NEW YORK - Saddam Hussein loves Doritos, hates Froot Loops, admires President Reagan, thinks Clinton was "OK" and considers both Presidents Bush "no good." He talks a lot, worries about germs and insists he is still president of Iraq.

Report: Saddam Insists He Is Iraqi Leader - Yahoo! News

] The Telegraph has also discovered that Yusuf Islam, the
] singer formerly known as Cat Stevens who was refused
] entry to America last September because his name was on a
] security watch list, has previously donated thousands of
] pounds to the Birmingham charity.
]
]
] The reason for his exclusion has never been publicly
] revealed, but last night American officials indicated
] that the entertainer's funding of the ISRA was one of the
] reasons for him being banned. Mr Islam has always denied
] financing terrorism.

Telegraph | News | US accuses British charity of 'financing terrorism'

NOTICE: This document may contain initial and preliminary reporting which may or may not be accurate of be supported by corroborative information. The HSOC is actively evaluating the reporting to establish its accuracy and to determine if it represents a possible link to terrorism. If recipients have any additional or clarifying information, please contact the Homeland Security Operations Center Senior Watch Officer (HSOC SWO) at (202) 282-8101

"Operator…Give me WASHINGTON."

Homeland Security Operations Morning Briefs - 27 September 2004 to 6 January 2005

The 30 minute video here is not to be missed.

America's Secret War - George Friedman - Author interviews

WASHINGTON The Bush administration, while preparing for talks soon with North Korea, is also stepping up military pressure with plans for a joint naval exercise next month to train for interdicting arms and other materials going to and from the North.

The new drum.

IHT: U.S. plans joint sea exercise as signal to North Korea on arms program

ALBANY, New York (AP) -- Civil-liberties groups are voicing concerns over a first-in-the-nation system giving local police in New York and Vermont instant access to federal files on terrorism.

Laws made to only effect terrorists may now be all enclusive.

CNN.com - Rights fears over antiterror cooperation - May 31, 2004

Berger had left the room by the time Clarke, using a Powerpoint presentation, outlined his thinking to Rice. A senior Bush Administration official denies being handed a formal plan to take the offensive against al-Qaeda, and says Clarke's materials merely dealt with whether the new Administration should take "a more active approach" to the terrorist group. (Rice declined to comment, but through a spokeswoman said she recalled no briefing at which Berger was present.) Other senior officials from both the Clinton and Bush administrations, however, say that Clarke had a set of proposals to "roll back" al-Qaeda. In fact, the heading on Slide 14 of the Powerpoint presentation reads, "Response to al Qaeda: Roll back." Clarke's proposals called for the "breakup" of al-Qaeda cells and the arrest of their personnel. The financial support for its terrorist activities would be systematically attacked, its assets frozen, its funding from fake charities stopped. Nations where al-Qaeda was causing trouble-Uzbekistan, the Philippines, Yemen-would be given aid to fight the terrorists. Most important, Clarke wanted to see a dramatic increase in covert action in Afghanistan to "eliminate the sanctuary" where al-Qaeda had its terrorist training camps and bin Laden was being protected by the radical Islamic Taliban regime. The Taliban had come to power in 1996, bringing a sort of order to a nation that had been riven by bloody feuds between ethnic warlords since the Soviets had pulled out. Clarke supported a substantial increase in American support for the Northern Alliance, the last remaining resistance to the Taliban. That way, terrorists graduating from the training camps would have been forced to stay in Afghanistan, fighting (and dying) for the Taliban on the front lines. At the same time, the U.S. military would start planning for air strikes on the camps and for the introduction of special-operations forces into Afghanistan. The plan was estimated to cost "several hundreds of millions of dollars." In the words of a senior Bush Administration official, the proposals amounted to "everything we've done since 9/11."

George Bush... Keeping America safe. Almost makes you wonder if he was waiting for something to happen.

TIME.com: Could 9/11 Have Been Prevented?

George Bush's record on fighting terrorism today suffered a further blow when the president's former anti-terror adviser said that his administration had failed to take the threat from al-Qaida seriously before the September 11 attacks.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | CIA chief admits gaps in national security

The statement said it supported President Bush in his reelection campaign, and would prefer him to win in November rather than the Democratic candidate John Kerry, as it was not possible to find a leader "more foolish than you (Bush), who deals with matters by force rather than with wisdom."

International News Article | Reuters.com

"Mr Blair and Mr Bush must do some reflection _ you can't organise a war with lies," he said in his first radio interview after ousting the ruling conservative People's party in a Sunday election dominated by the terror attacks on trains that killed 200 Madrid commuters last week.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Spanish leader accuses Bush and Blair