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Bill Clinton, Senate Dems talk healthcare

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton heads to Capitol Hill Tuesday to speak to the Senate Democrats' weekly lunch and push for healthcare reform, a memo said.

"All Senators should be aware that former President Clinton will be making a presentation on (healthcare) at tomorrow's (Tuesday's) caucus lunch. (Senate Majority Leader Harry) Reid has requested that all Democratic Senators attend," read a notice obtained by CNN.

The former president was expected to tell the Senate Democratic caucus about what happened during his administration when efforts to pass healthcare reform failed, two senior Democratic sources told CNN.

Democrats in the House of Representatives approved its version of healthcare reform Saturday.

If the Senate passes a reform bill, a congressional conference committee will meld the House and Senate proposals into a consensus version that requires final approval from both chambers before being sent to President Barack Obama for his consideration.

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Ida loses storm status over U.S. southeast

MIAMI, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Tropical Storm Ida was downgraded to tropical depression status Tuesday morning as it saturated the U.S. Gulf coastal states with rain, forecasters said.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said at 9 a.m. CST, all storm warnings ranging from Louisiana east to Florida had been discontinued.

Ida was about 30 miles east-southeast of Mobile, Ala., moving northeast at 9 mph. The former hurricane was packing winds of 35 mph and further weakening was expected throughout the day.

Forecasters warned as much as eight inches of rain was possible along the forecast path through Wednesday.

The center said high Gulf of Mexico coastal water levels would begin abating later Tuesday.

Ida surprised forecasters by quickly developing over the Atlantic Ocean last Thursday and becoming a hurricane that moved northward through Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

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Obama mulling five options for Afghanistan

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama and his senior advisers will consider five strategies for Afghanistan and Pakistan at their next meeting, administration officials said.

Obama and his advisers are to meet Wednesday to consider an Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy, including recommendations on strategy and troop levels recommended by U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, ABC News reported Tuesday.

During his Oct. 30 meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Obama asked officials to assess four other strategy options -- including the missions, troop requirements and cost -- but hasn't reviewed them, ABC said. All five options would increase the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

"I've been asking not only General McChrystal, but all of our commanders who are familiar with the situation, as well as our civilian folks on the ground, a lot of questions that, until they're answered, may -- may create a situation in which we resource something based on faulty premises," Obama said in an interview with ABC. "And I want to make sure that we have tested all the assumptions that we're making before we send young men and women into harm's way; that if we are sending additional troops that the prospects of a functioning Afghan government are enhanced, that the prospects of al-Qaida being able to attack the U.S. homeland are reduced."

The White House has denied reports that Obama has decided a course in Afghanistan. An announcement of his final decision is expected after he returns Nov. 19 from a visit to four Asian countries.

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Suspect warned of Muslims fighting Muslims

FORT HOOD, Texas, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- The man accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, warned U.S. Army physicians 18 months ago against deploying Muslim soldiers to fight other Muslims.

As a senior-year psychiatric resident at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Maj. Nidal M. Hasan urged senior Army physicians to avoid "adverse events" by allowing Muslim soldiers be released as conscientious objectors rather than fight in wars against other Muslims, a copy of his presentation obtained by The Washington Post indicated.

"It's getting harder and harder for Muslims in the service to morally justify being in a military that seems constantly engaged against fellow Muslims," he said during the presentation that was supposed to be about a medical topic, the Post reported Tuesday.

Investigators allege that Hasan opened fire in Fort Hood's Soldier Readiness Center, killing 12 military personnel and one civilian Thursday.

An Army spokesman told the Post he was unaware of the presentation.

Hasan spent six years at Walter Reed as an intern, resident and fellow beginning in 2003. He was transferred to Fort Hood as a psychiatrist in July and was to be deployed soon for Afghanistan. A relative said Hasan asked not to be deployed, but it was unknown whether he sought conscientious-objector status, the Post said.

The title of Hasan's 50-slide presentation was "The Koranic World View As It Relates to Muslims in the U.S. Military." In one slide, Hasan described the presentation's objectives as identifying "what the Koran inculcates in the minds of Muslims and the potential implications this may have for the U.S. military."

Its recommendation was, "Department of Defense should allow Muslims (sic) Soldiers the option of being released as 'Conscientious objectors' to increase troop morale and decrease adverse events."

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Suspected gunman in custody at school

PINE PLAINS, N.Y., Nov. 10 (UPI) -- A suspected gunman was in custody and no one was injured after a principal was held hostage Tuesday at a school in Pine Plains, N.Y., officials said.

The principal was held hostage for nearly two hours at Stissing Mountain High School, about 90 miles north of New York City.

The suspect was taken into custody after state police isolated him to one room of the school and negotiated with him, a spokesman for the sheriff's department told CNN.

Pine Plains Supervisor Gregg Pulver said he had been told the gunman was a parent of a child at the school, which was surrounded Tuesday by nearly 100 state, county and local police officers.

Parents waiting in a nearby lot applauded when they heard the situation had been resolve safely, said Nancy Kotzur, a Pine Plains resident who has two sons at the school.

"Now we're waiting for the children to be released," Kotzur said.

The gunman was at the school when it opened at 7:45 a.m., a time when as many as 500 children and 100 staff also were at the school, Pulver said. There was no immediate word on a motive for the hostage-taking.

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Czech soldiers sacked for Nazi insignia

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Two elite Czech soldiers serving in Afghanistan have been fired for wearing Nazi insignia on their helmets, Defense Minister Martin Bartak announced Tuesday.

Speaking at a Cabinet meeting in Prague, Bartak said the two soldiers, Hynek Matonoha and Jan Cermak, as well as their commander, Petr Prochazka, have been sacked after a Czech newspaper ran a photo of Cermak wearing a helmet adorned with the symbol of the SS Dirlewanger Brigade --- one of the most infamous Nazi combat units of World War II, Ceske Noviny reported.

The newspaper said both soldiers, members of the Czech rapid reaction brigade deployed in Afghanistan, were forced to leave the military without retirement allowance or severance pay. Bartak had said this week he would take tough strong measures against extremism in the military and has fired another soldier who reportedly admitted to planning abductions of "Jews in high posts."

The two soldiers' commander was suspended after allegedly ordering the Nazi insignia and photographs of them be burned.