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U.S. MILITARY DEATHS (IRAQ): 3218
U.S. MILITARY WOUNDED (IRAQ): 24,042
IRAQI CIVILIAN DEATHS (MIN): 59,326
'EXCESS' IRAQI DEATHS: 655,000
BLACKS ARE WRONG!
Lawmaker says blacks should 'get over' slavery
BY KIMBALL PAYNE
247-4765
January 17, 2007 RICHMOND -- The day after lawmakers honored the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr., a member of the House of Delegates stirred furious and tearful debate in Richmond with inflammatory comments about African-Americans and Jews. Del. Frank Hargrove, R-Hanover, triggered controversy while talking about an impending House resolution that would formally apologize for the state's role in the slave trade. He said African-Americans should "get over it" because no one alive today was involved in slavery.
"Are we going to force Jews to apologize for killing Christ?" Hargrove asked.
His comments appeared in the Charlottesville Daily Progress on Tuesday, and lawmakers reacted quickly when the House opened session that day. Hargrove, 79, responded by denouncing slavery but was met with groans and awkward silence when he suggested that a Jewish delegate, whose grandparents escaped Nazi-occupied Poland, was being hypersensitive about the comments.
"I think your skin was a little too thin," Hargrove said.
It marks the third time in the last five months that a Virginia Republican has stepped into racial controversy. And it comes as the state is poised to welcome the world to Jamestown for the 2007 celebration, where it will mark the contributions of American Indians, Africans and English settlers and the beginning of the state's complex racial history.
Last year, incumbent U.S. Sen. George Allen lost his seat after using an obscure racial epithet to describe a worker for a rival campaign. Allen's campaign never recovered after he twice called a videographer for his opponent "macaca" - a genus of monkey and a racial slur in some French-speaking African countries.
Last month, Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Rocky Mount, touched off outrage when he criticized a Muslim Congressman for using a Quran at his swearing-in ceremony several weeks ago. Goode has not backed down, instead warning that not speaking out could lead to the election of more Muslims.
On Tuesday, three delegates stood on the House floor to condemn Hargrove's words.
Virginia Black Caucus Chairman Dwight C. Jones, D-Richmond, said Hargrove's statements were narrow-minded and exclusionary. Then Jones recalled the horrors of the slave trade and the struggles for civil rights.
"When somebody tells me I should just get over slavery, I can only express my emotion by projecting that I am appalled, absolutely appalled," Jones said.
Jones said Hargrove desecrated King's memory. Del. Donald McEachin, D-Richmond, talked about the stories of his family's bondage that have been passed down from his grandmother who will soon turn 103 years old.
"Quite frankly ... it's hard to get over it," said McEachin. "When there is a wrong committed, there needs to be an apology."
Del. David Englin, D-Alexandria, explained his family's exodus to the United States to escape fervent anti-Semitism in Poland prior to World Ward II.
"There are members of this body whose families came here in chains," said Englin, who sits next to Hargrove on the House floor. "My family came here in hope. ... I know the gentleman meant no harm to my family. I hope we can all use this as a learning opportunity."
When Englin finished, Hargrove rose to respond. He condemned slavery and said he didn't mean to offend anyone. But after describing the plight of American Indians, Hargrove continued to explain why he was against a formal state apology for slavery.
"I didn't have anything to do with mistreating Indians," Hargrove said.
Hargrove then addressed Englin specifically.
"I didn't know you were Jewish. I don't care what your religion is," Hargrove said. "I think your skin was a little too thin."
Afterward, delegates from Hampton Roads had a variety of reactions.
Del. Mamye BaCote, D-Newport News, read Hargrove's words early Tuesday morning and said she was not surprised.
"Even though it's 2007, there are still people who believe that an apology isn't necessary," BaCote said. "Some things haven't changed."
Del. Jeion Ward, D-Hampton, was taken off guard.
"It was shocking to see," said Ward. "It was really saddening."
Del. Lionell Spruill Sr., D-Chesapeake, said there was no excuse for what Hargrove said.
"What he said, you can't dress it up," said Spruill. "The man said thin-skinned? Come on, now. This kind of stuff has got to stop. He's been around a long time. He knew there was a problem a long time ago. How can we get over it by these kinds of remarks? It won't go away."
Asked how outsiders would view Virginia in light of this latest racial controversy, Spruill said: "They will say, well, Virginia's still in the South."
Some black delegates were more forgiving.
"He's been one of those delegates who has always reached out to me," said Del. Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke. "He's given me good sound advice. We've had plenty of conversations. I've never felt any racial tension between us."
Ware said Tuesday's debate could have been handled differently by those who responded to Hargrove.
"Although we disagree with Del. Hargrove's statement, this is America. It's OK for him to feel that way," he said. "But my job is to enlighten him, not to try and further incite the debate. That's the only place where I think we missed the opportunity."
The slavery apology resolution is to be brought for a vote within the next few weeks.
BLACKS MOCKED
Clemson probes party that mocked blacks
CLEMSON, S.C. - Clemson University and the NAACP said Tuesday they are investigating an off-campus party held during the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend that some considered offensive because white students drank malt liquor and at least one partygoer wore black face.
Pictures from the party were posted online, and Clemson officials learned of the Jan. 14 party this past weekend. The school is probing whether students were harassed or whether there was underage drinking.
Clemson President James Barker wrote in a letter to students and faculty that he was "appalled, angered and disappointed" by the party, which "appeared to mock and disparage African Americans."
"Many people have been offended and deeply hurt," he said.
The party organizers issued an unsigned letter of apology, saying, "We invited all races and types of peoples and never meant any racial harm."
"We want everyone to know how sorry we are, and that we are willing to do anything to make things right," the letter said.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was looking into the party and at least three similar events at other colleges around the country, said state chapter president Lonnie Randolph.
Clemson has roughly 1,100 black students out of more than 17,000 undergraduates, the university's Web site says.
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Audit: U.S. lost track of $9 billion in Iraq funds
Pentagon, Bremer dispute inspector general's report
Monday, January 31, 2005 Posted: 0412 GMT (1212 HKT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Nearly $9 billion of money spent on Iraqi reconstruction is unaccounted for because of inefficiencies and bad management, according to a watchdog report published Sunday.
An inspector general's report said the U.S.-led administration that ran Iraq until June 2004 is unable to account for the funds.
"Severe inefficiencies and poor management" by the Coalition Provisional Authority has left auditors with no guarantee the money was properly used," the report said.
"The CPA did not establish or implement sufficient managerial, financial and contractual controls to ensure that [Development Fund for Iraq] funds were used in a transparent manner," said Stuart W. Bowen Jr., director of the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.
The $8.8 billion was reported to have been spent on salaries, operating and capital expenditures, and reconstruction projects between October 2003 and June 2004, Bowen's report concluded.
The money came from revenues from the United Nations' former oil-for-food program, oil sales and seized assets -- all Iraqi money. The audit did not examine the use of U.S. funds appropriated for reconstruction. (Full story)
Auditors were unable to verify that the Iraqi money was spent for its intended purpose. In one case, they raised the possibility that thousands of "ghost employees" were on an unnamed ministry's payroll.
"CPA staff identified at one ministry that although 8,206 guards were on the payroll, only 602 guards could be validated," the audit report states. "Consequently, there was no assurance funds were not provided for ghost employees."
The Defense Department, which was in charge of the reconstruction effort, and former Iraq civil administrator Paul Bremer have disputed the findings.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told CNN that the provisional authority was operating under "extraordinary conditions" and relied on Iraqi ministries to manage development money that was transferred to them.
"We simply disagree with the audit's conclusion that the CPA provided less-than-adequate controls over Iraqi funds that were provided to Iraqi ministries through the national budget process for hundreds of projects, essential services, Iraqi salaries and security forces," Whitman said.
The occupation government established "major reforms" in Iraq's budgeting system, setting up a transparent mechanism for decision-making and beginning efforts to fight corruption, Whitman said.
Under a U.N. Security Council resolution, the Development Fund for Iraq was to be used for humanitarian needs, economic reconstruction and repair of infrastructure, continued disarmament, costs of civilian administration and other programs benefiting Iraqis.
Bremer, in a written response included in the report, said Bowen's report failed to recognize the difficulties of operating in wartime.
"The IG auditors presume that the coalition could achieve a standard of budgetary transparency and execution that even peaceful Western nations would have trouble meeting within a year, especially in the midst of a war," Bremer wrote.
Bremer, who received a Presidential Medal of Freedom in December for his work in Iraq, stated that auditors did not interview him, any of his budget directors or deputies in preparing their draft report.
"On the whole, the office has done excellent work," he wrote. "But I do believe my colleagues at the CPA have a right to expect a level of professional judgment and awareness, which seems to be missing in the current draft report."
Bowen's report, which was prepared for Congress, acknowledged that the insurgency in Iraq poses "the most difficult challenge" to reconstruction.
"Even under the most favorable of conditions, rebuilding Iraq would be a job of daunting proportions," he wrote.
But the provisional authority did not clearly assign managerial responsibility, and its rules lacked clear guidance on procedures and controls for dispersing funds, he concluded.
Staffing shortages and turnover also resulted in inadequate oversight of budget execution by Iraqi ministries, he found -- and allegations of corruption in the oil-for-food program should have raised concerns about the Iraqi government's ability to manage the reconstruction funds.
***
Panel questions Annan, delays report
U.N. secretary-general interviewed in oil-for-food investigation
Thursday, January 27, 2005 Posted: 1909 GMT (0309 HKT)
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was formally questioned Tuesday for the third time by a panel he appointed to probe the United Nations' controversial oil-for-food program in Iraq.
The interviews were conducted by members of the Independent Inquiry Committee, led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.
Volcker took part in Tuesday's session, which lasted one hour and 35 minutes in Annan's office at U.N. headquarters, and in at least one other session.
A U.N. spokesman said the committee previously interviewed Annan on December 3 for 25 minutes and on November 9 for one hour and 45 minutes.
Volcker's interim report on the oil-for-food program had been expected next Monday, but the committee has decided to delay its release by at least one week.
Sources close to the investigation said the report -- expected to focus on the program's procurement process and potential corruption involving participants outside the United Nations -- is being held up to give those involved time to respond.
From the start, Volcker said no one was untouchable in his probe, and Annan pledged to cooperate fully. In all, he has been interviewed for nearly four hours.
"I couldn't say what I accomplished today. We met with him from time to time," Volcker said exiting the United Nations. "All I can tell you is wait for the report to come out."
Annan has come under scrutiny for alleged U.N. mismanagement of the program and for an apparent conflict of interest because a firm employing his son, Kojo Annan, won the U.N. contract to inspect goods shipped to Iraq.
The oil-for-food program began in late 1996 as a way to permit Iraq, while still under economic sanctions, to export some of its oil.
Revenues from the sales were deposited in a U.N.-controlled bank account, with proceeds earmarked for purchasing food, medicine and approved supplies.
Kojo Annan worked for Cotecna Inspection in the late 1990s. The Switzerland-based firm replaced Lloyd's Register in 1998 as the contractor tapped to authenticate goods arriving in Iraq. The contract became worth $66 million over five years, according to a U.N. official.
Both Cotecna and the younger Annan have said his work was unrelated to any of the firm's business in the Middle East or with the United Nations and was limited to West Africa, where Kojo Annan lives.
The oil-for-food program grossed $64 billion, according to Volcker's committee, with two-thirds of the funds paying for Iraqi imports. The rest paid for U.N. weapons inspectors, Iraqi reparations to Kuwait for its 1990 invasion and costs of administering the program.
Earlier this month, Volcker's committee said U.N. audits of the program revealed "under-pricing of oil and the overpricing of humanitarian goods" as well as "inadequate procedures, policy, planning, controls and coordination process across numerous areas of activity."
Volcker's committee also found U.N. management overseeing the program was "not quick to react to criticism and was either unwilling or unable to address issues raised." (Full story)
The program ended in 2003 after the U.S.-led invasion toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Previously, Saddam handpicked the buyers of Iraqi oil and the vendors of humanitarian goods, allowing him to extort surcharges on the oil and kickbacks on the goods worth an estimated $1.7 billion to $4.4 billion, according to studies by the CIA-backed Iraq Survey Group and the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Besides Volcker, the FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission and a handful of U.S. congressional committees are investigating the oil-for-food program.
Last week, federal prosecutors obtained a guilty plea from an Iraqi-American, Samir Vincent, who bought oil from Iraq and was paid by the deposed regime to lobby U.N. and U.S. officials for the removal of sanctions. (Full story)