Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for December 14, 2008 NEWS OF THE WEIRD

Sarah Palin leaps back into the news claiming "blame" for an arson attack against her church. Hey, during the campaign, they said the Alaska Governor was "hot".

George W. Bush ducks a terrorist attack by the shoe bomber...uh, well, make that a size 10 shoe thrown by a disgruntled Iraqi. You remember, those guys who were going to welcome us as heroes for getting rid of the original Hussein...not the future President of the United States.

The wacky world of politics!

Speaking of which, has Hot Rod Blagojevich resigned yet?

Fire hits Palin's church in Alaska

By Monte Plott
CNN

(CNN) -- A "suspicious" fire devastated the church attended by Alaska Gov. and former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Friday night in her hometown of Wasilla, the church's minister said.

"We have no idea what caused it," the Rev. Larry Kroon of the Wasilla Bible Church said Saturday, adding that investigators were considering arson and other possible causes.

A ladies' craft group was in the building when the fire broke out, but they got out safely, Kroon said.

"No one was hurt," he said.

Central Mat-Su Fire Department Chief James Steele said the department was "treating it as suspicious and as potential arson at this point" but did not elaborate, The Anchorage Daily News reported.

The newspaper said Palin released a statement after the fire in which she said she stopped by the church Saturday morning and offered an apology to the assistant pastor "if the incident is in any way connected to the undeserved negative attention the church has received since she became a vice presidential candidate."

Steele said that as many as 40 firefighters from his and neighboring departments fought the blaze, which started about 9:40 p.m. Friday (1:40 a.m. ET Saturday).

Firefighters were on the scene dealing with hot spots until about 5 a.m. Saturday, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

The metal church building, which normally accommodates Sunday congregations of up to 1,000 people, was heavily damaged by flames and smoke, Kroon said.

"The fire investigators and insurance people are there now. There's definitely a lot of damage. I've heard the figure of $1 million, but I don't know for sure," he said.

Kroon said he was not at the church when the fire broke out and would not discuss what any of the church members who were there had reported to him.

He would not specify how many people were in the building at the time of the blaze.

"They were all adults, and they all got out. We're trying not to talk about specifics while investigators are still working on finding out what happened."

Kroon said the nondenominational church, which he described as "just a local community church," is about 30 years old and the church building itself is about 2½ years old.

The pastor said church services would be held on schedule Sunday in a nearby school.

Angry Iraqi throws shoes at President Bush in Baghdad

(CNN) -- President Bush made a farewell visit Sunday to Baghdad, Iraq, where he met with Iraqi leaders and was targeted by an angry Iraqi man, who jumped up and threw shoes at Bush during a news conference.

Bush ducked, and the shoes, thrown one at a time, sailed past his head during the news conference with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in his palace in the heavily fortified Green Zone.

Throwing shoes at someone, or sitting so that the bottom of a shoe faces another person, is considered an insult among Muslims.

The man was dragged out screaming after throwing the shoes.

As the man continued to scream from another room, Bush said: "That was a size 10 shoe he threw at me, you may want to know."

Bush had been lauding the conclusion of a security pact with Iraq as journalists looked on.

"So what if the guy threw his shoe at me?" Bush told a reporter in response to a question about the incident.

"Let me talk about the guy throwing his shoe. It's one way to gain attention. It's like going to a political rally and having people yell at you. It's like driving down the street and having people not gesturing with all five fingers.

"It's a way for people to draw attention. I don't know what the guy's cause is. But one thing is for certain. He caused you to ask me a question about it. I didn't feel the least bit threatened by it.

"These journalists here were very apologetic. They ... said this doesn't represent the Iraqi people, but that's what happens in free societies where people try to draw attention to themselves."

Bush then directed his comments to the security pact, which he and al-Maliki were preparing to sign, hailing it as "a major achievement" but cautioning that "there is more work to be done."

"All this basically says is we made good progress, and we will continue to work together to achieve peace," Bush said.

Bush's trip was to celebrate the conclusion of the security pact, called the Strategic Framework Agreement and the Status of Forces Agreement, the White House said.

The pact will replace a U.N. mandate for the U.S. presence in Iraq that expires at the end of this year. The agreement, reached after months of negotiations, sets June 30, 2009, as the deadline for U.S. combat troops to withdraw from all Iraqi cities and towns. The date for all U.S. troops to leave Iraq is December 31, 2011.

Bush called the passage of the pact "a way forward to help the Iraqi people realize the blessings of a free society."

Bush said the work "hasn't been easy, but it has been necessary for American security, Iraqi hope and world peace."

Bush landed at Baghdad International Airport on Sunday and traveled by helicopter to meet with President Jalal Talabani and his two vice presidents at Talabani's palace outside the Green Zone.

It marked the first time he has been outside the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad without being on a military base.

The visit was Bush's fourth since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Afterward, Talabani praised his U.S. counterpart as a "great friend for the Iraqi people" and the man "who helped us to liberate our country and to reach this day, which we have democracy, human rights, and prosperity gradually in our country."

Talabani said he and Bush, who is slated to leave office next month, had spoken "very frankly and friendly" and expressed the hope that the two would remain friends even "back in Texas."

For his part, Bush said he had come to admire Talabani and his vice presidents "for their courage and for their determination to succeed."

As the U.S. and Iraqi national anthems played and Iraqi troops looked on, he and the Iraqi president walked along a red carpet.

In remarks to reporters, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, who traveled with Bush, described the situation in Iraq as "in a transition."

"For the first time in Iraq's history and really the first time in the region, you have Sunni, Shia and Kurds working together in a democratic framework to chart a way forward for their country," he said.