Deaths of Iraqi civilians investigated
BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 16 (UPI) -- A criminal investigation is under way into the deaths of 15 civilians last year in the Iraqi city of Haditha, CNN reports.
The Marines originally reported that the Iraqis were killed by the same roadside bomb that caused the death of Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas. But CNN, citing sources in the military, reports that the judge advocate's office got a tip that led to an investigation into possible indiscriminate shooting by the Marines.
Haditha is northwest of Baghdad on the way to the Syrian border.
Moussaoui prosecutor suspended with pay
ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 16 (UPI) -- The Transportation Security Administration has placed a lawyer on paid leave for coaching witnesses in the penalty hearing for an admitted terrorist.
Carla Martin's action led U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema to ban the testimony of seven Federal Aviation Administration employees.
U.S. prosecutors argue that Zacarias Moussaoui deserves a death sentence for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks even though he was in jail at the time on immigration charges. They hope to convince the jury that federal investigators could have averted the attacks if Moussaoui had revealed everything he knew.
Martin, a former flight attendant who has worked on high-profile cases like the Lockerbie bombing, was supposed to play only a minor role in the Moussaoui case, the Washington Post reported. In court papers, prosecutors called her the "lone miscreant" and talked of her "aberrant and apparently illegal behavior."
The sentencing hearing is in recess until Monday. Prosecutors are trying to determine if they can go forward without the seven FAA witnesses.
Bush names Idaho gov. Interior Secretary
WASHINGTON, March 16 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush named Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne to succeed Gale Norton as secretary of the interior Thursday.
In a brief White House appearance with the nominee, the president said Kempthorne would build on environmental progress made by Norton.
"As governor of Idaho, he worked closely with Gale on a variety of important initiatives," Bush said. "They worked together to resolve a longstanding water rights issue, to return responsibility to Idaho for managing the local wolf population and to make the Healthy Forests Initiative a reality in Idaho."
A native of California, Kempthorne graduated from the University of Idaho and worked in the state department of land management before running for mayor of Boise. He served one term in the U.S. Senate before being elected governor.
If his nomination is confirmed by the Senate, as seems likely, Kempthorne will be the second Idaho governor to head the Interior Department.
Environmentalists, who are not enthusiastic about Norton's record, are unlikely to be enthusiastic about Kempthorne. In 2003, when Kempthorne was tipped as a possible head of the Environmental Protection Administration, liberal columnist Timothy Noah wrote in Slate that he would be a "comically anti-environmental choice."
Senate votes to increase U.S. debt limit
WASHINGTON, March 16 (UPI) -- The Senate voted Thursday to increase the national debt limit to almost $9 trillion, the fourth hike since President George W. Bush took office.
The vote was 52-48, with three Republicans joining Senate Democrats in opposition, the New York Times reported.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, head of the Finance Committee, urged a vote for the bill, blaming the increase in federal spending on the Iraq war and national security.
"We don't have too little money in the government," Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., one of the three Republicans to oppose the increase, said a day before the vote. "What we have is not enough will to cut the spending or reform the programs."
