Results tagged “iraqwar”

President Bush gave his first "exit interview" to ABC Word News' Charles Gibson, and among the revelations: He was "unprepared" for the 9/11 attacks and regretted the WMD intelligence that led him to the Iraq War. He said, "I think was unprepared for war. In other words, I didn't campaign and say, 'Please vote for me, I'll be able to handle an attack.' In other words, I didn't anticipate war. Presidents-- one of the things about the modern presidency is that the unexpected will happen." Bush does believe that 9/11 brought the country together, though. more ›

Congressman Anthony Weiner sounded the call for cities to be reimbursed for employees fighting in the Iraq War. Like he did last year, Weiner cites the fact that civil servants, like cops and firefighters, still get paid by the city when their military salaries are less. And since many don't send their military salaries to the city, Weiner says NYC has lost "$65.6 million since September 11, 2001," per the Sun. Weiner said, "While it is important that we honor the patriotism of those who go to serve overseas, we should realize that for every police officer that is off the streets here in New York City patrolling the streets of Fallujah or Baghdad, taxpayers are footing the bill." More info here at Weiner's website. more ›

Five years ago today, the United States became involved with the Iraq War. While many Americans are unhappy with the war, per the Washington Post, "For the Bush administration, however, it is the first anniversary of an Iraq strategy that it believes has finally started to succeed." Today President Bush is expected to say, in a speech at the Pentagon, "Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision, and this is a fight America can and must win." Almost 4,000 U.S. soldiers have died in the past five years, while almost 30,000 have been wounded. Here's a list of military casualties. more ›

Yesterday, The Daily News printed an article that began, "A cop-bashing art exhibit at a taxpayer-funded museum in Brooklyn portrays the city's Finest as trigger-happy racists who have put bull's-eyes on the backs of black New Yorkers." more ›

A total no-brainer: The family of 17-month-old boy who was shot in the arm by an off-duty police officer has filed a notice of claim against the city. The Porcellini family will also pursue action against the NYPD and 24-year-old police officer Patrick Venetek. more ›

• Perhaps the big surprise (besides Juno getting nominated for Best Director and Best Picture) was Ruby Dee for her work in American Gangster (its only other nomination was for art direction)

At last night's ABC News/Facebook debate in New Hampshire, both parties' candidates held debates. After the Thursday's Iowa results presented Barack Obama as a winner and Hillary Clinton as a disappointing (to her campaign) third place, some interesting things transpired during the Democratic debate. Obama and Iowa runner-up John Edwards apppeared to team up against Clinton. The NY Times called it an "allegiance of convenience" and noted that the defining moment was when Clinton tried to call out Obama's leadership:

As Mrs. Clinton attacked Mr. Obama as waffling on the Patriot Act and Iraq war funding, she sought to make an ally out of Mr. Edwards. She suggested that Mr. Obama had hypocritically tried to paint Mr. Edwards as inconsistent on the issues. All eyes turned to Mr. Edwards, and he delivered a coup de grace — siding dramatically with Mr. Obama instead of Mrs. Clinton. more ›

A sparkling new 700-pound ball, tons of confetti, and over a million people helped ring in the New Year from Times Square last night/early today. Mayor Bloomberg and police Police Academy valedictorian Karolina Wierzchowska, who also served in the Iraq War, hit the switch that brought the famous Times Square New Year's ball down. The Daily News called it a "shimmering pole dance," and it was the 100th time Times Square has had a ball drop to welcome the new year. more ›

Yesterday was the city's day to honor and remember veterans of the U.S. armed forces. The 88th annual Veterans Day Parade started with the Eternal Light Monument Ceremony in Madison Square Park, followed by a parade up Fifth Avenue to 56th Street. An estimated 20,000 gathered for the parade, and there were veterans from World War II, Korean War, and the Iraq War. Mayor Bloomberg said, "You should know that 70 New Yorkers have given... more ›

The best part of Mayor Bloomberg's maybe, maybe-not presidential aspirations is that we can debate about whether they are going to happen until the Democratic and Republican conventions next year! The NY Times now reports that the "excitement seems to have fizzled" about the idea of Candidate Bloomberg. It's a bit more detailed that Dan Rather's August proclamation that the Mayor would not run for president. more ›

Rudy Giuliani replaced his lead fundraiser. Anne Dunsmore joined the Giuliani campaign in May, and her credentials as the California finance director during President Bush's 2000 and 2004 elections prompted Giuliani to create a special position for her - deputy campaign manager for finance. Dunsmore was leading the drive to raise more than $100 million; she told the Washington Post's The Fix last May, "When you have $100 million situation hitting or missing by 10 percent is giant...it's a couple of states." Her replacement is another former Bush fundraiser, James H. Lee. more ›

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Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. more ›

We're less than a week away from the Times Square Kiss-In! more ›

(directed by Zack Snyder) more ›

Even though a Sunni insurgent group claimed yesterday that two captured U.S. soldiers had been killed, one of the soldiers' mothers hoping that her son is still alive. Maria Rosario Duran spoke to reporters outside her Corona, Queens home. She said, "I can't even imagine that he's not going to return alive, that I will never see him again." more ›

The Iraq Veterans Against the War, dressed in full uniform, engaged in a series of street theater actions around the New York City area yesterday. Actual veterans of the Iraq war played American service members and local volunteers played the civilians. The event was treated like a military operation with squad patrols, searches, detentions, and crowd control. An IVAW member, Adam Kokesh, said, "By reenacting what we've been through in Iraq, we hope to inspire more of our fellow Americans to act to end the war now."
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President Bush is taking his No Child Left Behind Act education platform to Harlem today, with an afternoon visit to the Harlem Village Academies charter school on West 144th Street today. Yes, that's what all the traffic and security is for- as well as the lack of garbage cans. The school and Department of Education are proud that Harlem Village Academy was selected; founder Deborah Kenny tells the Sun, "We take in kids that are really struggling, but they just get better and better, and stronger and stronger." more ›

The prolific journalist and author David Halberstam died yesterday in a car crash outside of San Francisco. Halberstam, a New Yorker, was traveling in a car that was broadsided while trying to make a left turn. Two other cars were involved in the crash, none of the drivers were seriously injured. The NY Times obituary notes that Halberstam "was killed doing what he had done his entire adult life: reporting," as he was on his way to interview a football player for an upcoming book. more ›

A look at some noteworthy television programs this week: more ›

If you're down by Ground Zero tonight, don't be surprised if you see some two-hundred foot tall anti-war projections. The Glass Bead Collective is bringing their tricked out 100,000 lumen projector van into the city for an art-protest: more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

After the fun of seeing the 1993 Rudy Giuliani vulnerabilities study on The Smoking Gun, the Post asks if Giuliani's "woman problems" will hurt his chances. Not only was Giuliani married for 14 years to his second cousin, his marriage to Donna Hanover publicly crumbled during his second term as mayor. And he was seeing current wife Judi Nathan before he was formally divorced from Hanover! more ›

THEATER: It’s “go time” for The Butane’s Group’s Operation Ajax, which ingenuously sets the CIA’s 1953 overthrow of Iran’s first democratically-elected government in the context of a casino. “Constructed from no less than 25 text sources (memoirs, documentaries, plays, poetry, novels, films, reality tv shows), the densely-layered performance explores how the addiction to risk and gambling has become a potent metaphor for U.S. foreign policy.” (For an enhanced theater experience, explore the show’s thorough bibliography, with links to all source material.) - John Del Signore more ›

Yesterday, a couple hundred Columbia students walked out to protest the war, and CTV News has video, and you'll see protesters chanting for troops to be removed as they march on and around campus (apparently there was free hot chocolate during the cold day). Interestingly, the Columbia College Democrats removed their support for the walk out "in part because of disagreements over whether to call for divestment," according to the NY Sun. more ›

In unsurprising but still headline-generating news, Senator Hillary Clinton has declared herself in the 2008 presidential race this morning. She posted a message on her website, HillaryClinton.com. Here is some of her statement:

I'm in. And I'm in to win. more ›

For politicians, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was busy as they made the rounds at a number of city events. Governor Spitzer, Lieutenant Governor Paterson, Mayor Bloomberg, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and Representative Charles Rangel all appeared at the Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network's House Justice and also the Brooklyn Academy of Music's celebration. more ›

A few days after Saddam Hussein was hanged, he became the subject of an art exhibit. And who does Hussein share the canvas with? None other than Donald Rumsfeld. Back when Rumsfeld was Special Envoy to the Middle East under the Regan Administration, he and Hussein met to discuss the Iran-Iraq War. Oh yeah, and oil (see sections 18-19 on pages 15-17 of this then-confidential report). Two years ago, Jonathan Podwil began a series of paintings based on this historic encounter. Now on exhibit at Greenwich Village’s Plane Space till February 4, Meeting 1983 becomes even more significant than when the artist began his work. more ›

A look at some noteworthy programs this week:
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In the wake of President Bush's Wednesday night address to the country, when he announced that he will send thousands of more soldiers to Iraq, hundreds of people protested the plan. They convened at the tiny island in the middle of Times Square in front of the U.S. Armed Forces recruiting station, with signs like "Stop the funding, stop the war" and "When government lies, Democracy dies" with drivers passing by honking their horns. Some protesters were dressed as Guantanamo prisoners. Of course, there were counter-protesters; one sign said, "Warning: Leftist protesters trying to demoralize our troops." No arrests were reported. more ›