House combat bill includes troop withdrawal measure

House combat bill includes
troop withdrawal measure

WASHINGTON — Under pressure to support the troops but end the war, House Democrats said Thursday they would send President Bush $50 billion for combat operations on the condition that he begin withdrawing troops from Iraq. The proposal, similar to one Bush vetoed earlier this year, would identify a goal of ending combat entirely by December 2008. It would require that troops spend as much time at home as they do in combat, as well as effectively ban harsh interrogation techniques like waterboarding. In a private caucus meeting, Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House, told rank-and-file Democrats that the bill was their best shot at challenging Bush on the war. And if Bush rejected it, she said, she did not intend on sending him another war spending bill for the rest of the year. The House planned to vote as early as today on the $50 billion war spending bill. White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Bush would veto any bill that sets an “artificial time line” for troop withdrawals.

Court eyes gun control

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court takes aim at gun control today, in a private conference that soon could explode publicly. Behind closed doors, the high court’s nine justices will consider taking a case that challenges the District of Columbia’s stringent handgun ban. Their ultimate decision will shape how far other cities and states can go with their own gun restrictions. “If the court decides to take this up, it’s very likely it will end up being the most important Second Amendment case in history,” said Dennis Henigan, the legal director for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Henigan predicted “it’s more likely than not” that the necessary four justices will vote to consider the case. The court will announce its decision Tuesday.

Waterboard is torture,
ex-Navy official declares

WASHINGTON — A former Navy survival instructor subjected to waterboarding as part of his military training told Congress on Thursday that the controversial tactic should plainly be considered torture and that such a method was never intended for use by U.S. interrogators because it is a relic of abusive totalitarian governments. Malcolm Wrightson Nance, a counterterrorism specialist who taught at the Navy’s Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape school in California, likened waterboarding to drowning and said those who experience it will say or do anything to make it stop, rendering the information they give nearly useless.

Testimony against O.J.

LAS VEGAS — A memorabilia dealer accusing O.J. Simpson of robbing him testified Thursday that the former football star burst into a hotel room with a handful of other men, including one wielding a gun, and carried off hundreds of collector’s items. Bruce Fromong, one of two dealers allegedly robbed, said he had expected to meet with an anonymous buyer on Sept. 13, when Simpson arrived with others “in a military invasion fashion” and shouted that the items belonged to him. “O.J. was screaming, ‘This is all my s---. This all belongs to me. You stole this from me. Let’s pack up. Let’s get out of here,’” Fromong said. Simpson, 60, and two co-defendants are charged with robbery, kidnapping and other offenses.

Gas leak kills 29 miners

BEIJING — A gas leak killed 29 coal miners Thursday in southwest China, while another six are missing and presumed dead, state media said. Xinhua News Agency said the accident happened at the Qunli mine in Nayong county in Guizhou province.

Gates: Japan must help

TOKYO — Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned today that Japan and its neighbors must do more to confront security problems in Asia, calling it one of the “last places on earth with the potential for a nuclear confrontation.” It will take more than one or two countries to overcome the threats from North Korea and nuclear proliferation, Gates said in a speech at Sophia University that stressed the United States’ continued commitment to Asia yet cautioned that other allies must step up.

Musharraf yields some

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — President Gen. Pervez Musharraf yielded to pressure from the United States on Thursday and said Pakistan will hold parliamentary elections by mid-February, just a month later than originally planned. But the military leader showed no sign of letting up on his political foes, reportedly arresting more than 800 supporters of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto before dawn in an effort to head off a major anti-government demonstration set for today.

Combined dispatches