Don’t get caught flat-footed in front of the press!  Below is a quick rundown of today’s “must reads.” – John T. Doolittle, House Republican Conference Secretary

The Morning Murmur – Thursday, December 15, 2005

1.  The Iraqi vote – Washington Times Editorial
Today, Iraqis raise the purple finger in salute to the ideal of democracy. Tyrants across the Middle East will shudder. Success for Iraqi democracy means their autocratic days are numbered.

2.  After the Elections – Washington Post Op-ed, Zalmay Khalilzad, US Ambassador to Iraq
The U.S. Ambassador to Iraq says for democracy to succeed it will require the U.S. and Iraq to work hand in hand toward government stability, confidence in security, economic opportunity, and enhanced diplomacy with the rest of the world.

3.  Statistics Suggest Race Not a Factor in Katrina Deaths – CNS News
Statistics released by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals suggest that fewer than half of the victims of Hurricane Katrina were black, and that whites died at the highest rate of all races in New Orleans.  Don’t expect an apology from the liberals who, in the aftermath of the storm, were quick to allege that the Bush administration delayed its response to the catastrophe because most of the victims were black.

4.  US-Mexico border wall would be 'disgraceful': Fox - Reuters
Mexican President Vicente Fox denounced as "disgraceful and shameful" on Wednesday a proposal to build a high-tech wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to stop illegal immigrants.

5.  President Says DeLay Is Not Guilty of Money Laundering – Washington Post
In an interview with Fox News, President Bush said he is confident Tom DeLay is innocent of money laundering charges and hopes that he will reclaim his leadership position in Congress saying, "I hope that he will, 'cause I like him, and plus, when he's over there, we get our votes through the House."

For previous issues of the Morning Murmur, go to www.GOPsecretary.gov

FULL ARTICLES BELOW:

1. The Iraqi vote – Washington Times Editorial

December 15, 2005

President Bush has warned that setbacks are possible in today's Iraqi election, the third and most important of this year's Iraqi elections and the one in which voters choose the country's first full-term and fully constitutional legislature. But that was probably just caution speaking: In reality there is a very significant reason to be optimistic about this election, and that is the Sunni vote.

Sunnis are expected to turn out in droves this time around. This was the critical missing factor from January's otherwise highly successful vote. Back then, Sunnis obeyed fatwas by clerics to boycott the vote. But this time, as many as a thousand Sunni clerics have issued fatwas urging followers to participate. Turnout could top 80 percent in some Sunni areas.

That paves the way for Sunni leaders to begin working wholeheartedly within the system, and that offers hope for ending the insurgency. Yesterday, Saleh al-Mutlek, a Sunni and a man regarded by some insurgents as an ally, told the Financial Times that the election will open the door for negotiations between the United States and Sunni leaders for the eventual curbing of violence. Mr. Mutlek has in mind a U.S. pullout -- he wants to "convince them that they should withdraw from the cities" -- but the fact that insurgent allies are even talking about negotiations suggests the enemy is starting to regard Iraq's constitutional government as permanent.

Sunnis are all but guaranteed to fare much better in this election than in previous ones. While the United Iraqi Alliance, the party of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, is expected to take the largest share of votes, its share will fall and the opening for a possible coalition government with Sunni leaders from predominantly Sunni groups such as the Iraqi Consensus Front or the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue emerges.

There are plenty of potential pitfalls for today's election: The likelihood of suicide attacks on polling stations is immediate. Coalition forces are not guarding polling stations; it is almost entirely up to Iraqi police and military to secure the polls. There is the possibility of fraud. Afterward, we will not know the election's results for weeks, and depending on the results, an ineffectual coalition government could become reality.

But today, Iraqis raise the purple finger in salute to the ideal of democracy. Tyrants across the Middle East will shudder. Success for Iraqi democracy means their autocratic days are numbered.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20051214-101550-9929r.htm

2.  After the Elections – Washington Post Op-ed, Zalmay Khalilzad, US Ambassador to Iraq

By Zalmay Khalilzad
Thursday, December 15, 2005; A33

Today is a historic day for Iraq. Iraqis of all sects and ethnic groups will participate in elections. Most significantly, the Sunni Arab community will participate in large numbers. More than 1,000 Sunni clerics have called on their followers to vote. A number of Sunni Arab political groups that boycotted the January elections are fielding candidates. Sunni Arab leaders have called on insurgents to cease their attacks, and some insurgent groups have said they will comply.

Today's elections will create a National Assembly that is far more representative than the current one. This in turn can help accelerate progress toward success in Iraq. Success will depend on improvements in establishing a broad-based and effective government; building stronger Iraqi security forces, and gaining the confidence of all Iraqi communities in their security institutions; winning over insurgents to the political process; increasing the capacity of the national and local government; instituting economic reforms and promoting private-sector development; and gaining more support from neighboring states for stabilizing Iraq.

Broad-based government. Before today, the priority was to engage the Sunni Arab community -- including the rejectionists -- and get it to buy into the political process. Now the focus shifts to forming a moderate, cross-ethnic, cross-sectarian coalition that can govern the country effectively. Many Iraqi political leaders have expressed a wish to form or participate in such a coalition. It will be important that the head of security ministries be trusted by all communities and not come from elements of the population that have militias. Equally important is that key ministers be selected not just for political considerations but also for competence. And the next government must put more emphasis on human rights.

We will work with the new ministers and implement a program of support to increase the capacity of key ministries. The new constitution delegates much authority to the provinces. To assist in this transition and improve the capacity of local governments, we are building up our presence in the provinces to work with local institutions. The goal here, as with the security sector, is to promote self-reliance.

To bring Iraqis together and consolidate their participation in the political process, the next National Assembly will have the opportunity to amend the constitution, with the goal of broadening support for the document and turning it into a national compact. The assembly also must review how de-Baathification has been carried out so far and outline a way forward that balances the requirements of justice with those of reconciliation.

These steps will create the needed conditions to achieve our goal of inducing Iraqi rejectionists and insurgents to abandon violence -- and thus isolate Saddamists and terrorists. Together with the next government, we will continue to expand our engagement with the Sunnis' leaders.

Confidence in security institutions. A key challenge facing Iraq is the need for greater confidence in the security institutions. Besides training Iraqi forces, the next government must continue to increase the credibility of those forces within Iraqi communities. This will require balanced representation of all communities in the security forces, an end to the kind of abuses that have recently been discovered in facilities operated by the Interior Ministry, and competent and widely trusted ministers heading security institutions.

Continued pressure on the terrorists who promote a civil war will also be required. Together with the Iraqis, we will conduct focused operations that will clear areas of terrorists; deploy capable Iraqi forces to hold them against enemy re-infiltration; and build up the local capacity for governance, reconstruction and economic development. We will need to provide logistics, intelligence and quick-reaction forces in support. In the coming year Iraqis will assume much more of the burden of action on the front lines and do so more effectively.

Economic opportunity. The United States will work with the new Iraqi government to better stimulate private-sector economic development in areas such as agriculture and to reduce subsidies -- with the ultimate goal of eliminating them while also creating a safety net for the least fortunate. As economic opportunity grows, the ranks of the unemployed -- some of whom engage in terrorism just to earn money to feed their families -- will start to contract. We will engage provincial and local authorities, who have the best sense of community needs, in designing and implementing development programs to further isolate extremists and promote job creation and improvement of essential services. We will encourage the new government to better engage regional states and others in Iraqi reconstruction and debt-forgiveness programs.

Enhanced diplomacy. Together with the new government, we will need to intensify diplomatic efforts to mobilize support for Iraq in the region and around the world. As part of the outreach campaign to Sunni Arabs in Iraq, the United States is taking advantage of advice and contacts from friends in Arab states and Turkey. The United States is also encouraging its friends to increase their contacts and economic ties with Iraq. This will have to intensify.

In addition, the United States and the new Iraqi government will need to put continued and, if necessary, increased pressure on Syria to prevent Saddamists and terrorists from operating on its territory.

Our strategy in Iraq is putting us on a path toward success, though many challenges lie ahead and much hard work remains to be done by Americans and Iraqis alike. But the benefits of success are worth the effort. Success in Iraq will advance American interests and values. It is a linchpin in the needed transformation of the broader Middle East, which is the defining challenge of our time.

The writer is the U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/14/AR2005121402192.html

3.  Statistics Suggest Race Not a Factor in Katrina Deaths – CNS News

By Nathan Burchfiel
December 14, 2005

(CNSNews.com) - Statistics released by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals suggest that fewer than half of the victims of Hurricane Katrina were black, and that whites died at the highest rate of all races in New Orleans.

Liberals in the aftermath of the storm were quick to allege that the Bush administration delayed its response to the catastrophe because most of the victims were black.

Damu Smith, founder of the National Black Environmental Justice Network, in September said that the federal government "ignored us, they forgot about us ... because we look like we look."

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan in October said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency wasn't fit to help the storm's victims because "there are not enough blacks high up in FEMA" and added that, "certainly the Red Cross is the same."

Rapper Kanye West used his time on NBC's telethon for the hurricane victims to charge that, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

But the state's demographic information suggests that whites in New Orleans died at a higher rate than minorities. According to the 2000 census, whites make up 28 percent of the city's population, but the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals indicates that whites constitute 36.6 percent of the storm's fatalities in the city.

African-Americans make up 67.25 percent of the population and 59.1 percent of the deceased. Other minorities constitute approximately 5 percent of the population and represented 4.3 percent of the storm's fatalities.

Overall for the state, 658 bodies have been identified. Forty-seven percent were African-American and 42 percent were Caucasian. The remaining bodies were either non-black minorities or undetermined.

An additional 247 victims have not been identified, so their demographic information has not been released.

The data showed that the majority of Katrina's victims lived in the Orleans parish. The nearby St. Bernard and Jefferson parishes had 91 and 25 victims, respectively.

The storm also did not discriminate based on gender. Fifty percent of the victims were male and 49 percent were female, with 1 percent being undetermined.

Calls requesting comment from Damu Smith and the Nation of Islam were not returned Wednesday.

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200512\NAT20051214b.html

4.  US-Mexico border wall would be 'disgraceful': Fox - Reuters

Wed Dec 14, 2005
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Vicente Fox denounced as "disgraceful and shameful" on Wednesday a proposal to build a high-tech wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to stop illegal immigrants.

Concerned about the huge numbers of illegal immigrants streaming across the border and worried it could be an entry point for terrorists, a U.S. lawmaker has proposed building two parallel steel and wire fences running from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Coast. But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has said a wall running the length of a border would cost too much.

Mexico has expressed indignation at the idea.

Fox, speaking in Tamaulipas state across the border from Texas, said such extreme security measures would violate immigrants' rights.

"The disgraceful and shameful construction of walls, the increasing enforcement of security systems and increasing violation of human rights and labor rights will not protect the economy of the United States," he said.

He again called for the easing of U.S. immigration laws to benefit millions of undocumented Mexican fruit pickers, waiters and janitors working north of the border, a complex bilateral issue that has at times strained relations with Washington.

"I hope that next year we finally get an immigration agreement," Fox told immigrants crossing the border back to Mexico to spend the holidays with their families.

President George W. Bush pledged recently to step up the use of unmanned flying drones, fences and technology to tighten border security. A 14-mile (23-km) fence south of San Diego has already slashed illegal crossings there, officials say.

Each year, more than 1 million undocumented migrants try to slip across the rivers and deserts on the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) U.S.-Mexico border in search of work in the United States.

Many die en route in the searing desert heat.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx

5.  President Says DeLay Is Not Guilty of Money Laundering – Washington Post

By Jim VandeHei
Thursday, December 15, 2005; A07

President Bush said yesterday he is confident that former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) is innocent of money-laundering charges, as he offered strong support for several top Republicans who have been battered by investigations or by rumors of fading clout inside the White House.

In an interview with Fox News, Bush said he hopes DeLay will be cleared of charges that he illegally steered corporate money into campaigns for the Texas legislature and will reclaim his powerful leadership position in Congress.

"I hope that he will, 'cause I like him, and plus, when he's over there, we get our votes through the House," Bush told Fox News's Brit Hume. DeLay was forced to step down as majority leader after he was indicted in the fundraising case, and he is seeking a quick trial in hopes of returning to power early next year.

Bush has refused to speak about the CIA leak investigation or the impending trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the former vice presidential chief of staff who was indicted in the case. But the president said he believes that DeLay is not guilty -- weeks before his trial is expected to begin.

It is highly unusual for a president to express an opinion on a pending legal case. Richard M. Nixon, for instance, was widely criticized for declaring Charles Manson "guilty, directly or indirectly" of murder while Manson's trial was ongoing.

In the wide-ranging interview, Bush defended the Republican Party against charges of pervasive unethical behavior after the resignation of Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.) for taking bribes and the unfolding money-for-favors scandal centered on former GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

"Well, first of all, I feel Duke Cunningham was wrong and should be punished for what he did," Bush said. "And I think that anybody who does what he did should be punished, Republican or Democrat. Secondly, the Abramoff -- I'm not, frankly, all that familiar with a lot that's going on over at Capitol Hill, but it seems like to me that he was an equal money dispenser, that he was giving money to people in both political parties."

According to campaign finance reports, Abramoff and his clients contributed money to Democrats but substantially more to Republicans.

Bush also defended three of the most powerful men in the White House, all of whom have been the subject of speculation that they are losing clout with the president: Vice President Cheney, senior adviser Karl Rove and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Bush said his relationship with Cheney is better than ever, despite Libby's recent indictment and criticism of the Iraq and terrorism policies that were championed by the vice president. "The truth of the matter is that our relationship hasn't changed hardly at all," the president said. "I'd say the relationship -- it's only gotten better. We didn't know each other that well when we first came to Washington, D.C., and my respect for him has grown immensely."

The same goes for Rove, Bush said. Rove remains under investigation in the CIA leak case, and some aides have complained he lied to Bush and White House spokesman Scott McClellan about his role. "We're still as close as we've ever been," the president said. "You know, when we look back at the presidency and my time in politics, no question that Karl had a lot to do with me getting here, and I value his friendship. We're very close."

Bush dismissed rumors that Rumsfeld will leave his post early next year. Asked if Rumsfeld will stay through the second term, Bush said: "Well, end of my term is a long time, but I tell you, he's done a heck of a good job and I have no intention of changing him."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/14/AR2005121402119.html?nav=rss_politics

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