Miers, Iraq war, hurricane response prompt GOP to confront Bush

James Kuhnhenn,… Miers, Iraq war, hurricane response prompt GOP to confront Bush

James Kuhnhenn, Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON – The conservative rebellion against Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers is widening the split between the White House and Republicans, sowing fears among party strategists that President George W. Bush is jeopardizing 10 years of GOP congressional dominance.

With defiance unseen since he’s been in the White House, Senate Republicans already have reined in the administration on the treatment of foreign detainees, forced it to jettison no-bid post-hurricane reconstruction contracts and given Miers a tepid welcome as Bush’s choice to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Behind these emboldened stances lie growing unease over Bush’s Iraq policy, dismay at the federal response to Katrina and Bush’s sinking public approval ratings.

The parting of ways signals a loss in Bush’s clout after five years that is likely to have consequences for the remainder of his term and possibly beyond. Democrats need a net gain of six seats to recapture control of the Senate – a task made easier if Bush alienates religious conservative voters who helped him greatly in 2004 and now are offended by his selection of Miers.

Three Morehead students charged in burning of newspapers

Art Jester, Knight Ridder Newspapers

Three Morehead State University students have been charged with allegedly burning about 7,000 copies of the student newspaper to halt the appearance of an article about an alleged sexual assault, according to www.trailblazeronline.net, the student paper’s Web site, and a University news release.

University police brought charges of third degree criminal mischief against: Danielle Brown, 22; Andrea Sharp, 22 and Jennie Williams, 20, all of Morehead.

The Trail Blazer reported that university police were investigating a report of criminal mischief at the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house after the copies of The Trail Blazer were reported as stolen.

The newspapers were taken from 31 on-campus and 15 off-campus sites.

Morehead city police are still investigating the alleged off-campus sexual assault.

Government struggles to get aid to areas devastated by earthquake

Kim Barker, Chicago Tribune

NOWPORA, India – When the earth shook and the clouds of dust rose in the air, people here thought they knew what had happened: The cease-fire was over, and the mortar shells had started to fall again.

Only after the dust cleared, did villagers near the Line of Control between Pakistan and India realize that this time, tragedy came from the earth, and not from the sky. A powerful, 7.6-magnitude earthquake had leveled brick homes, schools and hospitals. Landslides had swept away villages. The temblor killed between 20,000 and 30,000 people in Pakistan, mainly on that country’s side of disputed Kashmir. It also killed at least 600 on the Indian-controlled side, officials said late Sunday.

In Nowpora, the earthquake broke the back of Rubina Bano, 21, by crushing her under her two-story brick home. Across the narrow road, blocked by landslides farther up the mountainside, Ali Mohammad Mir prepared to sleep outside and mourned dead family members.

“There was a feeling of deja vu,” said Mir, 40, a teacher. “When the bombs used to come, the dust used to rise up. Yesterday it happened the same way. It was as if the bombs had come again.”

Even if Iraqis approve constitution, there’s no guarantee of peace

Nancy A. Youssef, Knight Ridder Newspapers

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqis face another pivotal moment in their dance with democracy when they go to the polls on Saturday to approve or reject a constitution that was drafted in hurried, acrimonious negotiations over the summer.

Most people – even Sunni Muslims opposed to it – now expect the constitution to pass.

But there’s no such consensus on whether the constitution will relieve or aggravate the religious, ethnic and other divides in Iraqi society, which have deepened since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime in April 2003.

Supporters of the constitution say its passage would be a major stride toward the Bush administration’s goal of making Iraq a democratic model for the Arab world.

But the rancorous drafting process and flaws in the document, combined with the mounting violence in Iraq, could further alienate the country’s Sunni Muslim minority, fuel the insurgency and create another milepost on Iraq’s path toward disintegration.