8 I Monday, Aug. 23, 2010 Mosque protests intensify By Verena Dobnik ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER NEW YORK The proposed mosque near ground zero drew huridreds of fever-pitch demon strators Sunday, with opponents carrying signs associating Islam with blood, supporters shouting, “Say no to racist fear!” and American flags waving on both sides. Police separated the two groups but there were some nose-to-nose confrontations, including a man and a woman screaming at each other across a barricade under a steady rain. Opponents of the plan to build a $lOO million, 13-story Islamic center and mosque two blocks from the World Trade Center site appeared to outnumber support ers. Signs hoisted by hundreds of protesters standing behind police barricades read “SHARIA” using dripping, blood-red letters to describe Islam’s Shariah law. Around the corner, NYPD offi cers guarded a cordoned-off Obama vacations under careful watch By Glen Johnson ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. President Barack Obama had a simple task for his first morning on vacation: shoot over to a Martha’s Vineyard bookstore to fill out his daughters’ summer reading list and grab himself a novel. Easier said than done. His SUV part of a 20-vehicle motorcade, passed through a cordon of Massachusetts State Police motorcycle officers, in a protective cocoon of Secret Service agents. Tagging along for the quick trip Friday were White House communications trucks, an ambulance and two vans full of reporters and photographers. It was the same drill Saturday when he went to the beach for a picnic lunch with his family. This may be down time for Obama, but like all modem pres idents, celebrities and some wannabes, he must move about with a not-insignificant entourage. It includes security officers and their array of arms, as well as advisers, friends in and out of politics, and a cook who doubles as a golfing buddy. imummmfs STUDENT STORE 1 1$ Your 6PA 3.2 Plus? Malta MONEY uoiua to class! DO > you take good notes? Nittany Notes needs notetakers. Call Today! ANTH 008.1 ANTH 045.1-9 ARTH 304.1 ARTH 325.1 BIOL 141.901 BISC 004.1 CAMS 045.1,2 CAMS 104.1-3 CHEM 210.1 CMP5C203.1,2 COMM 180.1 COMM 403.1,2 CRIM 100.3 CRIM 113.2 Crowds gather to protest the mosque. stretch of Park Place occupied by the old building that is to become the Islamic center. Steve Ayling, a 40-year-old Brooklyn plumber, took his “SHARIA” sign to a dry spot by an office building. He said the people behind the mosque project are ‘the same people who took down the twin towers.” On a nearby sidewalk, police chased away a group that unfurled a banner with images of “They all have it and they all hate it,” said Ron Kaufman, polit ical director for former President George H.W Bush. “Every presi dent that I know has been accused of taking off too much time and ignoring the responsi bilities of their job. But the truth is, they never get away from it.” Mike McCurry, press secre tary for former President Bill Clinton, said: “It is literally true that ever since World War 11, the president can be commander in chief wherever he goes. That’s why you have that communica tions truck go everywhere he goes.” Obama aides said before the Massachusetts trip that the pres ident would travel light, with a skeleton staff. Accompanying him on Air Force One were senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and his countert errorism adviser, John Brennan. When they landed on Cape Cod, Obama transferred to Marine One, the presidential hel icopter, while his staff and reporters raced to a pair of Marine Corps CH-53 helicopters. Other Blackhawk helicopters, painted identical to Marine One, flew with Obama’s as decoy air craft. PiHN STATE ROOM) —\ Would you like to improve your grades? CRIM 250 W. 1-6 HORT 101.1.2 CRIM 432.1,2 HRIM 365.1 EBF 200.1 HRIM 380.1 ECON 002.2,9 HRIM 456.1 ECONM4.4 1N530112 ,4 ECON 451.1 KrMPQ 90? 1 7 ™‘° s ' ™L S OOU-6 GEOG 126.1 PLSC 017.1 GEOG 128.1 PSYCH 100.2.4,6 geosc 001.1-12 SOC 001.4,5 GEOSC 040.1-16 SOC/CRIM HDFS 418.2 012.1,2 HIST 011.5-8 STAT 200.17-19 HIST 143.1-4 NATION beating, stoning and other tor ture they said was committed by those who followed Islamic law. The mosque project is being led by Imam Fteisal Abdul Rauf and his wife, Daisy Khan, who insist the center will promote moderate Islam. At a pro-mosque rally staged a block away from opponents’ demonstration, several hundred people chanted, “Muslims are welcome here! We say no to racist fear!” The Sunday rallies coincided with an annual motorcycle ride by a group that raises money for Sept. 11 first responders. Bikers rolled in from the two other Sept. 11 attack sites, Washington and Shanks ville, Pa. The imam behind the project is in the middle of a Mideast trip funded by the U.S. State Department that is intended to promote religious tolerance. He has discussed efforts to combat extremism, but has avoided any comments on the rancor over the planned Islamic center. President Barack Obama exits a shop with his daughters Friday. A State Police chopper swept over the route to Martha’s Vineyard Airport before the pres ident passed overhead. Brennan, who said he wanted to give the president his space while on vacation, briefed Obama on national security issues dur ing the first day on the trip. Brennan also said he would rely on the phone and presiden tial Blackßerry to provide other updates not requiring a visit to Blue Heron Farm, the 30-acre property the Obama family was using for the second consecutive year. SPA LATENIGHT . PRESENTS HANSon SATURDAY AUGUST 28 10PM ALUMNI HALL Troops depart from a casing ceremony marking the last combat brigade serving in Iraq. Officials say U.S. combat duties are unlikely to resume. Return to Iraq unlikely for U.S. combat troops By Lolita C. Baldor ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER WASHINGTON It would take “a complete failure” of the Iraqi security forces for the U.S. to resume combat operations there, the top American commander in Iraq said as the final U.S. fighting forces prepared to leave the coun try With a major military milestone in sight, Gen. Ray Odiemo said in interviews broadcast Sunday that any resumption of combat duties by American forces is unlikely. “We don’t see that happening,” Odiemo said. The Iraqi security forces have been doing “so well for so long now that we really believe we’re beyond that point.” President Barack Obama plans a major speech on Iraq after his return to Washington, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because details were being finalized. About 50,000 U.S. troops will remain in the country until the end of 2011 to serve as a training and assistance force, a dramatic drawdown from the peak of more than 170,000 during the surge of American forces in 2007. Obama will face a delicate bal ancing act in his speech between welcoming signs of progress and bringing an end to the 7-year-old war without prematurely declar ing the mission accomplished, as former President George W. Bush once did. U.S. involvement in Iraq beyond the end of 2011, Odierno said, probably would involve assisting the Iraqis secure their airspace and borders. He said Iraq’s security forces The Daily Collegian have matured to the point where they will be ready to shoulder enough of the burden to permit the remaining 50,000 soldiers to go home at the end of next year. On Thursday, the 4th Stiyker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division began crossing the border from Iraq into Kuwait, becoming the last combat brigade to leave Iraq. Its exodus, along with that of the approximately 2,000 remaining U.S. combat forces destined to leave in the coming days, fulfills Obama’s pledge to end combat operations in Iraq by Aug. 31. In interviews with CBS’ “Face the Nation” and CNN’s “State of the Union,” Odierno said it may take several years before America can determine if the war was a success. “A strong democratic Iraq will bring stability to the Middle East, and if we see Iraq that’s moving toward that, two, three, five years from now, I think we can call our operations a success,” he said. Much of that may hinge on whether Iraq’s political leaders can overcome ethnic divisions and work toward a more unified gov ernment, while also enabling security forces to tamp down a simmering insurgency. Iraq’s political parties have been bickering for over five months since the March parlia mentary elections failed ( to pro duce a clear winner on both party sides. They have yet to reach agreements on how to share power or whether to replace embattled Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and amid the political instability, other econom ic and governmental problems fester and continue to plague the country.
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