Bin Laden Seeking Medical Attention

UPDATE: Reuters reports the U.S. military denies that one of its officers had told reporters Osama bin Laden was seeking medical attention.

Reuters reports that Osama bin Laden is in poor health and is seeking medical attention.

“Osama bin Laden is trying to obtain medical attention,” Colonel Don McGraw, director of operations at the Combined Forces Command in Kabul, told a group of British reporters, including one from al-Hayat, it said.

“He (McGraw) refused to say what the al-Qaida leader is suffering from or whether it is the same kidney disease which Pakistani officials said in the past he was suffering from,” the newspaper added.

Al-Hayat said it was not clear how the U.S. military had obtained its information or where it thought bin Laden might be.

Another Reuters report states that Afghan commanders let bin Laden escape to Pakistan from Tora Bora in 2001:

Lutfullah Mashal, Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry spokesman, said commanders helped the al Qaeda leader escape from the Tora Bora mountains as U.S. warplanes and Afghan forces attacked his hideout near the Pakistan border in late 2001.

“The help was provided because of monetary aid availed by al Qaeda and also partly because of ideological issues,” Mashal said.

“Osama along with other al Qaeda people managed to go to Parachinar (in Pakistan) at the time and then Pakistani forces battled the al Qaeda runaways, killing around 70 of them,” Mashal added, referring to an area in Pakistan’s Kurram tribal agency.

He said commanders loyal to Maulvi Yunus Khalis had helped the al Qaeda leader escape. The whereabouts of Khalis, a top mujahideen leader from the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, is unknown.

From California Yankee.

Chief Justice Rehnquist Dies

Chief Justice Rehnquist died of cancer at his suburban Virginia home, shortly before 11 p.m. ET Saturday.

Rehnquist had an extraordinary career.

Rehnquist’s grandparents emigrated to the United States from Sweden in 1880 and settled in Chicago. His grandfather was a tailor, his grandmother a school teacher. Rehnquist grew up in Wisconsin, the son of paper salesman and a translator.

Rehnquist attended college after World War II on the GI Bill. At Stanford, he earned both a bachelor and a master of arts degree in political science. A distinguished student, Rehnquist was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1948. He continued his education at Harvard where he received another master of arts degree — this time in government. Rehnquist returned to Stanford Law School in 1950; he graduated at the top of his class.

Rehnquist clerked for Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson. He Practiced law in Phoenix before moving to Washington. He served as Assistant Attorney General of the US from 69-71

President Nixon nominated Rehnquist to replace Justice Harlan in 1971. A Democratic Senate overwhelmingly confirmed his nomination. When Rehnquist took his oath of office on January 7, 1971, he was the court’s youngest member.

In 1986, President Reagan elevated Rehnquist to chief justice to replace Warren Burger.

Rehnquist was the force behind the court’s push for greater states’ rights. The chief justice has been the leader of five conservatives, sometimes called “the Rehnquist five,” Rehnquist and O’Connor, Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Thomas - who generally advocate limited federal government interference.

Rehnquist was the second-oldest person to preside over the court.

Order Being Restored

With thousands of National Guard troops being deployed to the Katrina devastated area, public order is being restored in New Orleans. The Times-Picayune reports less anarchy:

Evidence that authorities were beginning to get a grip on gargantuan problems varied from the successful and orderly evacuation of Baptist Mercy Hospital to a sharp reduction in the menacing bands of idle refugees, many of them intent on looting that had haunted Uptown neighborhoods in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

With thousands of National Guard troops being mustered to join the Louisiana guardsmen already deployed to the hurricane-stricken city, one of the early signs of the beefed-up military presence was a Blackhawk helicopter touching down near the Riverwalk to deliver water to some 1,000 refugees still sheltered in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

[. . .]

As a greater presence of Chinook and Huey military helicopters became apparent in the skies over New Orleans, the near-term tactical goal was a simple one: to rescue survivors and complete an evacuation that, while massive in the days just before the hurricane struck, still left behind somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 of the city’s 480,000 residents, many of them infirm, elderly and low-income people without the means to escape.

By day’s end, the massive bus-lift to Houston had reduced the Superdome’s population to a few thousand refugees, authorities said. But many now homeless people continue to wait on bridges and highway ramps. And while officials remained adamant about the need to get out of a flooded city without power, water, or much prospect of these services being restored for months to come, efforts to comply were frequently mired in miscommunication.

From California Yankee.

Congress to Reconvene to Address Hurricane

Bloomberg reports Congress will return early from its summer recess to address damage caused by Hurricane Katrina:

Both the House and Senate will be back at work by tomorrow to begin work on a package of federal disaster aid for areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Western Florida affected by Hurricane Katrina, the aide said. Lawmakers were initially slated to return to work next week from an August break.

According to Bloomberg, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the federal government has spent $2 billion on Katrina emergency aid so far.

From California Yankee.

Airborne Troops Alerted For Katrina Duty

Reuters reports 3,000 regular Army soldiers may be sent to help end lawlessness in New Orleans:

The Army has put on alert roughly 3,000 active-duty ground troops from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to be prepared to deploy to New Orleans to help bring security to the flooded city amid looting and lawlessness, said an Army official, who asked not to be named.

The brigade-sized force, likely to be from the 82nd Airborne Division, would engage in crowd control and site-protection activities, the official said.

U.S. law bars active-duty military troops from engaging in domestic law enforcement, but the Army official said crowd control and site-protection were not defined as law enforcement activities.

The official said another 240 troops from the Army’s 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, also were going to the region.

From California Yankee.

USS Truman To Join Relief Effort

The USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) to join the Katrina relief effort.

Reuters reports the number of National Guard troops under the command of state governors would reach 21,000 by the end of Friday and top 30,000 in the next few days:

The crew of up to 5,000 on the carrier would bring to nearly 35,000 the number of National Guard and active duty military troops committed to the biggest domestic relief effort ever mounted by federal agencies in the United States.

There also are nearly 8,000 sailors and other active duty troops committed to the effort, most of them aboard ships or flying air support missions.

The Truman will provide a major naval command post in the Gulf of Mexico, helping coordinate the actions of nearly a dozen other warships and supply vessels, including two Navy helicopter assault ships.

The Navy dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island will also join the relief effort. Whidbey Island will provide the capability to employ a movable causeway to help where bridges were destroyed.

The hospital ship Comfort will soon join the relief effort, providing an offshore floating medical center with 12 operating rooms and up to 1,000 beds.

From California Yankee.