Caught in the Web, 1860. President George W. Bush, apparently worried that John Kerry was beating him in recent opinion polls, appeared on a Sunday morning talk show. Bush defended his decision to conquerIraq, and although he admitted that his stated reason for invading was false, he also suggested that weapons of mass destruction might still be found. The president said that he had total confidence in the CIA but suggested that he had been misled by incorrect intelligence. “Saddam Hussein was dangerous with weapons. Saddam Hussein was dangerous with the ability to make weapons,” Bush said. “I believe it …

David Kay, the outgoing head of the Iraq Survey Group, said that Iraq got rid of its illegal weapons programs years before the United States invaded. New York TimesKay made it clear that the United Nations weapons-inspection process had succeeded in disarming Iraq and said the Iraqis had been reduced to experimenting with ricin, a primitive but deadly poison easily made from fermented castor beans; Kay also said that the CIA had completely misread the situation in Iraq, largely because the agency had no on-the-ground spies after the U.N. inspectors were removed.New York TimesMore than 100,000 Iraqis filled the streets …

The Bush Administration rejected calls for an independent counsel in the matter of Valerie Plame, whose identity as an undercover CIA operative was revealed by at least one senior White House official, possibly Karl Rove, in retribution for her husband’s skeptical remarks about the president’s case against Iraq.New York TimesRove, the president’s political adviser, denied being the source of the leak, though he was reportedly fired from George H.W. Bush’s 1992 reelection campaign for leaking damaging information about a rival to Bob Novak, the very columnist who exposed Plame in July.TalkingpointsMemo.comPlame and Rove, it was reported, attend the same Episcopal …

President George W. Bush made a televised address to the nation and declared that Iraq was now the “central front” in the war on terrorism.He called for national resolve and national sacrifice and said that he will ask Congress for $87 billion in emergency funds for the occupation.It was noted that this new request, which comes on top of $79 billion already approved, will probably push the current budget deficit up to $600 billion. Howard Dean said the speech, which made no mention of Osama bin Laden, was “outrageous” and said it reminded him of Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam …

The United States and parts of Canada suffered a massive blackout that left millions of people in 8 states without electricity; New York City, Detroit, Cleveland, and Toronto were all affected. Officials soon determined that the outage, the largest in American history, was caused by a failed line in Ohio. “We are a major superpower with a Third World electrical grid,” said Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico.New York Times“We’ll have time to look at it and determine whether or not our grid needs to be modernized,” said President George W. Bush, who has opposed legislation to improve the grid. …

North Korea announced its intention to accelerate its program to build a nuclear deterrent and said that a U.S. naval blockade or embargo could lead to “all-out war“; a state-run newspaper said that “the Iraqi war proved that disarmament leads to war.Therefore it is quite clear that the DPRK can never accept the U.S. demand that it scrap its nuclear weapons program first.”Associated PressPresident Bush declared that the world will not tolerate nuclear weapons in Iran.”Iran would be dangerous,” he said, “if they have a nuclear weapon.”New York TimesThe Senate Select Committee on Intelligence made a deal to conduct a …

Former senators Warren Rudman and Gary Hart warned in a new report that the federal government has done virtually nothing to secure the nation against terrorist attack. Power plants, refineries, and transportation infrastructure are still unprotected; local police, firefighters, and other emergency personnel are almost as unprepared for attacks now as they were in September 2001; almost none of the cargo containers entering the country are inspected; and the federal government has authorized only $92 million of the $2 billion needed to secure the nation’s ports. The FBI warned that terrorists might be planning an attack somewhere, possibly involving trains. …

North Korea admitted that it has resumed work on its nuclear arms-program; the United States retaliated by formally withdrawing from a 1994 arms-control agreement, which will immediately stop annual shipments of 500,000 tons of fuel oil to North Korea. Bush Administration officials accused Pakistan of giving the North Koreans nuclear technology in exchange for missiles to use on India. Kim Yong Nam, North Korea’s ceremonial head of state, claimed that his government was ready to hold talks if the United States would end its “hostile policy.” A diplomat from the North told one from the South that a “wind from …

President George W. Bush claimed in a speech that Saddam Hussein could attack America “on any given day”; he accused Hussein of harboring terrorists, stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, and using such weapons on his own people. “Neither the United States of America nor the world community of nations can tolerate deliberate deception and offensive threats on the part of any nation, large or small,” the President said. New documents were declassified concerning tests of biological and chemical warfare agents that were conducted by the United States government on its own soldiers in Alaska, Maryland, Hawaii, Canada, and Britain during …

The Bush Administration warned foreign diplomats that their countries could lose all military aid unless they pledge never to turn over American soldiers to the International Criminal Court. A spokesman for Representative Tom DeLay, who wrote the provision of the antiterrorism law that authorizes such threats, said that “this is just an effective tool, and we have said numerous times that we have to do whatever it takes to protect our service members from this rogue court.” Vice President Dick Cheney told Iraqi opposition leaders that the United States was committed to overthrowing Saddam Hussein and installing a democratic replacement, …

President Hugo Ch�vez of Venezuela was deposed in a coup led by several generals and the country’s business elite. An interim government was established under the leadership of Pedro Carmona Estanga, the head of a major business association. Latin American leaders denounced the “interruption of the constitutional order.” American officials welcomed the coup and said that it was a victory for democracy. Oil prices immediately dropped. Within days, great crowds of supporters occupied the presidential palace and Ch�vez was back in power. “I hope that Hugo Ch�vez takes the message that his people sent him,” said Condoleezza Rice. President Bush …

At a meeting of the Arab League in Beirut, the assembled leaders agreed to endorse Saudi Arabia’s proposal for peace with Israel, Iraq recognized Kuwait’s sovereignty and promised not to invade it again, and Saudi crown prince Abdullah publicly kissed an Iraqi official. Palestinian militants carried out five suicide bombings in Israel, one of which was an attack on a Passover seder, and killed at least 44 Israelis. The Israeli army invaded the West Bank city of Ramallah and laid siege to Yasir Arafat’s headquarters. Arafat said that he wished for a martyr’s death and was for a time reduced …

The United States withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol on global climate change; Christie Whitman, the administrator of the EPA, announced that “we have no interest in implementing that treaty.” President Bush told German chancellor Gerhard Schr�der that “We will not do anything that harms our economy, because first things first are the people who live in America.” North Korea’s dear leader Kim Jong Il sent a large floral wreath to the funeral of Chung Ju Yung, the founder of the Hyundai group, in a further display of goodwill toward the south by the ruler of the Hermit Kingdom. Israeli prime …

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus tried unsuccessfully to block the acceptance of Florida’s electoral votes during a joint session of Congress. Federal law requires at least one senator and one member of the House to sign a formal objection questioning a state’s electoral votes; no senator was willing to sign. Black congressmen repeatedly interrupted the proceedings and were repeatedly “gaveled down” by Vice President Al Gore, who presided cheerfully over his own electoral demise.Hillary Rodham Clinton was sworn in as the junior senator from New York; Strom Thurmond, the oldest senator in history, rose up and asked, “Can I …

Pentagon investigators acknowledged that American troops had massacred unarmed Korean civilians near No Gun Ri at the beginning of the Korean War, but claimed there was no evidence of direct orders from superiors to kill the Koreans, which would constitute a war crime.Former Congressman Pete McCloskey, a member of the civilian advisory panel to the investigation, pointed out that in fact one officer and nine enlisted men said they had received such orders.Many countries were trying unsuccessfully to get the United States to join the International Criminal Court; Henry Kissinger and other former U.S. government officials, who perhaps had good …