Senate Approves War Funding Bill, Timeline for Iraq Troop Pullout

By Deborah Tate Washington 26 April 2007

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The U.S. Senate, following the lead of the House of Representatives, has approved a compromise bill that funds military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. But it also sets a goal of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq by early next year - a provision that President Bush says will force him to veto the measure as soon as he receives it. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

The Democratic-led Senate voted largely along party lines to approve the legislation, which is a compromise between earlier bills passed by the House of Representatives and Senate.

The measure includes about $95 billion to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through September 30. It also calls for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq beginning in October or earlier, if President Bush determines the Iraqis have not met certain benchmarks, including disarming militias and taking steps toward a unity government.

The bill sets a non-binding goal of completing a withdrawal of combat troops by April first of next year.

It would allow for the continued deployment of some non-combat forces who are pursuing terrorist networks or training Iraqi troops.

Many Democrats used debate on the bill to reiterate their criticism of President Bush's handling of the war.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. right, questions a witness during a hearing as Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., listens (File)

"The president has failed in his mission to bring peace and stability to the people of Iraq," said Senator Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat.

The Democratic-led chamber approved the measure despite President Bush's vow to veto it, and personal appeals a day earlier by the top army general in Iraq, David Petraeus, to allow more time for a recent U.S. troop surge in Iraq to make progress.

Senate Republicans, including Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, said setting a timetable for a troop withdrawal sends the wrong signal.

"Just wait months, our enemies are told, and the place is yours. When the going gets tough, can you really count on the Americans to see it through in a responsible way? This is the wrong message at the wrong time," said Lott.

Senator John Warner of Virginia, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, expressed concern about the impact the timetable withdrawal would have on the military mission in Iraq:

"This measure places undue constraints on the utilization of our brave military, together with our allies working with us, and indeed on the utilization of the Iraqi military, which likewise has followed through with a brave performance with our forces," he said.

But Democrats argued they were siding with most Americans, whom public-opinion polls show favor setting a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq.

"President Bush should be listening to the American people and working with Congress to bring this tragic war to an end. Instead of continuing to defy the will of the American people and Congress by threatening to veto the legislation, he should be putting the Iraqis on notice," said Senator Ted Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat. "He must make it clear to the Iraqi government that it is time for them to take responsibility for their country and resolve their political differences. The American military will not police Iraq's civil war indefinitely."

Democrats hope to send the bill to President Bush as early as Monday, the day before the fourth anniversary of the president's speech aboard an aircraft carrier when he declared the end of major combat operations under a banner that said, "Mission Accomplished".

After the expected veto, lawmakers would have to rewrite the legislation, as the Democratic-led House and Senate lack the two-thirds majorities needed to override a veto. Both chambers are expected to approve legislation funding the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan before the current funding runs out by June or July.

US General Says Iran-Linked Group Attacked US Troops

By Al Pessin Pentagon 26 April 2007

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The top U.S. commander in Iraq says an Iraqi group affiliated with an elite Iranian force carried out an attack last year in which five U.S. soldiers were killed near the Iraqi town of Karbala. The statement by General David Petraeus follows months of suspicion about Iranian involvement in the incident, but the general says he cannot directly connect Iranian agents to the attack. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

General David Petraeus at the Pentagon, 26 Apr 2007

General Petraeus told a Pentagon news conference that his conclusion about the Karbala attack comes from the results of interrogations of the leaders of an Iraqi insurgent group affiliated with Iran called the Khazali Network.

"Iranian involvement has really become much clearer to us and come into much more focus during the interrogation of the members, the heads, of the Khazali Network and some of the key members of that network that have been in detention now for a month or more," said General Petraeus.

General Petraeus says the network received money and weapons from Iran, and that some of its members were trained inside Iran. He says a computer captured with some members of the organization contained a document proving its involvement in the Karbala attack, but he says there was no indication that Iranian agents were directly involved.

"We discovered, for example, a 22-page memorandum on a computer that detailed the planning, preparation, approval process and conduct of the operation that resulted in five of our soldiers being killed in Karbala," he said.

In the January incident, insurgents attacked a building in Karbala. One U.S. soldier was killed during the attack and four others were kidnapped. Three were later found handcuffed together and shot to death. The other had a bullet wound in his head and died as U.S. forces were taking him to a hospital.

General Petraeus says the Iraqi group responsible for the attack is linked to Iran's elite Quds Force, which conducts special operations abroad. But he could not say whether senior Iranian leaders are involved in the Iraq operations.

"We do not, at least I do not, know of anything that specifically identifies how high it goes beyond the level of the Quds Force commander Soliman," noted General Petraeus. "Beyond that, it is very difficult to tell. We know where he is in the overall chain of command. He certainly reports to the very top. But, again, nothing that would absolutely indicate, again, how high the knowledge of this actually goes."

General Petraeus also criticized Syria for allowing foreign fighters to enter Iraq through its territory. He says the foreigners carry out 80 to 90 per cent of the suicide bombings in Iraq, which have killed hundreds of Iraqi civilians in recent weeks. The general says al-Qaida organizes those bombings, and he called the group "Public Enemy Number One" in Iraq.

In spite of the bombings, General Petraeus says some progress is being made toward establishing security in Iraq. He cited a sharp drop in sectarian killings in Baghdad, and increased cooperation from Sunni leaders, especially in al-Anbar Province. Still, he acknowledged that U.S. and Iraqi casualties remain high and there is much work to do.

"Because we are operating in new areas, and challenging elements in those areas, this effort may get harder before it gets easier," he said.

The general says the surge of U.S. forces in Iraq will not be completed until mid-June, and he will not be able to make even a preliminary assessment of its success until September.

He said that assessment will be based on the security situation, but also on economic development, progress on key political issues and whether there are improvements in the Iraqi legal system. He also said Shiite militias must be brought under control for Iraq to have long-term stability.

General Petraeus tried to steer clear of the political debate in Washington, in which Congress, under the control of the Democratic Party, is trying to set a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. But he did answer a question about what might happen in Iraq if a U.S. withdrawal were to begin in October, as the Democrats want.

"My sense is that there would be an increase in sectarian violence, a resumption of sectarian violence, were the presence of our forces and Iraqi forces at that time to be reduced and not to be doing what it is that they are doing right now," said David Petraeus.

He said as bad as the situation in Iraq is now, it could get "much, much worse."

General Petraeus said Washington works on what he called an "American Clock" regarding the Iraq war, a clock that runs fast because of frustration over the length of the conflict and the number of U.S. casualties. He said that, in Baghdad, what he called the "Iraqi Clock" runs more slowly because of the sharp political divisions.

VOASE0426_Economics Report

26 April 2007

Teaching the Student Loan Industry a Lesson
Conflicts of interest between lenders and colleges are investigated in US.

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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Imagine this: An official in a position of trust helps you choose a company for a service important to your future. You expect that the advice will be in your best interest.

What you do not know is that the person's office has a financial relationship with that company. The official may have received gifts likes trips or stock options, or money for professional advice.

Would you wonder, then, just whose interest was being served?

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo

This is what some American states are investigating in connection with the student loan industry. They are examining possible conflicts of interest when schools direct students to lists of so-called preferred lenders.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says colleges and universities often fail to tell about their ties to banks and other finance companies. His office has already settled cases including with two big lenders.

Sallie Mae, the nation's biggest education lender, agreed to pay two million dollars. And Education Finance Partners agreed to pay two and one-half million. Neither of them admitted any wrongdoing. The money will go to educate students about loans.

In some cases, when students call a school for loan advice, they talk to a lending company employee. But they are not always told that.

Andrew Cuomo wants financial aid offices and lenders to follow a set of rules, a College Loan Code of Conduct. These would end financial ties between lenders and schools, including gifts and trips.

At the same time, lawmakers are seeking changes in the student loan system. Mister Cuomo was at a hearing Wednesday in the House of Representatives. He criticized the Department of Education for not doing enough to control the student loan industry.

A day earlier, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced a committee to study federal student loan programs. And last week, her department temporarily restricted the use of a national system of financial records on millions of students. She said officials were concerned about an increase in usage of that government database by lenders and other companies.

In another development, Sallie Mae, officially the SLM Corporation, has agreed to a buyout offer. Two banks and two private equity companies are offering shareholders twenty-five billion dollars. The deal is unusual. Loan companies generally do not produce enough profit to finance a sale based largely on borrowed money.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0426_American Mosaic

26 April 2007

Not Enough Room for a Tiger in Your Home? A Toyger May Be Answer
Also: A question from Pakistan about cowboys. And Cajun music by the Pine Leaf Boys.

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HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Doug Johnson. On our show this week:

We answer a question about cowboys ...

Play music by the Pine Leaf Boys ...

And tell about a new kind of cat.

Toyger Cats

Breeder Judy Sugden with Warwhoop, a top toyger

Have you ever seen a tiger and wished you could have one as a pet? Well, the largest member of the cat family now comes in a smaller version. American cat breeders have worked for years to develop the toyger. This new kind of house cat looks just like a toy tiger. Faith Lapidus has more.

FAITH LAPIDUS:

A professional breeder named Judy Sugden developed the toyger cat by selecting and mating other cats. Toygers are large-boned cats with orange-gold colored fur and black markings. A perfect toyger also has small rounded ears and a white stomach. A toyger is usually a very playful and intelligent pet that behaves more like a dog than a cat.

Miz Sugden’s mother is a cat breeder as well. Jean Mill studied genetics in college and put her skills to work in creating the Bengal cat. This cat looks just like a small leopard. Judy Sugden decided that she would create a tiger look-alike to go with her mother’s leopard breed cat.

To do this, she mated a Bengal cat with a tabby cat that had special marks on its fur. Over many years she worked to mate cats that had the size and appearance that she was looking for. In two thousand, the International Cat Association accepted the toyger as a new breed of cat.

Over time, toyger breeders may try to change the current appearance of the cat. They may work to bring out qualities such as its round ears and a straighter nose.

But owning this small cat can come at a high price. Baby cats that have the right qualities to be prize-winning toygers can cost thousands of dollars. Kittens that are sold just to be pets can still cost from five hundred to one thousand dollars.

Also, purebred cats often have genetic health problems. And some animal doctors question the morality of creating new cat species. Many homeless cats are put to death in animal shelters because of overpopulation.

Still, it is hard not to like these energetic and beautiful toyger cats. Judy Sugden says that in breeding toygers she is helping to save the spirit of wild tigers. These larger cats may be disappearing from the wild. But it is still possible to have a smaller version to play with at home.

Cowboys

HOST:

Bull riding is a rodeo event

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Pakistan. Tayyab Ajmal asks about the American cowboy.

History experts say the traditional American cowboy became important after the American Civil War in the eighteen sixties. People who owned cattle ranches hired these men to control large groups of cattle over large areas of land. For twenty years, thousands of cowboys drove millions of longhorn cattle from Texas to the new railroads in Kansas and Colorado.

Experts say that men came from all over the United States to work as cowboys in the West. Cowboys were excellent horse riders. They trained wild horses. They used rope to catch and tie runaway animals. The work that cowboys did was difficult and dangerous. The pay was low. And their lives were lonely. Cowboys were brave and independent. They wore special clothing for the needs of the job. The cowboy became the symbol of the American West.

After about nineteen hundred, the need for cowboys decreased. Many books, movies and television shows continued to tell stories about cowboy heroes.

The rodeo was invented to prevent the cowboy lifestyle from disappearing. Rodeos today include most of the same skills used by cowboys one hundred years ago. These include riding wild horses and bulls. Pulling steers to the ground by their horns. And using ropes to catch and tie the legs of a cow.

Cowgirls also take part in rodeo competitions. One event for women is called barrel racing. The cowgirl must ride her horse around each of three large containers, then ride back to the starting area.

The winners of these rodeo events receive money as prizes. Rodeos are big business, earning hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Some take place in large indoor centers. Many of the rodeo performers are professional rodeo cowboys. They may enter as many as one hundred or more rodeos a year to earn a living. They travel from one rodeo to another to take part in a dangerous sport.

A cowboy can earn thousands of dollars for an eight-second ride on a wild horse. Or he might break his neck.

The Pine Leaf Boys

The Pine Leaf Boys are five musicians who are bringing new energy and life to the old traditions of Cajun and Creole music. These young men live in the southern state of Louisiana. Their skillful performances and deep love of music shine in their two albums. Barbara Klein has more.

BARBARA KLEIN:

Cajun music is the sound invented by French people who settled in southern Louisiana in the eighteenth century. Many of these traditional songs are in a version of French spoken in Louisiana. The Pine Leaf Boys all grew up listening to this music. Here is the fast beat of the "Pine Leaf Boy Two-Step." It is sure to make you want to start dancing.

(MUSIC)

Wilson Savoy is one of the band's members. He sings and plays the fiddle and accordion. Wilson grew up in a family with a rich musical history. His father, Marc Savoy, is well known across America for his finely made button accordion music instruments. His mother, Ann Savoy, sings and plays the guitar. She recently released the album "Adieu False Heart" which we told about in a story last September.

Wilson says that one reason Cajun music has survived is because it is dance music. He says Cajuns need to go out dancing and have a good time. Here is "La Belle Josette" sung by Cedric Watson.

(MUSIC)

The Pine Leaf Boys perform often in Louisiana and all around the United States. Wilson Savoy says that if they were not performing on stage they would be at home playing for themselves and their friends. This summer they will perform in England and France.

Their performances are filled with great energy. It is not unusual for them to trade instruments in the middle of a concert. We leave you with "Ma Petite Femme" from their newest album "Blues de Musicien."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program today.

It was written by Dana Demange and Nancy Steinbach. Caty Weaver was the producer. To read the text of this program and download audio, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA’s radio magazine in Special English.