Protesters around the world rally against Egypt's Mubarak

Protesters around the world rally against Egypt's

Mubarak

(CNN) -- Egyptians and activists around the world took to the streets Saturday demanding the immediate resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Demonstrations were held in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Paris, New York, London, Tokyo and in the West Bank city of Ramallah. In Washington, protesters marched from the Egyptian Embassy to the White House, carrying posters and chanting. They observed a moment of silence for the people who have lost their lives since the protests in Egypt began late last month.

"Mubarak staying in Egypt is not going to be beneficial for the security of Egypt. It's just going to fuel most protests in the streets," said Ahmed Fathi, head of the Alliance of Egyptian-Americans, who attended the New York protest.

He said Mubarak is simply taking "cosmetic actions" and refusing real change.

On day 12 of the unfolding unrest, apparent fissures in Egypt's regime surfaced as key members of the embattled ruling party, including Mubarak's once heir-apparent son, gave up their party leadership posts and the vice president began talks with opposition leaders.

It was a strong gesture. But for many of the protesters in Egypt, and for those who support them elsewhere, it was not enough.

In Tokyo, more than 200 demonstrators marched through the streets for about two hours, chanting and waving flags. One protester held a sign that read: "Freedom is a demand for all nations."

In Atlanta, activists rallied at a downtown street corner. They asked motorists to honk in their support and many cars blared as they sped past.

In New York, demonstrators met outside the U.N. building in the freezing rain for the second weekend in a row. They chanted, "Hey, hey, Ho, ho -- Mubarak must go!" and carried signs that read, "Free Egypt, Jail Mubarak."

Protesters in the West Bank city of Ramallah were forcibly disbanded when a few dozen men in plain clothes disrupted their demonstration. The afternoon rally against Mubarak stretched about three small city blocks.

In London, activists rallied outside the Egyptian Embassy, while in Paris, CNN iReporters said that protesters marched in the streets. One demonstrator carried a sign that read,"Tunisia, Egypt. Long live the revolution!"

Meanwhile, protesters in Los Angeles rallied outside the Federal Building on the west side of the city. Some held a large banner that read, "End U.S. Aid to the Mubarak Regime!" -- an idea echoed by many in attendance.

"I want democracy in Egypt. And I want my president to stop sending my tax dollars supporting a dictator over there," said

demonstrator Dan Henrickson.

By the CNN Wire Staff

February 6, 2011 --

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Reagan's myth has grown over time

Reagan's myth has grown over time

Washington (CNN) -- As the late President Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday is observed, historians point out that his political successes, not his persona, have been mythologized over the years.

"Today's Republicans created this fantasy role of Reagan as anti-government," said presidential historian Douglas Brinkley. "He was really Reagan of government efficiency."

Brinkley, who edited the best-selling book "The Reagan Diaries," which is based on the 40th president's diary accounts, said Reagan mainly wanted to roll back the "excesses of the 'Great Society' domestically, not abolish them."

"He was never talking about doing away with Medicaid, Medicare, or abolishing HUD," he said. "It had more to do with trimming the federal budget."

Upon taking office, Reagan faced a severe recession and double-digit inflation. Gas station lines stretched for miles. Americans simply lost hope in their economic future, historians say.

Read more about Reagan's life and legacy

The former governor of California used his experiences in politics and his career in Hollywood -- first as an actor and later as president of the Screen Actors Guild -- to help change the American way of life.

But for all the praise by current conservatives for the economic turnaround during his presidency, historians also note that many conservatives of his day weren't exactly big fans of all of his policies, including his negotiations with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev over nuclear arms. At the time, many within his own party felt reaching out to the Soviets was a sign of willingness to negotiate with an evil dictator.

"What made Reagan different from many of his fellow conservatives -- and different, too, from liberals who looked upon the Cold War as an eternal condition -- was that he really wanted to negotiate and thought he had learned the art of doing so by bargaining with movie producers when he was president of the Screen Actors Guild," Lou Cannon, author of several books on Reagan, wrote in a commentary for AOL News.

Journalist Will Bunch, author of the book "Tear Down This Myth," pointed out in an interview with National Public Radio on Thursday that many forget that Reagan was divisive and had "virtually zero support from African-Americans."

"The Reagan myth is pretty simple," said Bunch, a senior writer for the Philadelphia Daily News. "Basically, people want Ronald Reagan remembered as the man who won the Cold War and as the man who turned the economy around ... this idea that Reagan brought down the Berlin Wall and that he cut taxes and saved the American economy."

Read Bunch's CNN.com commentary

He noted that conservatives also fail to mention that Reagan raised taxes throughout his presidency and was willing to work across the aisle with Democrats on major policies such as Social Security.

"When he had to govern, he was actually kind of a great compromiser. He was willing to make compromises to get things done. You almost never hear about the fact he reached a deal with Democrats on Social Security," Bunch said. "He signed off on some sort of tax increase every year of his presidency after 1982, including one that was at the time the largest tax increase in American history to undo the fact that the '81 tax cut went too far."

Brinkley said conservatives forget that he was actually influenced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat responsible for the "New Deal" big-government program; and by President Dwight Eisenhower, a moderate Republican who "showed huge senses of pragmatism and doing big American things well, like the interstate highway."

Ed Rollins, a Republican strategist and CNN.com contributor, recently wrote that it wasn't only his ability to compromise to get a deal with Congress, but "but he never gave up on the things he truly believed in," including his economic philosophies. Rollins, it should be noted, served in Reagan's administration and managed both of his presidential campaigns.

Read William Bennett's CNN.com commentary on Reagan's legacy

The praise for his economic policies, though, is somewhat inflated, Cannon argued.

"His greatest domestic accomplishment -- breaking the back of inflation that terrified the nation in the late 1970s -- was a product not of 'supply side' economics ballyhooed by conservatives, but of the drastic tightening of interest rates by Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker," Cannon wrote. Volcker later became the chairman of President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

For all the criticism of the myths surrounding Reagan, his supporters point out his enormous success in restoring Americans' faith in their country through his personality, charm and effective speaking.

"His greatest single quality was his self-deprecating humor, which came naturally to him and was honed into an effective political weapon," said Cannon, who covered the Reagan White House for The Washington Post. "He made fun of his age, his work habits, his vanities, his ideology, his alleged lack of intelligence and his supposed domination by his wife [Nancy]."

Brinkley added: "Reagan had a healthy smelling-salts effect on the economy. Somehow, by talking about the power of the corporation again and why business was good for America, he was able to instill confidence in the market and also kind of do some things that were beneficial for America's trade policy. So it's not just a claim of this percentage or that percent but some of Reagan's leadership and tone and tenor."

That tone also reached the ears of Democrats frustrated by Jimmy Carter's presidency. A new band of "Reagan Democrats" sprang up -- something championed today by conservatives and Democrats looking to invoke Reagan as a guidepost for a successful presidency.

One of those Democrats appears to be Obama, who has praised Reagan and defended him against liberal critics. During Obama's December vacation in Hawaii, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs tweeted that the president was reading one of Cannon's Reagan biographies.

"No matter what political disagreements you may have had with President Reagan -- and I certainly had my share -- there is no denying his leadership in the world, or his gift for communicating his vision for America," Obama wrote in an op-ed for USA Today.

Observers argue that Obama is looking to Reagan to find out how to turn around a bad economy, reach out to the other side of the aisle and restore faith in the American spirit.

And Obama, like Reagan, has come under fire from Republicans for negotiating with the Russians on a new nuclear arms treaty reducing missiles in both countries.

"It was a precursor to other agreements, the most recent signed by Barack Obama, which made deeper reductions in nuclear arsenals," Rollins said. "Today, U.S. and Russian specialists inspect nuclear weapons on each other's soil, an action that would have been seen

as unbelievably utopian when Reagan became president."

By Ed Hornick, CNN

February 6, 2011 --

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Mass planned at epicenter of protests as some banks open in Egypt

Mass planned at epicenter of protests as some banks open in Egypt

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Anti-government protesters took to the streets for the 13th day Sunday as the government showed signs of cracking and ripples of normality slowly swept across Egypt.

Christians planned a Mass in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Sunday afternoon, anti-government protesters in the square said.

Muslim protesters said they would form a ring around the Christians to protect them during the service. The Mass planned for 2 p.m. (7 a.m. ET) will pay tribute to those killed during clashes.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood said it will meet with Vice President Omar Suleiman on Sunday. Days earlier, the group had said it would not negotiate until President Hosni Mubarak leaves office.

"We did not change our stance. We decided to take the people's demands to the negotiation table," said Essam el-Erian, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Muslim Brotherhood is an opposition Islamist umbrella group that is officially banned but tolerated in Egypt.

It's the latest development in national political talks after key members of the embattled ruling National Democratic Party resigned Saturday, state television reported. The resignation was the strongest gesture yet to placate angry Egyptians who have been protesting for almost two weeks,

Meanwhile, some banks opened for the first time since January 27 -- two days after protests began. About 50 people lined up outside a bank in Cairo, while other banks were less crowded or remained closed.

The nation's central bank imposed restrictions on withdrawals by individuals, but not by companies, said Ahmed Ismail, manager of the Abu Dhabi National Bank.

Anti-government protesters have said they will continue demonstrating until Mubarak steps down. But the embattled Mubarak, however, remained in his position as head of the party's higher council and as head of state despite popular demands that he relinquish power immediately.

Mubarak's son, Gamal, was among those who resigned from party posts, meaning that he is no longer eligible to take over after his father.

Mubarak has already announced he will not seek re-election in a September vote. Gamal Mubarak's resignation effectively puts to rest a widespread belief that the embattled president was preparing for a dynastic handover.

The United States has been mounting pressure on Mubarak to step aside. On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking at a security conference in Germany, said it is "important to follow the transition process announced by the Egyptian government, actually headed by Vice President Omar Suleiman."

U.S. President Barack Obama, in phone calls with foreign leaders Saturday, emphasized the importance of an "orderly, peaceful transition" to a government that is "responsive to the aspirations of the Egyptian people."

The diplomatic official who delivered a message from the Obama administration to Egypt's leadership this week, however, said Mubarak "remains utterly critical in the days ahead as we sort our way toward the future" and must stay in office.

Changes are needed in Egypt to pave the way for a smooth transition, and "the president must stay in office in order to steer those changes through," said Frank Wisner, a former ambassador to Egypt. "It's his opportunity to write his own legacy."

U.S. officials emphasized that Wisner was speaking for himself, as an expert on the region, and not for the Obama administration.

Some demonstrators said the resignations were a "sedative" move by Mubarak to appease the people.

"This is just one silly attempt to calm down the street, but the regime is still there," said Sameh Bakri in the city of Suez. "They don't want to get straight to the point and resolve the real problem."

The shakeup was announced almost two weeks into Egypt's tumult as thousands of demonstrators held their ground. Last week, deadly clashes broke out in Cairo between pro-Mubarak and anti-Mubarak demonstrators as Molotov cocktails and chunks of concrete flew through the air.

The justice minister announced that courts would reopen Sunday and the government eased its daily curfew, making the hours 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.

"We're in better shape," Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said on state television. "And we can sense that day by day."

Interior Ministry spokesman Ismail Othman said the army would remain neutral, working only to prevent clashes and chaos between opposing groups.

Some opposition leaders said they had teamed up and called for Mubarak's immediate resignation and the right for peaceful demonstration.

Mohamed ElBaradei's National Association for Change and the Tagammu party's leader announced Saturday a newly formed opposition group of 10 people, including ElBaradei, Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Beltagy, and liberal Ghad party leader Ayman Nour.

"We have been in agreement right now that we'd probably have a presidential council of three members including somebody from the army," ElBaradei told CNN. "We have a caretaker government ... who would then run the country for a year, prepare the grounds for the necessary changes in the electoral process to ensure that we will have all what we need for a free and fair election."

By the CNN Wire Staff

February 6, 2011 --

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Behind the scenes: In the hands of an angry, unpredictable crowd

Alexandria, Egypt (CNN) -- The longest walk is when you don't know where it will end.

The longest minute is when you are worried about what's coming.

In Alexandria, both are in easy reach.

Two hundred yards, that's all that separated us from thousands of chanting demonstrators. They'd been marching all afternoon listening to calls of solidarity. Now it was night, rain was falling and stragglers were leaving toward us.

As we walked toward them, the dark, gaping, cavernous sidestreets were oozing menacing, stick-wielding men. Makeshift power lines sagged between the aging apartment blocks.

Nic Robertson's wife on growing dangers

Our plan was get to the crowd, tell the story and get out, our tiny camera hidden from view.

First they were calling us, then grabbing, demanding passports. The men with the sticks were swarming us. Arguing amongst themselves. The men escorting us were telling us to be calm not to worry. Anger was rising.

Our passports were taken, inspected and handed back. That's when the confusion began. Who were we, why were there. Foreigners. Within the past few days, state media has raised paranoia to fever pitch.

Always wary of outsiders' intentions, the government is succeeding in dividing protesters. Not just for and against the government but over the very nature and portrayal of the uprising. They are trying every means to break unity.

We'd come with a group organizing the anti-Mubarak protest we wanted to cover. We were driven on the dark streets past checkpoints manned partly by soccer-playing boys, partly by soldiers and partly by what looked like the same stick-wielding, marauding men crowding around us now.

More of them were closing in now. The tiny gaggle around us was swelling and seething. Everyone passing by was drawn to the drama that was becoming our inquisition. Everyone wanted a say, everyone looking to get involved, take sides, take charge, make a decision.

We should have an official government paper, an angry man in the black leather jacket was shouting. It was becoming chaotic. Everyone had an opinion. Division and disorder were rampant, people pushing and shoving, our guides apologizing. No one person in charge.

The police are gone, the army guard their bases and government property. The streets at night belong to the strong, a sort of semi-self-regulating anarchy rules. Society is fragmenting.

As suddenly as he stopped us, the man in the leather jacket let us go. Hands placed on our backs, we were pushed onward toward the demonstrators. He had given in to the crowd, been pushed down, persuaded we had a right to cover the protest.

For a few moments, we were free. We kept walking. Then we heard his voice again, shouting behind us. This time he had others with him, leather-covered sticks embedded with brass nailheads in their hands. Now he was determined. Now the angry in the crowd outnumbered the apologetic.

Now the minute began and so did the walk. He told us we were being taken away to "another place."

The shouting was reaching fever pitch, people grappling with one another, we were being spun around. My cameraman, Todd Baxter, and I were being separated from our Lebanese producer, Saad Abedine, and Alexandria fixer Mohammed. The hands were pushing us the other way now.

We were spies, the man in the leather jacket was shouting. Impossible to know where we were being taken. He kept marching us down the street, his henchmen at his heel.

We tried to slow and move to our car at the roadside. To my dismay and concern, our driver was gone. That was my hope blown, any chance of a run for it gone. And still no idea where we were being taken.

Our unintended escort was telling us we were to blame for portraying Egypt in a bad light. We were bringing the image of the country down. It's a fuzzy logic that defies the obvious. What's happening is willed by Egyptians on their own countrymen. He wasn't listening.

No punches were being laid, but the menace was clear.

The walk ended at the army base. The crowd circling, still pushing, shoving, shouting. The soldiers cut through the chaos and took us in. It was as night turning to day.

They were polite, organized, calm and courteous. They took a cursory glance at our passports and camera, let us wait behind their heavy gate until the crowd moved on.

It's chaos out there, and they know it.

By Nic Robertson, CNN Senior International Correspondent

February 5, 2011 --

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Egypt's government meets opposition as protests continue

Egypt's government meets opposition as protests continue

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Opposition leaders and intellectuals met with Egypt's vice president Saturday to discuss avenues for easing embattled President Hosni Mubarak from power, the number one demand of of tens of thousands of demonstrators.
Among the proposals under discussion is Article 139 of the constitution, which allows for the vice president to assume control if the president is no longer able.
At least one opposition group, the leftist Tagammu party, is asking the government to activate the article's powers so that Suleiman can take charge immediately and allow Mubarak to make a graceful exit.
A member of the self-declared Committee of the Wise, told CNN that Suleiman was willing to listen.
The group of independent elites -- intellectuals, artists, diplomats and businessmen -- wants to be at the table during crucial government transition talks.
They called on protests to continue at Tahrir Square every Tuesday and Friday until Mubarak "resigns and makes true the demands of
the people."
Mubarak, said the committee, can remain as a symbolic leader but should delegate to Suleiman responsibility for the transition period.
Saturday's talks were taking place as crowds massed again in downtown Cairo's Tahrir Square for a 12th day of protests demanding an end to Mubarak's 30-year authoritarian rule over the Arab world's most populous nation.
After chaos and bloodshed earlier in the week, Cairo remained calm Saturday.
Cars traveled over a nearby overpass in the central city. Outside the Egyptian Museum, people prayed as soldiers stood guard. Protesters who had spent the night swept sidewalks with palm branches and bought food from carts stationed in the square.
The justice minister announced that courts would reopen Sunday and the government eased its daily curfew now imposed from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.
"We're in better shape," Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said on state television. "And we can sense that day by day."
Heavy military presence persisted on the streets of central Cairo. Interior Ministry spokesman Ismail Othman said "the army remains neutral and is not taking sides because if we protect one side we will be perceived as biased.... our role is to prevent clashes and chaos as we separate the opposing groups."
But in a scene exposing how volatile the situation remains, demonstrators formed a human chain to prevent tanks from passing through the barricades into the anti-Mubarak enclave in Tahrir Square.
Activists block tanks from entering Tahrir Square
A witness said scuffles broke out when an army general asked demonstrators to take down their make-shift barricades of corrugated steel and debris, put up during the 48 hours of fighting near the landmark Egyptian Museum.
And hours earlier, gunshots rang out as protesters said scores of Mubarak defenders tried to assault the square early Saturday morning. Troops fired into the air to disperse them, according to the protesters.

Meanwhile, Mohamed ElBaradei's National Association for Change and the Tagammu party's leader announced a newly formed opposition group of 10 people, including ElBaradei, Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Beltagy and liberal Ghad party leader Ayman Nour.
They called for Mubarak's immediate resignation and the right for peaceful demonstration.
"We have been in agreement right now that we'd probably have a presidential council of three members including somebody from the army," ElBaradei told CNN. "We have a caretaker government ... who would then run the country for a year, prepare the grounds for the necessary changes in the electoral process to ensure that we will have all what we need for a free and fair election," he said.
Tagammu and the liberal Wafd party met with Suleiman Saturday, buoyed by the government's promises to investigate the bloodshed at Tahrir Square.
At least 11 people were killed and more than 900 injured, according to the Health Ministry. Many believe the violence was instigated by government provocateurs.
But some opposition groups are refusing to come to the table until Mubarak steps down.
"The so-called dialogue is the first step to exhaust this revolution. The president must go," said Mohammed Habib, deputy chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood, an opposition Islamist umbrella group that if officially banned but tolerated in Egypt.
The group reported that a security force accompanied by a "gang of thugs" stormed the office of its news website Friday and arrested the journalists, technicians and administrators. The Al-Jazeera news network reported a similar attack on its Cairo office.
Those attacks came after two days of violence and a government crackdown on journalists and human rights activists bearing witness to the crisis.

Some had predicted the demonstrations might lose their momentum. But Friday, dubbed the "Day of Departure" saw massive crowds gather in Cairo and other Egyptian cities to demand change.

By the CNN Wire Staff

February 5, 2011 -- Updated 1708 GMT (0108 HKT)

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Internet is easy prey for governments

 

(CNN) -- For all that the revolution in Egypt tells us about the power of networked media to promote bottom-up change, it even more starkly reveals the limits of our internet tools and the ease with which those holding power can take them away.

Yes, services such as Twitter and Facebook give activists the means to organize as never before. But the more dependent on them we become, the more subservient we are to the corporations and governments that control them.

Some of us might like to believe that the genie is out of the bottle and that we all have access to an unstoppable decentralized network. In reality, the internet is entirely controlled by central authorities.

Old media, such as terrestrial radio and television, were as distributed as the thousands of stations and antennae from which broadcast signals emanated, but all internet traffic must pass through government and corporate-owned choke points.

That's why President Hosni Mubarak's regime had so little trouble shutting down his citizens' networks when he wanted to. One phone call to each of the four internet service providers in his country was all it took. And while we might like to believe that couldn't happen in the United States, we should remember that all it took was a call from Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Connecticut, to Amazon for the corporation to shut down WikiLeaks' website recently.

Meanwhile, UK's Vodaphone complied with Mubarak's orders first to turn off cell phone use in Egypt, and later to flood cell phone users with incendiary pro-government messages.

More virtual ink was spilled in the United States about Vodaphone-partner Verizon's version of the iPhone than on Vodaphone's utter complicity in the violence fomented by the commands it promoted through its networks. Although Vodaphone continues to apologize publicly for its ongoing policy of serving the goon squads of a dictatorial regime, it has also continued to follow that regime's orders.

If bottom-up networks are this dependent on the good graces of top-down authorities for their very functioning, then how bottom-up are they? While in the United States we may have policies protecting free speech and open communication, it is these laws -- and not some feature of our internet -- that prevent the kinds of censorship we are witnessing in Egypt.

And, as we saw when push came to shove over WikiLeaks in the United States, how quickly this very same authority can be used to cut off "enemies of the state" from access and funding.

Good, you might say. We don't want people to be able to connect and communicate about anything at all, do we? Isn't it good to have a circuit breaker somewhere? A trusted authority in charge who can prevent people from saying the wrong things to each other? Perhaps.

But if we believe our society is capable of engaging in the democratic process, we must trust its people to share their thoughts and ideas -- their words -- directly with one another, no matter how threatening to those currently in power.

The vulnerability of today's communications infrastructure to the whims of the governments and corporations who administrate it makes it an unsuitable platform for this process to occur.

We might better use the lessons of the internet to build a communications infrastructure that cannot be controlled from the top. For while the internet may have been built with an underlying architecture of central servers, corporate-owned pipelines and government-managed indexes, there are many less centralized alternatives, some of which have been used successfully in the past.

Back before the internet, many of us early computer hobbyists networked on something called Fidonet. It was a simple peer-to-peer network where users' computers would just call each other at night through their old-fashioned modems, exchange information and then move on. It was slow -- e-mail could take a day or two to reach someone under this scheme -- but it suggested a way of doing things independent of a centralized authority.

Today, faced with the limits of the internet, digital activists are reviving such ideas. One of them, "mesh networking," would let people connect simply by opening their Wi-Fi networks to incoming traffic. The inhabitants of an entire city could be connected to one another, without anyone even having an internet service provider. Then that city can connect to another, and so on.

Until we choose to develop such alternative networks, our insistence on seeing the likes of Facebook and Twitter as the path toward freedom for all people will only serve to increase our dependence on corporations and government for the right to assemble and communicate.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Douglas Rushkoff.

By Douglas Rushkoff, Special to CNN

February 5, 2011 --

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New imam quits embattled Islamic community center

New imam quits embattled Islamic community center

The site of the prosed islamic center near Ground Zero in a file photo.

By Allan Chernoff, CNN

A Park51 imam announced his resignation Friday, just three weeks after being appointed to his post at the embattled Islamic community center in New York, according to a written statement Friday.

"I wish the project leaders well," said Imam Adhami, saying he needed more time to complete a book meant to assist English readers in understanding the Quran.

His resignation comes on the heels of a controversial post on his website, sakeenah.org, in which he claimed that "an enormously overwhelming percentage of people struggle with homosexual feeling because of some form of violent emotional or sexual abuse at some point in their life."

Park51 officials later attempted to distance the community center from Adhami's comments, tweeting that "Adhami's personal statements do not reflect the position of p51."

The community center - located two blocks from the ground zero location in Manhattan - describes itself as an inclusive community center open to anyone, with the goal of integrating Muslim-Americans into U.S. society.

"We have been humbled by Imam Adhami's contributions to this project over the past few months," said Park51 President Sharif El-Gamal. "We look forward to him, God willing, leading prayers informally for Park51 in the near future."

His departure is the latest in a string of setbacks after former Imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, was given a reduced role in the center.

Rauf remains on the board of the community center.

Type your summary here Type rest of the post here

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Arlington refuses burial of U.S. ally from Vietnam War

By Larry Shaugnessy, CNN

February 5, 2011 -- Updated 0324 GMT (1124 HKT)

Maj. Gen. Vang Pao led thousands of Hmong soldiers as they fought alongside the United States.

Washington (CNN) -- The family of a man who fought alongside U.S. troops in Vietnam have been told their relative will not be allowed to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Major General Vang Pao led thousands of Hmong soldiers as they fought alongside the United States against the North Vietnamese Army during the war in Southeast Asia, according to a news release from Congressman Jim Costa of California.

Costa, on behalf of Pao's family, asked the Army to grant an exception to Arlington's rules to allow Pao to be buried in the nation's most hallowed burial ground.

Pao died recently of complications from pneumonia, according to Costa.

"The Vang Pao family's request for an exception to the burial policy was thoroughly reviewed by a board comprised of senior military and civilian officials. ... After a comprehensive analysis, the board unanimously recommended denial of the request for exception to policy. Upon receipt of the board's input, the Secretary carefully reviewed and deliberated on this matter and accepted the board's recommendation," according to a statement from the Army released Friday evening.

According to the cemetery's policy, Pao would have had to have served in the U.S. armed forces to be eligible for the honor.

The family can still ask Defense Secretary Robert Gates and President Obama to make an exception. A Pentagon spokesman said he did not know if any request regarding Pao's burial had reached Gates as of Friday afternoon.

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Packers, Steelers steeped in success, blue-collar roots

By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN

February 4, 2011 -- Updated 2301 GMT (0701 HKT)

Terry Bradshaw took the Steelers to their first Super Bowl in 1975, and Bart Starr took the Packers to the first-ever Super Bowl

 

(CNN) -- If you want to know more about two of the NFL's smallest-market yet most successful franchises, talk to the fans.

Let 80-year-old Jim Becker of Racine, Wisconsin, who saw his first Green Bay game "a couple of weeks before Pearl Harbor," tell you how he used to sell blood for $10-$15 a pint to pay for his season tickets.

Or Denny DeLuca, 57, a chef from Carnegie, Pennsylvania, can tell you how a steel beam from Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium -- that, for 30 years, DeLuca adorned with a magic-marker timeline of NFL milestones -- came to be part of his basement.

Though teams such as the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions could make their cases had they ever made the Big Game, Super Bowls don't get much more blue-collar than this.

"Pittsburgh's no longer the steel producer it was years and years ago, but that part of it is still there, as far as connecting with the team," said Ron Vergerio, 57, a bus driver from Cheswick who has been a Steelers fan since he first saw Eugene "Big Daddy" Lipscomb play in the 1960s.

And Vergerio really connects with his Steelers, so much so that he has spent the past decade transforming his body into a collage of players and city landmarks. His back, arms and chest are covered in Steelers past and present -- and not necessarily the biggest stars, mind you, but guys he simply grew to like.

In addition to a portrait of the Steelers' cigar-chomping founder, Art Rooney Sr., there's Kordell Stewart, Joey Porter, Lynn Swann, "Mean" Joe Greene, Jerome Bettis, Max Starks and Troy Polamalu.

His rib cage bears a rendering of Mel Blount (after whom his only son is named) staring down the Oakland Raiders' Cliff Branch, and he spent five hours at the tattoo parlor Thursday having offensive tackle Flozell Adams added to the roster.

"In this city, the whole Steelers thing, it goes from father to kid," he said. "I have four kids, and they all grew up going to Steelers camp -- and three of them are girls."

Becker has 11 children he raised as Packers fans, and money was tight when they were growing up. He felt it was wrong to dip into the household grocery budget to pay for his season tickets, he said, so he would give blood a few times a year to scrape up the cash for them.

In the 1950s, you could get a ticket to a game for $5 or $6, he said, sniping, "Now, you can't get a beer for that." He got his first season tickets in 1959.

"I got four season tickets the same year Vince Lombardi came," he said, referring to the renowned coach from whom the Super Bowl trophy now takes its namesake. "Things took off like lightning from there."

Though he once held 10 season passes (he was given six more about 20 years ago when a close friend died and left them to him), he now has only eight. His daughter's ex-husband got two in their divorce.

Upon his induction last year into the Packers Fan Hall of Fame -- yes, that exists -- he estimated that he had sold hundreds of pints of blood over the years. He also explained how the Packers saved his life, or at least lengthened it.

During a routine physical in 1975, a doctor told him he had hemochromatosis, a blood disorder that had taken his father's life at 43. The treatment for the disorder is to regularly remove blood so that iron levels return to normal. A doctor told him he might have prolonged his life by attending all those Packers games.

Perhaps no anecdotes are as revealing as the the two teams' names.

Green Bay conceived the Packers in 1919 when co-founder Earl "Curly" Lambeau persuaded the Indian Packing Co., a meat-canning business where he earned $250 a month as a clerk, to pay for equipment and open the company field to practices.

The Steelers started off as the Pirates, taking their name from the popular baseball franchise. In 1940, founder Art Rooney Sr., who had purchased the team for $2,500 in 1933, changed the name to reflect the city's economic mainstay.

The Rooneys still own the Steelers, while the Packers are owned by 112,158 stockholders (read, fans) who wield the team's 4.75 million shares without receiving a single dividend.

In addition to being the second- and fifth-oldest franchises in the NFL, respectively, the Packers and Steelers also boast the league's greatest success.

Green Bay has 12 championships, including three Super Bowl wins, to its name, while the Steelers' six Super Bowl wins are the most in NFL history. Only the Dallas Cowboys have attended the Big Game as many times as Pittsburgh.

Both teams' luminaries include a cast of hard-nosed gridiron greats known as much for their toughness as the statistics they racked up along the way. It's worth noting that Super Bowl XLV will be the first without cheerleaders, as the Packers haven't fielded a squad since 1988 and the Steelers since 1970 ... this is, after all, football.

Of course, the Packers have Lambeau and Lombardi in the Hall of Fame alongside Don Hutson, Clarke Hinkle, Bart Starr, Paul Hornung and Reggie White.

Along with Blount, Swann and Greene, the Steelers have also sent guys Franco Harris, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth and Rod Woodson to the Hall.

DeLuca, the chef from Carnegie, calls Dan Rooney, the son of Art Sr., "the architect" and credits him with creating an atmosphere that spurns the bombastic, blinged-out prima donnas that often dominate sports headlines.

The franchise builds up teams from within, and though he concedes there have been exceptions, DeLuca said Steelers are often humble team players, as renowned for their mental acumen as their physical prowess.

"Everybody says the same thing: 'We play as a unit; it's a brotherhood,' but here, it's true," DeLuca said. "They could put Daffy Duck in there if Dan Rooney thought he could do the job."

Though DeLuca has scores of stories about his days as a Steelers fan, one of the most fascinating is the steel beam in his basement. At the old Three Rivers Stadium -- "on the 50-year-line, as high up as you could be" -- DeLuca sat for years under the beam, which supported a box for cameramen.

He hid a magic marker there and would document the game's highlights: "Terry Bradshaw 500th complete pass," "Lynn Swann three touchdowns in one game," "Donnie Shell knocks out Earl Campbell."

When the Steelers were ready to retire Three Rivers, DeLuca would go down to the stadium and watch the bulldozers prepare for the implosion. He became friendly with a security guard who had just moved from Syracuse, New York, and was craving a good meal.

"Get me that beam and call me. I'll get you a good meal," said DeLuca, who cooks at an upscale Italian restaurant. "The next night, I'm at work, and we hear a knock at the door. The car parker says, 'Some guy with a piece of metal is out here. I think it's a repairman.'"

And with that, the beam became part of DeLuca's basement, which has been outfitted as an elaborate shrine to his favorite team. DeLuca has watched many a Steelers away and playoff game in the cellar.

This year, however, he'll be joining his daughter for the game because Carnegie Mellon University has moved DeLuca's Steelers Room in its entirely to a gallery for the exhibition, "Whatever It Takes: Steelers Fan Collections, Rituals, and Obsessions."

So, how about our tattooed Steelers friend and blood-giving Cheesehead? Do they have big plans for Super Bowl Sunday, you ask? Nope. Both said the hooting and hollering of a sports bar is distracting.

Vergerio plans to watch the game at home with a small crowd, mostly family, and Becker said he'll be sitting "right here in the lounge chair I'm in right now."

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Amid Egypt-inspired unrest, Iraqi prime minister cuts salary in half

Amid Egypt-inspired unrest, Iraqi prime minister

cuts salary in half

 

From Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN

 

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said cutting his salary will "reduce the differences in the living standards for

different classes."

Baghdad (CNN) -- Amid growing unrest about poor public services and water shortages, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday agreed to cut his salary in half.

Protesters around Iraq have said recent popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia inspired their weeklong demonstrations for improvements in government services and their quality of life.

Thousands have rallied since Sunday across the country, railing against rampant poverty, a 45% national unemployment rate and shortages of food, electricity and water, including several hundred in three different parts of Baghdad on Friday.

Al-Maliki said those concerns prompted his decision to axe his salary, which he said would "help reduce the differences in the living standards for different classes."

"Fifty percent of my monthly salary as prime minister will be reduced and returned to the government's treasury starting from the current month, as a contribution from me to reduce the difference in the salaries of the state officials," al-Maliki said in a statement released by his office and posted on his official website.

On al-Mutanabi Street in central Baghdad, nearly 200 people gathered Friday morning to show solidarity with those rallying against their governments elsewhere in the Arab world and voice domestic concerns.

Some shouted in support of "democracy and peace" in Egypt and Tunisia, and others cried, "Governments fall with the voice of righteousness" and "Don't prevent us from expressing. We demand change!" Marchers also carried banners saying, "Baghdad will not be Kandahar," referring to the recent crackdown by the Iraqi government on liquor sales.

"We stand in solidarity with the Egyptian people and their uprising in order to achieve their freedom and their independence from the dictatorship," protester Abdullah al-Rikabi told CNN. "We have not seen any changes in the past eight years, and we demand better basic services."

In Husseinya, a Shiite majority neighborhood in northern Baghdad, hundreds more demonstrators demanded improvements in electricity and water service. "We don't have a government but only a corrupted government!" some shouted.

These demonstrations began right after Friday services in neighborhood mosques.

"Iraq has suffered a big deal under the tyranny of (deposed dictator) Saddam (Hussein), and it's still suffering from bad basic services, food and other things," protester Bassam Abdulrazaq said.

Wiam Saber said "Iraqi people are fed up with things in Iraq," but the recent events elsewhere in the Arab world stirred them to publicly voice their concerns through demonstrations.

"The things that happened in Egypt and Tunisia was kind a motivation for us, so we started this just to let them know that we are not going to be silent, and we will talk about all the horrible things that happen in Iraq," he said.

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'First-aid' needed for 5,000-year-old Somali cave paintings

'First-aid' needed for 5,000-year-old Somali cave paintings

By Laura Allsop for CNN

 

(CNN) -- Prehistoric paintings of antelope, snakes and giraffes that have survived for around 5,000 years are now under threat from looting and a lack of protection.
The rock paintings, which include renderings of dogs and sheep as well as human figures, were discovered at Dhambalin, in a unique sandstone shelter close to the Red Sea in Somaliland, a breakaway state from war-torn Somalia.
They were found by Dr. Sada Mire in 2007, in what she says was first ever survey initiated and led by a Somali archaeologist in the region. Since then, Mire has discovered 100 cave and rock art sites across Somaliland, but they need desperately to be preserved.
Mire said the sites are not only vital to the understanding of pre-history across the Horn of Africa, but also important in bolstering cultural pride in the people of Somaliland.
"That gives them a sense of dignity and that they are not totally desperate, they have something that the world thinks is very valuable," she said.

But Somaliland is in need of help and infrastructure to safeguard its ancient heritage.
Although it declared independence from Somalia in 1991, Somaliland is not internationally recognized as a separate state. This means that its sites cannot be granted World Heritage status by UNESCO.
According to Francesco Bandarin, UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Culture, Somalia is one of the few member states not to have ratified its 1972 World Heritage Convention, meaning that its sites are not eligible for World Heritage status.
Heritage workers in Somaliland therefore face a dilemma, said Dr. Dacia Viejo-Rose, a Researcher at the Cultural Heritage and the Reconstruction of Identities after Conflict project at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, part of the University of Cambridge in the UK.
"They can choose to protect their heritage as Somalian and lobby the government and the ministry of culture in Somalia to present (their case) to UNESCO," she said.
Or, they can "stick to the fact that it's not Somalia's heritage but Somaliland's," in which case they can't then follow that path.
"The question is, which is the priority? To protect the distinctiveness of Somaliland or to protect the heritage no matter what and who is claiming it?" she continued.
Another problem faced by Mire is the lack of museums in which to store objects. Mire writes on her website Somali Heritage and Archaeology, that museums in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, and second largest city Hargeisa, have suffered severe looting during the ongoing civil war. Somaliland still lacks a museum.
"At the moment we do not do any excavations because we are not able to host objects," said Mire. She believes that there are many sites in Somaliland awaiting discovery.
"The best way to protect (objects) is to take them straight to a laboratory (in a museum) and give them first aid," she continued.

Educating Somalis about their heritage is another important task for Mire, who heads Somaliland's Department of Antiquities, a branch of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which she helped establish.
While human sweat is enough to damage the delicate rock paintings, burial sites nearby are often looted for artifacts that are sold on to illicit antiquities traders. Looting tends to be done by locals, who are unaware of the archaeological significance of their sites, Mire said.
"You have a whole base of very, very poor people digging sites and getting peanuts for it," Mire said.
Despite these issues, though, progress is being made. Mire is creating an inventory of sites across Somaliland and drafting antiquities laws to protect them.
"We just drive away for weeks and disappear into the desert," she said.
"Usually we take albums and show locals pictures of the sites we are looking for," she added.
She has elected local Somalis to be custodians of the sites and hopes that they can benefit in future from tourism.

In her eyes, it is important for the people to feel that their heritage belongs to them.

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Questions about quality of intel ahead of Mideast unrest

Questions about quality of intel ahead of Mideast unrest

Demonstrators in Tunisia on Friday hold signs reading, ''Mubarak, Ben Ali is waiting for you in Saudi Arabia.''

 

Washington (CNN) -- The violence from the streets of Tunisia to Egypt, and the U.S. struggle to find the right diplomatic response, is raising questions about whether the U.S. intelligence community failed to predict things were about to boil over.

The White House denied suggestions that the president was displeased with the level of intelligence he got ahead of the uprising in Tunisia.

The White House spokesman wouldn't discuss the private conversations between President Barack Obama and his aides, but said the president is satisfied with the intelligence he is receiving.

"The president expects in any case he'll be provided with relevant, timely and accurate assessment -- that's what he received," spokesman Robert Gibbs said Friday. "Rest assured that there are volumes of reports that have been read by this administration and past administrations about the potential for instability and unrest in Tunisia, in Egypt, and throughout the world," Gibbs said at the White House briefing.

A U.S. official privy to the information provided to policymakers insisted that the U.S. intelligence community warned after unrest in Tunisia that "the unrest could gain momentum and threaten the status quo."

However, Adm. Mike Mullen, America's top military officer, acknowledged on The Daily Show on Thursday night that the tsunami of protests across the Mideast caught U.S. officials in the wave. "To a great degree I think the timing of it certainly caught us as it moved from Tunisia and sort of across to the really difficult challenge that sits there right now in Egypt," said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

In fact, U.S. military officials have been telling CNN for days they have limited understanding of what is happening inside the Egyptian government. The military are depending partially on television broadcasts around the clock to get their latest information.

Congress also entered the fray. Some senators wanted to know if the intelligence agencies failed to realize tens of thousands of Egyptians would rebel after years of massive unemployment, social unrest and dissatisfaction with an authoritarian regime.

"I've looked at some intelligence in this area, which indicates some lacking," said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-California, at a Thursday hearing.

Questioning a senior intelligence official, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, said: "You can't just gaze into a crystal ball and try to guess what can't be predicted, but I do want to get a general sense of when you all told the president that we were faced with something that was as serious as what we have seen in recent days."

Appearing in front of the committee, CIA Associate Deputy Director Stephanie O'Sullivan said some recent events could not be predicted. "We warned of instability. We didn't know what the triggering mechanism would be for that, and that happened in the end of last year," said O'Sullivan at the hearing to consider her nomination to be the Deputy Director of National Intelligence.

The ranking Republican on the committee, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Georgia, asked the intelligence community to provide a timetable within 10 days of what Obama was told about the developments in Egypt.

"While no one would expect that the IC (intelligence community) could have predicted the specific event that led to the initial unrest in Tunisia, the IC should have been able to provide assessments of the broader implications of that unrest, and we want to make sure that occurred," Chambliss told CNN on Friday.

Rep. Mike Rogers, the new Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a former FBI agent, cautioned against calling this an intelligence failure.

"Intelligence clearly helps us understand developments in places like Egypt, but is not a crystal ball. We've got to be realistic about its limits especially regarding the complex and interactive behavior of millions of people," said Rogers.

 

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Egyptian VP recently eluded assassination bid, official says

(CNN) -- Omar Suleiman, the recently appointed Egyptian vice president, recently escaped assassination, the host of a security conference in Germany said Saturday.

German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger, the host of the Munich Security Conference, mentioned the development during a plenary session of the meeting and said that several people were killed.

Details about the incident, including when and where it happened, were not immediately known.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at the conference that the news of the assassination attempt reflects the challenges of restoring stability in Egypt.

The vice president, appointed last week amid widespread cries for President Hosni Mubarak's ouster, has been working to initiate a government transition, and Clinton said it's important to support the Suleiman-led process.

Suleiman had been an intelligence chief and a powerful behind-the-scenes player for a long time, and his appointment was seen widely as an attempt by Mubarak to restore order.

He is well-respected by the military and is credited with crushing an Islamic insurgency in the 1990s, for which he earned the ear of Western intelligence officials seeking vital information about regional terrorist groups.

If Suleiman's name is not well known, that is intentional. As head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate, known as the Mukhabarat, he has worked in the shadows of Mubarak's regime, earning him the nickname of "the secret minister."

Suleiman has been credited with saving Mubarak's life. On a state visit to Ethiopia in 1995, Mubarak was to have traveled in a normal vehicle but Suleiman insisted that the president's armored Mercedes be flown in from Cairo. Accounts of what happened in Ethiopia vary but it's believed that Suleiman was sitting next to Mubarak when a hail of bullets pinged off the car. The bond forged that day cemented their relationship.

Born in an impoverished area of southern Egypt in 1935, Suleiman chose the military as a career, according to a Foreign Policy magazine biography.

He rose through the ranks of the Egyptian infantry to become a lieutenant general. After his country allied itself with the United States, he attended the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare School and Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in the 1980s, Foreign Policy reported.

He was tapped for Egypt's top intelligence post in 1993, at a time when the Arab world's most populous nation was wracked with terrorist attacks targeting tourists and essential infrastructure.

Defense and security analysis company IHS Jane's says Suleiman's interaction with the Israeli Mossad as well as the Central Intelligence Agency catapulted him to a central role in Egypt's security apparatus.

In 2001, he led Egyptian efforts to confront a Palestinian uprising next door. Later, he played a crucial role in the formation of a new Palestinian government headed by Mahmoud Abbas, according to Jane's.

CNN's Elise Labott contributed to this report.

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