Day: December 12, 2006

Cindy Sheehan, who emerged as one of the most vocal opponents of the Iraq war after her son was killed, was convicted Monday of trespassing for trying to deliver an anti-Iraq war petition to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

Sheehan and three other women were acquitted of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstructing government administration. They will not face punishment as long as they stay out of trouble for the next six months, and were ordered to pay $95 in court surcharges.

They had faced up to a year in jail if convicted of all counts.

Is al Qaeda a Sunni organization, or Shi’ite?

The question proved nettlesome for Rep. Silvestre Reyes of Texas, incoming Democratic chairman of the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

"Predominantly — probably Shi’ite," he said in a recent interview with Congressional Quarterly, a periodical that covers political and legislative issues in Congress.

Sen. Barack Obama showed flashes of star power during a first visit to New Hampshire that excited Democrats but he still faces plenty of questions about a possible 2008 White House bid.

The freshman senator from Illinois drew big cheers and standing-room only crowds on his weekend trip to the state that helps kick off the presidential race in 2008, showing why his flirtation with a White House bid has sent a jolt of excitement through the party.

The Pentagon’s inspector general is looking into a promotional video that shows generals in uniform endorsing a Christian group that caters to political and military leaders, a spokesman said.

A watchdog group asked for a formal investigation into circumstances surrounding the video promoting the Christian Embassy, saying the role played by seven army and air force general violated military regulations.

Democrats tidying up a cluster of unfinished spending bills dumped on them by departing Republican leaders in Congress will start by removing billions of dollars in lawmakers’ pet projects next month.

The move, orchestrated by the incoming chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations committees, could prove politically savvy even as it proves unpopular with other members of Congress, who as a group will lose thousands of so-called earmarks.

Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2004, said Monday he is planning another bid because his party isn’t pushing hard enough to end the Iraq war.

In a statement, Kucinich said he plans to formally announce his candidacy on Tuesday at Cleveland’s City Hall, where he served as mayor of his hometown in the 1970s.