Hillary Clinton faults Bush on Afghanistan
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday the Bush administration never sent enough troops to Afghanistan to defeat the al-Qaida and the Taliban.
In an interview with CNN, Clinton said President George W. Bush and his top advisers were unrealistic about Afghanistan from the invasion in late 2001. She said after skimping on the size of the U.S. force in 2001, the administration then dropped the ball by shifting its focus to Iraq.
Karl Rove, Bush's former top political adviser, defended the administration earlier this week in an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America." He said if military leaders on the ground in Afghanistan had wanted more troops they would have been supplied.
Rove said U.S. allies in Afghanistan failed to put in enough troops.
Clinton refused to comment on what she would like to see in a healthcare plan, saying her role has changed since former President Bill Clinton put her in charge of formulating a plan in 1993.
"I'm going to cheer from the sidelines," she said.
Gaza report endorsed by U.N. council
GENEVA, Switzerland, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- The United Nations Council on Human Rights voted Friday to endorse a report on the Gaza conflict between Israeli forces and Hamas militants.
The controversial report that urges Israel and Hamas to conduct investigations into the conflict or face possible war crimes prosecutions won the backing of 25 countries, the EUobserver reported. But five European countries joined the United States in opposition while others abstained.
The report by Richard Goldstone, a former South African judge who was the chief prosecutor for U.N. tribunals on war crimes in Bosnia and Rwanda, said Hamas might have committed war crimes with the rocket attacks on southern Israel that provoked the invasion. But it was far more critical of Israel, suggesting its military deliberately targeted civilians.
Human rights groups and Palestinians say the 22-day conflict in January resulted in the deaths of more than 1,400 Gaza residents.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked to his British counterpart, Gordon Brown, before the vote, while Defense Minister Ehud Barack called several European foreign ministers.
"The democratic nations of the world must understand that adopting the report will cripple their ability to deal with terror organizations, and terror in general," Barack said, as quoted by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Michigan city delays Gitmo detainee plan
STANDISH, Mich., Oct. 16 (UPI) -- The City Council in Standish, Mich., says it has delayed a plan to allow detainees from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to be housed at the Standish state prison.
The Detroit Free Press said Friday the council, facing concern by local residents, has delayed its plan to offer the soon-to-close prison to President Barack Obama's administration as a detainee detention site.
Kelly Kimball was among residents who wondered what it would mean to have suspected terrorists from the U.S. detention facility in the state prison.
"Bringing a bunch of terrorists into our backyard is not a viable solution" to the economic problems in Standish, Kimball told the Free Press.
In addition to the financial problems caused by the general economic downturn, Standish is facing losses when the nearby state prison closes at the end of the month.
Officials told the Free Press if Standish decides to house Guantanamo Bay detainees, the number of people confined at the state prison would be notably lower than the prison's previous prisoner maximum of 600.
H. Clinton aided by indicted financier
NEW YORK, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Financier Raj Rajaratnam, who was indicted in New York Friday, was a major contributor to Hillary Clinton campaigns, records show.
ABC News said according to records the hedge fund billionaire facing charges of taking part in a $20 million insider trading scheme made donations to Clinton's Senate campaign and to her unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign.
When combined with donations to other Democratic campaigns, Rajaratnam and his wife donated a total of total of $118,000.
Documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service show he also donated more than $3.5 million to the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization. The Tamil organization has alleged ties to the Sri Lankan separatist group, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
The 2005 and 2006 contributions to the organization by Rajaratnam, who was born in Sri Lanka, were made via a separate charity the financier founded, ABC News reported.
Adam Szubin, director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control at the time of Rajaratnam's donations, told ABC News the organization allegedly served as a front for terrorism.
"TRO passed off its operation as charitable, when in fact it was raising money for designated terrorist group responsible for heinous acts of terrorism," Szubin said.
Koreas fail to reach border-reunion deal
SEOUL, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- North and South Korea were unable to reach a consensus Friday on more reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, officials said.
Officials at the South Korean Unification Ministry said both sides agreed to work toward future talks, involving the Red Cross, but remained divided on certain issues, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
"In conclusion, both Koreas failed to bridge differences on their stances on further reunions. No concrete agreements were reached," a ministry official said.
"The North asked for humanitarian aid from the South. We told them that we will review it after returning (to the South)," the official said.
The most recent round of cross-border reunions took place in September and represented the first reunions in nearly two years, Yonhap said.
Citizens in North and South Korea are not allowed to communicate with one another with telephone calls, e-mails or letters.
