economic warnings have sent George W. Bush and the two men who want his job ...
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Canada.com Bush, Brown, to meet Friday: White House
AFP - 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President George W. Bush will welcome Prime Minister Gordon Brown Friday for talks on the economic crisis, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan ...
Negotiators Closing In on Rescue Deal, Bush Spokeswoman Says Bloomberg
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Bush calls on McCain, Obama, leaders The Age
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ABC News Bush and Brown to meet to discuss global economy
Scotsman, United Kingdom - 2 hours ago
Gordon Brown is to travel to Washington tomorrow for a meeting with US President George Bush to discuss the global economy. The unexpected trip to the White ...
Bush shows new respect for UN Sydney Morning Herald
UN opens with a lecture for Bush over 'uncritical faith' in magic ... The Age
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Bush bailout aims at the wrong target
The Australian, Australia - 3 hours ago
Instead, the way the Paulson plan has been positioned and sold bears startling and disturbing similarities to the Bush Administration's rush to war in Iraq. ...
'Fundamental' deal reached on rescue plan principles: Dodd MarketWatch
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TOPWRAP 2-Bush pushes bailout as GE cuts profit outlook
guardian.co.uk, UK - 6 hours ago
By Richard Cowan and Jason Neely WASHINGTON/LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush will press for agreement on a massive bailout of US ...
US CRISIS: AGREEMENT ON PLAN NEARER AFTER BUSH SPEECH Agenzia Giornalistica Italia
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Lawmakers: Financial bailout agreement reached Boston Herald
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Trinamool willing to take part in further talks if Gandhi takes ...
Press Trust of India, India - 3 hours ago
We will go every time he calls us," Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee told a public meeting here. Without responding to the state cabinet's appeal ...
In battle for Singur, Mamata ups the ante Business Standard
Tatas to announce exit from Singur soon NDTV.com
I don’t want Tatas to leave: Mamata Thaindian.com
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BBC News Rahul Bajaj says Mamata fought for farmers, not politics
Economic Times, India - 7 Sep 2008
Bajaj went on say that two-years back the West Bengal government did not take the issue raised by Mamata Bannerjee "seriously". He stated that the fact that ...
Road clear for Nano in Singur, Tata yet to say OK NDTV.com
Day 2: Singur talks end in stalemate Hindustan Times
World's cheapest car comes at a high price for West Bengal's ... guardian.co.uk
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BBC News West Bengal: Standoff continues over Stalinists’ land seizure for ...
World Socialist Web Site, MI - 23 Sep 2008
In recent days the Stalinists have swung back and forth between pleas to Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Bannerjee to “see reason” and wind up the protest ...
Political spats affecting Hindustan Times
Tatas uncomfortable in Singur: Goswami India Today
Tatas might ‘relocate’ to new state Khabrein.info
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Fresh News Discord over return of Singur land
Hindu, India - 12 Sep 2008
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and (below) Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Bannerjee coming out after a closed-door meeting on the ...
Singur 'Sword of Damocles' Still Hangs Over Tata Nano News Locale
Fresh political battles break out over Nano project site (Lead) SINDH TODAY
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Voice of America The conflict on development in West Bengal
Merinews, India - 21 Sep 2008
The Tatas wanted to withdraw, the agitators led by Mamata Bannerjee demanded restoration of the acquired land for TATA project to the unwilling farmers, ...
Singur: Mamata gives 7-day ultimatum, threatens stir NDTV.com
Mamata threatens to resume agitation Hindu
Mamata meets Governor, makes no headway Expressindia.com
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‘Mamata, Maoists have ganged up’
Hindu, India - 19 hours ago
Kolkata: “Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee and the Maoists have ganged up to oppose the Left Front government from implementing its industrial ...
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Singur issue to be fought politically: Karat
Hindu, India - 24 Sep 2008
Kolkata (PTI): Accusing Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee of "ganging up" with Maoists to oppose the Tata Motors small car project in Singur, ...
Singur prospect becoming bleak: Karat Business Standard
Left's opposition to finance sector reforms kept India insulated ... Frontline
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IBNLive.com Singur standoff: Mamata slams CPM
Times of India, India - 3 Sep 2008
NEW DELHI- Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Bannerjee has alleged that CPM supporters attacked her party workers. ( Watch ) Mamata alleged CPM provocation ...
Guv suggests neutral mediation Hindustan Times
Mamata agrees to further talks on Singur, dharna to continue IBNLive.com
Singur: Mamata says open to talks, but agitation will continue Hindu Business Line
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सिफी West Bengal's communist cookie cracking
United Press International, Asia, Hong Kong - 28 Aug 2008
(Photo/Tata Motors) Kolkata, India — The indefinite sit-in demonstration in Singur by Mamata Bannerjee of the Trinamool Congress Party of West Bengal, ...
No improvement in situation at Singur: Tata Motors Zee News
Mamata says no more blockades, urges Tatas to begin work Expressindia.com
Mood at grassroots forced Mamata to soften stand Times of India
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Calcutta Telegraph Singur: Mamata blames CM
The Statesman, India - 23 Sep 2008
22: Trinamul Congress chief Miss Mamata Banerjee today said the chief minister would be held responsible if Tata Motors pulls out from Singur. ...
Govt running out of hope Calcutta Telegraph
CPM urges people to hit streets for Nano Calcutta Telegraph
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A pocket guide to mass destruction
guardian.co.uk, UK - 22 Sep 2008
For deathly economy of wording, nothing much beats a pamphlet published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation entitled: WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION (WMD); ...
WMD Panel to Consult With Anti-Terrorism, Counter-Proliferation ... MarketWatch
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Times Online A weapon of mass destruction of a different, worrisome kind
Nation Multimedia, Thailand - 24 Sep 2008
... Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that he was the force behind the mother-lode of terrorist activities around the world. ...
Bailout plan runs into flak in Congress Minneapolis Star Tribune
Bailout Plan Takes Beating On Capitol Hill TheDay
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Financial Weapons of Mass Destruction
AlterNet, CA - 22 Sep 2008
I guess that's why Warren Buffet (in 2002, mind you), said derivatives were a "financial weapon of mass destruction." He was ridiculed at the time but now ...
Irrational Exuberance Goes Global Dissident Voice
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Financial Instruments of Mass Destruction
Rolling Stone - 20 Sep 2008
... except instead of preempting the threat of WMD, we’re being asked to preempt the fall out from Financial Instruments of Mass Destruction. ...
Derivatives as financial weapons of mass destruction
Merinews, India - 23 Sep 2008
If nuclear button is caught in the hand of terrorist, destruction is beyond imagination. And on the other side, the nuclear technology is said to bring ...
The woman who built financial 'weapon of mass destruction'
guardian.co.uk, UK - 19 Sep 2008
If Warren Buffett is to be believed in his verdict that derivatives are "financial weapons of mass destruction" then Blythe Masters is one of the destroyers ...
Bush bailout aims at the wrong target
The Australian, Australia - 3 hours ago
COMING as it did from the same gang who brought you Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq and Washington's response to Hurricane Katrina, how much did anyone ...
Republicans continue to churn out the lies
Scarlet Scuttlebutt, NJ - 14 hours ago
Our massive attack on Iraq was justified by claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction that could be used by terrorists against our country. ...
Top brass knew Saddam had no mass destruction weapons
Courier Mail, Australia - 20 Sep 2008
SENIOR Australian military officers knew there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and were astonished when the Government used the "WMD excuse" to ...
No honor
Daily Press, VA - 24 Sep 2008
We attacked Iraq with a pre-emptive strike — a thing at variance with those American ideals — to protect ourselves from weapons of mass destruction. ...



Sydney Morning Herald Unblock your ears: ‘Big Bang’ postponed to 2009
Sofia Echo, Bulgaria - 24 Sep 2008
The ‘Big Bang’ experiment involving the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been postponed to spring 2009. According to a September 20 2008 statement on the LHC ...
'Big Bang Machine' Breaks Down Sky News
Big Bang collider put on ice until spring Swissinfo
Big Bang, God Particle Delayed Until Spring Christian Post
AFP - Reuters UK
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Russia-InfoCenter Large Hadron Collider: How a little bang killed the Big Bang
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - 5 hours ago
The news that a little bang has delayed the world's biggest experiment, that aims to recreate conditions near the Big Bang of creation, comes as little ...
CERN: Big Bang collider to restart in spring 2009 Merinews
Big Bang machine's technical glitch was expected, say experts Smash Hits
LHC to Resume Operation in Spring Fars News Agency
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CTV.ca Glitch shuts "Big Bang" collider for two months
Reuters India, India - 21 Sep 2008
... to shut down the huge particle-smashing machine built to simulate the conditions of the "Big Bang" for at least two months, they said on Saturday. ...
What happened to the Big Bang machine? BBC News
the wrong kind of big bang Times Online
Breaking News The Big Bang Machine Goes Bust Sky News
Irish Times - ABC Online
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Spore begins with a Big Bang
Gaming Age Online, NJ - 21 hours ago
Boom! EA and Maxis do huge numbers despire the anti-DRM outcry. Read on for the announcement. Electronic Arts Inc. today announced that Spore has sold ...
Baffling Big Bang: Now, it’s the turn of dark flow to baffle
MyNews.in, India - 1 hour ago
After the dark matter and dark energy, it'''s the new mystery of dark flow that has been added to the Big Bang. A new evidence has come forth that cannot be ...

Telegraph.co.uk Scientists glimpse 'dark flow' lurking beyond the edge of the universe
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - 24 Sep 2008
Cosmologists view the microwave background - the remnant of the flash of light emitted 380000 years after the Big Bang - as the universe's ultimate ...
"Dark Flow" Outside Observable Universe Slashdot
Cosmic 'Dark Flow' Detected Across Billions Of Light Years Science Daily (press release)
Mysterious New 'Dark Flow' Discovered in Space RedOrbit
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RightNow CEO Greg Gianforte: Big Bang CRM Has Fizzled Out
E-Commerce Times - 7 hours ago
IT budgets and projects are focused more on cost reduction, and there is less availability for big bang implementations. We are also seeing customer ...RNOW

Nature.com (subscription) Ink flows on "dark flow
Nature.com (subscription), UK - 55 minutes ago
That would appear to undermine a theory known as "inflation," which posits that a growth spurt moments after the Big Bang made the cosmos flat and ...
Galaxy flow hints at huge masses over cosmic horizon New Scientist (subscription)
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TV Cocktail Blog 90210 - The Big Bang Theory
TV Cocktail Blog, NY - 20 hours ago
Previously on Beverly Hills 9021-Dear-God-Please-Give-These-Girls-A-Sandwich!: The Wilson clan took the Bev Niner by storm. Dixon enchanted fellow outsider ...
Blue Screen of Death knocks out the Big Bang Machine
The Spoof (satire), UK - 24 Sep 2008
Geneva: The Big Bang machine stopped working today after it developed the Blue Screen of Death. Said Cerns director Professor Wolfgang "Yes we can confirm ...


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BBC News We’re in a state of war: Asif
Pakistan Dawn, Pakistan - 15 hours ago
By Anwar Iqbal and Masood Haider NEW YORK, Sept 24: President Asif Ali Zardari urged the nation on Wednesday to realise that it was in a state of war and ...
Pakistan is at war: Zardari The News International
India Military Faces Manpower Crunch as Economy Booms (Update1) Bloomberg
‘Pakistan is at war’: Zardari The News International
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Bay Area Indymedia Filipino war veterans want treatment equal to Americans
GMA news.tv, Philippines - 15 hours ago
MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos who fought alongside US soldiers during World War II say they will accept whatever benefits Washington gives them but will ...
Too little, too late: US OKs payment for RP war vets Inquirer.net
House and Senate Differ Over Benefit Plan for Filipino Veterans New York Times
War veterans to get lumpsums in bill Manila Times
KHNL-TV/KHBC/KOGG - Manila Bulletin
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Boston Globe Jackson Browne Says America Has Always Been Duped Into War
KBS Radio, Canada - 41 minutes ago
One of the standout tracks on the new album is "The Drums Of War" which discusses the machinery of the war in Iraq: "This song '(The) Drums Of War'is about ...
Psychology: Bringing the war home Annapolis Capital
Seven Years Into the 'War on Terror' Middle East Times
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Canada.com Movie review: 'Lucky Ones' takes a lighter approach to war
San Jose Mercury News, USA - 17 hours ago
By Rob Lowman In "The Lucky Ones,'' three returning Iraq War veterans find themselves on an improbable cross-country journey. The word "lucky'' in the title ...
Can The Lucky Ones break the Iraq war-movie jinx? Creative Loafing Tampa
Exclusive Interview : Tim Robbins Moviehole
Tim Robbins is feeling lucky Canada.com
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New York Daily News Spike Lee discusses 'Miracle at St. Anna' (and Obama)
Los Angeles Times, CA - 11 hours ago
AUTEUR: Spike Lee, who had two uncles serve in World War II, grew up watching movies about the conflict that had no black soldiers. ...
Miracle at St. Anna (2008) Entertainment Weekly
'The Miracle at St. Anna': A combat epic with a heavy burden International Herald Tribune
Spike Lee manages to pull off a 'Miracle' USA Today
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AFP World War plot weapons on display
The Press Association - 12 hours ago
Weapons involved in the assassination plot which sparked the First World War and the deaths of 21 million are to go on display to mark the war's end. ...
Weapons that helped start World War I going on show in London AFP
Pistol that sparked First World War goes on display in the UK History News Network
Revealed: Pistol that sparked World War One goes on display in ... Daily Mail
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War and Democracy -- Miriam Coronel Ferrer
ABS CBN News, Philippines - 2 hours ago
Now the war has made them even poorer and entirely dependent on humanitarian aid. Each day, they are being stripped, piece by piece, of the few remaining ...

Telegraph.co.uk War games fanatic Matthew Pyke killed by gamer from Germany ...
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - 2 hours ago
Internet war games fanatic Matthew Pyke was stabbed to death by a fellow player who flew from Germany to murder him after an online dispute, police believe. ...
Russia uses food as a Cold War weapon
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - 1 hour ago
Russia's bumper wheat harvest has allowed it to open a new front in the re-emerging Cold War as it uses food to expand its influence in the Middle East and ...
Lake Highlands: WyldLife gets into Crud War
Dallas Morning News, TX - 1 hour ago
Meredith Reed used neighborsgo.com to post her story and photos about Lake Highlands WyldLife's Crud War, and now, one of her photos is on the cover of this ...


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SkySports Cricket-Poor India record affecting Ponting, says Zaheer
Reuters.uk, UK - 9 hours ago
Australia arrived on Monday ahead of schedule to spend a week acclimatising at the Rajasthan cricket academy. Australia won a four-match series 2-1 on the ...
'Ponting's poor record is an advantage for us' - Zaheer CricInfo.com
Adequate security measures put in place for Australian team Press Trust of India
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Cricbuzz Cricket-ICC to meet ICL representatives after Bangladesh crisis
Reuters.uk, UK - 4 hours ago
MUMBAI, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Cricket's governing body has agreed to meet representatives of the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL) which triggered a ...
International game must come first: ICC will regulate Twenty20 ... Daily Times
Indian Cricket League causes stir with international players Toronto Star
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AFP India in to bat for Cricket Australia
Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia - 2 hours ago
INDIAN cricket supremo Lalit Modi says his country will help Australia implement its own world-class Twenty20 tournament next year. ...
Mumbai to host Champions League Twenty20 final Rediff
India's top venues to host T20 Champions League AFP
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SkySports This is cricket
Indian Express, India - 24 Sep 2008
Greg Chappell, singed by association with the wonder that is the Indian Cricket establishment, is giving his former charges something to think about. ...
Guru Greg Consults for the Aussie Cricket Side Bleacher Report
Indian cricketers fumes at top facilities for Aussies - report AFP
'Nothing wrong in giving Aus top facilities' Cricketnext.com
Expressindia.com - SkySports
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LIVENEWS.com.au The batting should set the Aussie agenda
Hindu, India - 8 hours ago
AP It appears increasingly difficult these days to assess a forthcoming series in isolation, glorying solely in the cricket that might be played. ...
Test series will still be fiery: Agarkar The Age
Harbhajan vows to tone down antics and focus on game Press Trust of India
Harbhajan wants to shed his bad boy image Times of India
LIVENEWS.com.au - The Australian
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WA today Shane Watson seeking respect from cricket public
Daily Telegraph, Australia - 2 hours ago
By Jon Pierik in Jaipur SHANE Watson says he craves respect from the Australian cricket public and hopes to earn that with a breakthrough tour of India. ...
Watson wants a close contest with India NDTV.com
Watson rebuilds body, outlook and career The Age
Right time for 'younger guys' to step up - Lee CricInfo.com
Melbourne Herald Sun - International Herald Tribune
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BBC Sport Pakistan to play international cricket in Dubai
International Herald Tribune, France - 8 hours ago
AP ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Pakistan Cricket Board has signed a three-year, US$9 million deal to play international limited-overs and Twenty20 matches in ...
Cricket-Pakistan inks $9 million deal with Dubai sports city Reuters.uk
Dubai to host Pakistan SkySports
Pakistan switches ODIs to Dubai BBC Sport
Press Trust of India - Expressindia.com
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Former PCB chief feels India will not tour Pak
Press Trust of India, India - 3 hours ago
Karachi, Sep 25 (PTI) Former Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Lt General (Retd) Tauqir Zia, feels the security situation in the country could ...
BCCI to take Government advice on Pakistan tour Daily Times
Hapless PCB willing to play at neutral venues against Windies Expressindia.com
Change font size Kerala Online
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Cricketnext.com Licence cloud gathers over cricket
Times of India, India - 15 hours ago
Bangalore: A non-cricketing rule might just come in the way of the Border-Gavaskar trophy cricket match between India and Australia, scheduled from Oct 9-13 ...
Private security for the Bangalore Test Daily News & Analysis
Security issues ahead of Test Hindu
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Oneindia Bradman's First Cricket Bat Sold for A$145000, Australian Says
Bloomberg - 19 hours ago
25 (Bloomberg) -- Sir Donald Bradman's cricket bat, the first used by the Australian sporting hero in an international match, sold for a record A$145000 ...
Bradman breaks another record with his cricket bat The Times
Don Bradman's first Test cricket bat goes for record price at auction The Canadian Press
Bradman's Debut Bat Sold for Oneindia
Press Trust of India - Radio New Zealand
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EDITORIAL: Free market schooling outdoes compulsion
Las Vegas Review - Journal, NV - 9 hours ago
... 100 existing studies comparing private versus government compulsory schooling from Chile to Nigeria to Sweden, from India to Germany to the Netherlands. ...
Effective decentralization needed in Education
IndiaEduNews.net, India - 23 Sep 2008
The current analysis of UN on India's Education for All commended India's efforts in bringing children back to schools who are dropouts by way of the formal ...
11th Five Year Plan Incorporates the Notion of Life Long Education ...
Press Information Bureau (press release), India - 23 Sep 2008
In India , we are committed to providing a second chance to young adults and adolescents who lost the opportunity for formal schooling. ...
Attack on global poverty at risk
The Australian, Australia - 24 Sep 2008
The bank attributes much of the improvement, particularly in extreme poverty, to high economic growth in China and India. But it says progress also has ...
Education: It’s Not Just About the Boys. Get Girls Into School.
Newsweek - 20 Sep 2008
But our best efforts to get more impoverished kids into schools aren't always effective. Despite some recent progress in China and India, ...

Hindu The art of not learning
Hindu, India - 20 Sep 2008
... investing in nuclear arms and energy, in highways and airports, in oil fields and mines, in industry and the market, can India not build schools?
'A truly historic opportunity'
guardian.co.uk, UK - 23 Sep 2008
India, for example, has posted annual growth rates above 7% for the past 15 years yet has seen persistently high rates of child malnutrition. ...
:. Nayeema Details Journalism Work Experience
Kashmir Watch, Pakistan - 24 Sep 2008
You are a broadcaster par excellence, talk me through your early schooling and how you went on to become a celebrity journalist. I did my schooling from ...


GetAFreelancer.com - php mysql dynamic site developement by Shree ...
City: kolakta. Area of Expertise:. ASP; Banner Design; Data Entry; Flash; Handheld / PDA; Javascript; JSP; Linux; Logo Design; Perl/CGI; PHP; Web Promotion ...
www.getafreelancer.com/users/188269.html - 19k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
CALCUTTA KOLAKTA ALLERGY
ALLERGY TREATMENT. ALLERGY INVESTIGATION CENTRE 475-8255 20/112,Balltgunge Place , Cal-19. ALLERGY INVESTIGATION UNIT 247-5515 11, Dr. Suresh Guha St., ...
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WAYN.COM - Profile of Tilanjan Bhabani (Tilanjan), Kolakta, West ...
Tilanjan Bhabani. Gender, : Male. Age, : 22. Nationality, : Indian. Location, :. Kolakta, India (Home). Last login, : 4th August 2008 ...
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Kolkata Knight Riders: Kolkata Knight Riders - The IPL Kolakta ...
Kolkata Knight Riders - The IPL Kolakta Cricket Team · Kolkata Knight Riders is one of the eight teams that will be part of the inaugural IPL tournament. ...
kolkata-knight-riders.blogspot.com/2008/03/kolkata-knight-riders-ipl-kolakta.html - 56k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Invitation of offer on sale of NPAs - United Bank of India
Kolkata 700001, Shri M. K. Roy Asstt. General Manager (Recovery) United Bank of India Head Office (11th floor) 11, Hemanta Basu Sarani Kolakta 700001 ...
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LIVENEWS.com.au Symonds to take field against Kolkata Knight Riders
Indiatimes, India - 2 hours ago
Part of it is getting ready for next season, but another part is just to say the Kolkata Knight Riders exists, not just in Kolkata, but around India and out ...
Symonds to face Knight Riders in practice games CricInfo.com
Interview: Chris Simpson ABC Online
Symonds commits Sydney Morning Herald
The Times - ABC Online
all 45 news articles »
Hoax call sets alarm in Kolkata
Thaindian.com, Thailand - 3 hours ago
Kolkata, Sep 25 (IANS) A hoax phone call about a possible bomb planted at the Calcutta High Court Thursday set the police on alert.”The city police control ...
Bomb threat at High Court, city civil court Zee News
Bomb threat at Calcutta HC, city civil court triggers panic Press Trust of India
all 5 news articles »
Fame Kolkata gets recognition as multiplex complex
Indiantelevision.com, India - 2 hours ago
... government’s Special Secretary and Ex-offico Director of Films has recommended ‘Fame’ Kolkata for being considered as ‘multiplex theatre complex’. ...
Fame India receives subsidy for Multiplex in West Bengal Equity Bulls
all 2 news articles » BOM:532631
KOLKATA CONNECTION
The Statesman, India - 21 hours ago
Anshu Varma spent her early years in Kolkata and New Delhi. Today she is a leading name among mehandi artists. Varma, who has a degree in economics and ...

Goal.com I-League Weekend Preview
Goal.com, Switzerland - 4 hours ago
Bad results in the Kolkata league coupled with events of stone pelting by fans. Manoranjan Bhattacharya resigned out of frustration and insiders believe ...
I-League Preview: East Bengal – Chirag United Goal.com
all 2 news articles »

BBC News Security tightened in Kolkata after threat mail
Fresh News, India - 13 hours ago
According to police sources, the e-mail, written in English, said after the "success" of Sep 13 Delhi blast, the next "target" is Kolkata. ...
Indian Mujahideen controlled from Pakistan: Delhi Police Zee News
Five in net, behind every major attack: Police Indian Express
Police trace IM links with Dawood Hindustan Times
Hindu - SINDH TODAY
all 271 news articles »

Washington Post History, Heritage and a Few Hundred Sheep In Kolkata's ...
Washington Post, United States - 24 Sep 2008
By Emily Wax KOLKATA, India -- Through summer's sweltering heat, through the monsoon season's torrential downpours and even after the city's recent ...

IBNLive.com Metro Cash & Carry buys time to decide on Bengal
Economic Times, India - 5 hours ago
25 Sep, 2008, 1832 hrs IST, PTI KOLKATA: German wholesale giant Metro Cash Carry on Thursday said it would wait for a decision till September 29 on re-issue ...
Metro Cash & Carry asked to wait till Sunday Hindu Business Line
German firm defers taking decision on West Bengal Thaindian.com
After Tata, Germany wholesale chain mulls quitting WB IBNLive.com
all 14 news articles »

Calcutta Telegraph CISF man calls pilot ‘driver’, spat hits flights in Kolkata
Indian Express, India - 23 Sep 2008
Kolkata, September 23 Air India flights here are likely to be affected from Wednesday as members of the Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA) on ...
Pilot-CISF scuffle at NSC Bose Airport The Statesman
AI pilot beaten up by CISF men, demands apology Times of India
CISF personnel ‘beat up’ Air India pilot at Kolkata airport Thaindian.com
Expressindia.com - Times of India
all 29 news articles »
Rizwanur case: SC refuses to stall Todi trial
Times of India, India - 3 hours ago
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has refused to stall the trial of industrialist Ashok Todi in a Kolkata metropolitan court for his alleged role in abetting his ...


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Kolkata - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
When referred to as "Kolkata", it usually includes the suburbs, and thus its population exceeds 15 million, making it India's third-largest city and urban ...
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A guide to Kolkata ( Calcutta ), Bengal and Bengali
A guide to the city of Calcutta and the nearby urban areas.
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Kolkata.net
A complete guide to kolkata(Calcutta) West Bengal and Bengali - kolkata.net.
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News results for kolkata

Calcutta Telegraph CISF man calls pilot ‘driver’, spat hits flights in Kolkata - 23 Sep 2008

Kolkata, September 23 Air India flights here are likely to be affected from Wednesday as members of the Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association (ICPA) on ...

Indian Express - 29 related articles »
Explosives filled bag found in Kolkata - Economic Times - 29 related articles »
Symonds to face Knight Riders in practice games - CricInfo.com - 45 related articles »

KolKata, Calcutta, Calcutta map, Kolkata Map - Maps Of India
Find in detail about the Kolkata city via informative map. Its roads, railways, places of interest, government buildings, museums etc all are included on ...
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Kolkata Yellow Pages|Bsnl Kolkata Phone Directory|Kolkata ...
Kolkata Yellow Pages has online listing of bsnl Kolkata phone directory, Kolkata telephone numbers, all Kolkata businesses in and around the city with ...
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Kolkata India - Kolkata Travel Guide - Travel to Calcutta ...
Here is presented the Kolkata city guide. Check out information on Calcutta travel & tourism.
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Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Official website of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC). Includes Mayor’s desk, tender notice, ward details and contacts.
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National Institute of Fashion Technology, Kolkata
Water Tank, Sector III, Salt Lake City, Kolkata - 700 098 Tel: +91-33-23357342 / 8351 Fax: +91-33-23355734. Go to fullsize image. Tenders · Alumni ...
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Kolkata Hub, Tours to Kolkata, Kolkata India Tours,Hotels in ...
Kolkata Hub, Tours to Kolkata, Kolkata India Tours,Hotels in Kolkata,Kolkata Hotels,Calcutta Hotels Booking,Kolkata Tour Packages,Kolkata Tour Travel,Travel ...
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Current local time in Kolkata - West Bengal - India
If it is e.g. 4 pm in Kolkata, what time is it elsewhere? Show time difference between Kolkata time and other time zones · Display a free clock for Kolkata ...
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Nainital-Kolkata Flights
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Nainital - The Lake District of Uttarakhand -(INDIA)
Government website with information on the district, especially for tourists.
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Nainital - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nainital is a town in the indian state of Uttarakhand and headquarters of Nainital district in the Kumaon foothills of the outer Himalayas. ...
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NAINITAL TOURISM: WELCOME TO THE PARADISE CITY
Tourist information about Nainital,Tour Operators in Nainital, cheap Hotels &Himalayas,vaccations,city, cities, holiday, vacation, excursion, india, ...
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Nainital Travel Guide - Bhimtal, Bhowali - Nainital Uttaranchal
Nainital - The beautiful lake resort nestles amidst seven hills in a lush valley at an altitude of 1938 metres. Places to visit in Nainital - Governer's ...
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Nainital
Nainital is connected to all the major National/State Highways. From Nainital the following places are directly connected by regular bus service : ...
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Welcome at District Court, Nainital (Uttaranchal), INDIA.
Welcome To District Judiciary , Nainital ... as also the present set up of the system of judicial administration in District Nainital (Uttarakhand). ...
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List of Hotels in Nainital, Deluxe Hotel in Nainital, Luxury Hotel ...
Information on Nainital Hotels with an attractive photographs, tariff & online booking informations.
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Nainital Hotels, Nainital Resorts, Hotels in Nainital, luxury ...
Nainital Hotels, Nainital resorts, hotels in nainital, Nainital tour packages, list of hotels in Nainital, Luxury hotels in Nainital.
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Nainital Tourism - Nainital Travel Guide, Reviews - Nainital sight ...
Nainital Tourism, Nainital Attractions and Nainital site,sight seeing. Nainital Travel reviews and deals. Tips and Advice from Nainital travelers and ...
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Nainital's martial art player too poor to buy a ticket to South Africa
Newstrack India, India - 2 Sep 2008
Nainital, Sep.2 (ANI): Meenakshi Adhikari of Naintal wishes she had a family background like that of Olympic Gold medalist Abhinav Bindra. ...
Nainital women giving Chinese goods a fight
Newspost Online, India - 28 Aug 2008
Aug.26 (ANI): In Nainital, the cheap Chinese goods that have flooded the markets in recent years are receiving a tough competition. Led by one Nirmala Shah, ...

Rediff Sukriti Khandpal
Rediff, India - 12 Sep 2008
I am from Nainital, Uttaranchal. My father is a public prosecutor in Nainital, and my mother is a housewife. I came to Mumbai when I was 14. ...
NRI quota: Fresh admission ordered in Uttarakhand
Expressindia.com, India - 5 Sep 2008
Nainital, September 5: The Uttarakhand High Court on Friday directed the state government to seize the process of filling 14 vacant NRI seats at Sushila ...
Deplorable condition of Charbagh platforms raised
Times of India, India - 29 Aug 2008
The users demanded a train between Hardoi and Nainital as there is no direct link between the two stations at present. Northern Railway (NR) officials, ...
Mangalore: Railway Protection Force Employee Ends Life Daijiworld.com
all 2 news articles »
Man walks for 21 yrs to spread message of 'universal goodness'
Press Trust of India, India - 23 Sep 2008
Gupta said he meets his family members regularly in Bharatpuri, Ram Nagar, Nainital, Uttarakhand. "But whenever I break my walking to go back to my family ...
Doon Valley schools under BJP scanner
Chandigarh Tribune, India - 10 Sep 2008
There are a large number of prestigious private schools in Dehradun, Mussoorie and Nainital. Doon School, Welham, St. George’s , St. Joseph, Wynberg Allen ...BOM:531226
...Hello Pantnagar?
Trading Markets (press release), CA - 19 hours ago
25--DEHRADUN/NAINITAL -- Will West Bengal's loss be Uttarakhand's gain? There's a buzz in the Pantnagar plant of Tata Motors that equipment from Singur is ...BOM:500570 - OTC:CMTX
Chennai's stellar connection
Sify, India - 4 hours ago
... Group (GONG) and the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) in Nainital are among the prominent observatories in the country. ...
Major Som Nath Sharma: The Bravest Of The Brave-Part II., By Rav Gill
South Asian Link, Canada - 22 Sep 2008
He did his schooling from prestigious Sherwood College, Nainital, before enrolling at the Prince of Wales Royal Military College in Dehra Dun and later ...