Day: June 17, 2006

Although it did so largely for the wrong reason, the House finally held its first full-scale debate on the war in Iraq, culminating in a 256-153 vote opposing an arbitrary date for “withdrawal and/or redeployment” from Iraq.

The way in which Jefferson has handled himself during this episode, and the support he has gotten from a number of his Black Caucus colleagues, is an embarrassment and demonstrates, once again, the sore need for a new kind of black leadership in Washington.

A Louisiana Democrat facing a bribery investigation was kicked off a powerful congressional committee on Friday, ending an unwelcome distraction for Democrats as they try to keep the national focus on Republican scandals in an election year.

A grand jury declined Friday to indict Rep. Cynthia McKinney in connection with a confrontation in which she admitted hitting a police officer who tried to stop her from entering a House office building.

U.S. special operations forces fed some Iraqi detainees only bread and water for up to 17 days, used unapproved interrogation practices such as sleep deprivation and loud music and stripped at least one prisoner, according to a Pentagon report on incidents dating to 2003 and 2004.

The owner of the South Texas ranch where Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a hunting companion chipped in on the gift of a shotgun for presidential aide Karl Rove last year.

Pentagon investigators threatened the death penalty and used other coercive techniques to obtain statements from some of the seven Marines and a Navy corpsman jailed for the shooting death of an Iraqi civilian, two defense lawyers say.