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Nelson: Can't support public option

WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Passage of U.S. healthcare reform in the Senate will hinge on how a "public option" provision is written, a centrist Democratic senator says.

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" he doesn't like how a healthcare reform bill now being considered by the Senate is currently written. It permits states opposed to establishing a government-run alternative to private health plans in areas where there is little competition to opt out of the program.

"I am opposed to the public option of where the states have to opt out," Nelson said. "I said I would look at a public option where states could opt in, but that with the 'opted in,' it wouldn't apply to every other state."

Nelson added, "I really think that ... you can have state-based solutions in many instances where the states can step forward and take care of certain responsibilities, with some assistance from the federal government."

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., also appearing on "This Week," asserted that the Senate proposal "creates 70 new government agencies with thousands of new bureaucrats, with ... 1,597 different instances where the secretary's mandated to write rules and regulations."

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Schumer: Votes there to pass public option

WASHINGTON, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Efforts to establish a government-run public option health insurance measure can pass the U.S. Senate, a senior Democrat said Sunday.

One day after the Senate voted 60-39 to open debate on Democratic Party-led healthcare reform measures, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., told CBS' "Face the Nation" the votes exist in the chamber to approve one of its most controversial elements -- the establishment of a government-operated health plan to provide competition with private insurers in some parts of the country.

"I believe we can (pass it)," Schumer said, asserting the measure has sufficient support because of its "modest" scope and because states will be able to opt out of it if they so desire.

"What we will say to the people from the more 'red,' conservative states, your state doesn't have to take it," Schumer said "But don't make it so that my state, which would like a public option, can't take it. And the opt out works."

Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz., noted on "Face the Nation" that Massachusetts, which he described as having "the ultimate public option," also "has the second highest premiums in the country. It turns out public option doesn't drive premiums down."

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Secret documents show Iraq war failures

LONDON, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- The British government misled the public and its forces were unprepared and poorly equipped for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, secret documents indicate.

The documents reveal "critical failure," "significant shortcomings," "absence of U.K. political direction" and "lessons learnt," Britain's Sunday Telegraph reported. The papers were leaked ahead of Tuesday's scheduled start of an Iraq inquiry headed by Sir John Chilcot, the newspaper said.

The documents indicate former Prime Minister Tony Blair misled the public and Parliament in 2002 when he said Britain's aim was "disarmament, not regime change," and there was no planning for military action. There was, in fact, preparation for invasion and overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2002, The Telegraph said.

Commanders at all levels issued "post-operational" reports which said, in part, coalition forces were "ill-prepared and equipped to deal with the problems in the first 100 days" of the occupation and troops did not have enough or the right supplies. Some soldiers went into the field with only five bullets each and others had to travel to the war zone on civilian airlines, taking gear as hand luggage with weapons being confiscated by airport security.

One commander described the supply chain as "absolutely appalling."

"I know for a fact that there was one container full of skis in the desert," the commander is quoted as saying.

The Telegraph has not said whether it will publish the documents.

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Wet weather not helping Arizona drought

PHOENIX, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Wet weather patterns that ended droughts across much of the United States have skipped Arizona, worsening long-term conditions in that state, experts say.

A weak storm season in Arizona extends a dry streak going back to 1996, The Arizona Republic reported Sunday.

Vanishing water reserves have forced ranchers to sell livestock. Watering holes that sustain wildlife are drying up and much of the state faces conservation measures unless weather patterns change, the newspaper said.

"We really are sliding toward pretty serious drought conditions by spring," University of Arizona climatologist Michael Crimmins said. "We've been working to keep everybody focused on drought, to get ready for an event like this. Well, here it is."

Phoenix has had only 2.78 inches of rain since the beginning of the year, four inches below the 30-year average. With no measurable rain since Sept. 5, the city could experience its driest year on record, the Republic said.