Chronology — Events of JUNE 2007

National


U.S. Congress
Fred Thompson

Ex-Tennessee Senator Eyes Presidential Race; Other Election News - Former Sen. and actor Fred Thompson (R-TN) filed papers June 1 that allowed him to set up a committee to raise money for a possible 2008 presidential bid. Thompson is popular among conservatives. Within weeks, he was already running second (to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani) in some public-opinion polls on the GOP nomination.
At a debate among Democratic presidential candidates in New Hampshire June 3, Ex-Sen. John Edwards (NC) criticized Sens. Hillary Clinton (NY) and Barack Obama (IL) for not showing more leadership in opposing a military spending bill that did not require a timetable for U.S troop withdrawal from Iraq. Obama replied that he had opposed the war before it began, while Edwards had voted to authorize Pres. George W. Bush to launch the war.
At a Republican candidates’ debate in New Hampshire June 5, Sen. John McCain (AZ), while supporting the current U.S. troop surge in Iraq, said that the war had been "very badly mismanaged for a long time." Most of the candidates opposed the compromise immigration bill, which Bush and McCain supported, that later failed in the Senate.

NYC Mayor Leaves GOP - On New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg June 19 announced that he had left the Republican Party and became an independent. Some observers speculated that his move was in anticipation of a presidential bid in 2008. Should he choose to run for president as an independent, Bloomberg, a billionaire, could finance his own campaign without need for party funding. Bloomberg was a Democrat until he ran on the Republican ticket for New York City Mayor in 2001.

Four Charged in Alleged Plot to Bomb New York Airport - Authorities June 4 charged four men with plotting to blow up fuel tanks and pipelines at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. Russell Defreitas, who was thought to be the ringleader of the group, had been arrested in Brooklyn, NY, June 1. The U.S. citizen and native of Guyana had been a cargo handler at the airport in the 1990s. In Trinidad and Tobago, 2 men (Kareem Ibrahim & Abdul Kadir) were arrested June 1 and another (Abdel Nur) turned himself in June 5. All four were indicted on June 29.

Ex-Aide to Cheney Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison - U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton June 5 sentenced I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby Jr., a former chief of staff to Vice Pres. Richard Cheney, to 30 months in prison. In March, Libby had been convicted of lying and obstructing justice during the investigation into who might have leaked the undercover status of former CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson. Walton also fined Libby $250,000. Some leading supporters of the Bush administration - pointing out that Libby had not been found guilty of leaking her status, and claiming that the sentence was too harsh - urged Pres. George W. Bush to pardon Libby. Walton June 14 ordered Libby to report to prison within 6 to 8 weeks.

Immigration Reform Bill Fails in Senate - Voting on a comprehensive immigration reform bill was stalled June 7 when supporters were unable to move to a final vote. Supporters got only 45 of the 60 votes needed to end debate. Although Pres. Bush backed the bill, only 7 Republicans supported it. Sen. Harry Reid (D, NV), the majority leader, temporarily withdrew the bill from consideration. Bush met with GOP senators June 13 and sought to assure them that the bill would provide the enhanced border security that many of their constituents were demanding. He announced June 14 that he would spend an additional $4.4 bil to protect U.S. borders. The bill was revived June 26 by a 64-35 vote, with 24 Republicans in the majority but failed to secure enough votes to end debate (46-53) on June 28. Reasons for the failure were split: some believed immigrants’ rights weren’t ensured, while others thought the bill would guarantee amnesty to illegal immigrants.

Chairman of Joint Chiefs to Be Replaced - Sec. of Defense Robert Gates announced June 8 that he would not renominate Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for a 2nd term. Pace said June 16 that he had declined to voluntarily retire. Pace was the first chairman in more than 40 years to serve only one 2-year term. Gates said that he had consulted senators from both parties and had concluded that renominating Pace would result in a divisive confirmation hearing related to the conduct of the Iraq war. Pres. Bush said June 8 that he would accept Gates’ recommendation that he nominate Adm. Michael Mullen, chief of naval operations, to succeed Pace. Sen. Harry Reid (D, NV) said June 14 that Pace "had not done a very good job in speaking out for some obvious things that weren’t going right in Iraq."


U.S. Supreme Court

Chief Justice John Roberts

Vote of No Confidence in Gonzales Fails in Senate - A Democratic-led effort to adopt a motion of no confidence in Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales failed in the Senate on June 11. A vote of 53-38 fell short of the 60 necessary to end debate. The Senate and House judiciary committees June 13 subpoenaed former White House officials Harriet Miers and Sara Taylor to testify about the firing of U.S. attorneys in 2006.

U.S. Supreme Court Rulings - The Supreme Court ruled June 25 in a 5-4 decision that a portion of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law was unconstitutional. Under a provision of the law, corporations, interest groups (including activist organizations), and unions could not run any political advertising in the last 30 days before a primary election or the last 60 days before a general election. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority in Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. held that the only ads that could be kept off the air during those periods were those that were "susceptible of no reasonable interpretation other than as an appeal to vote for or against a specific candidate."
The Supreme Court June 28 ruled, 5-4, that two school districts could not use race as a factor in school placement programs designed to encourage diversity, because the practice violated the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law. The cases were Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No.1 and Meredith v. Jefferson Country Board of Education.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the majority, said while the intent of the districts was to foster integration between races, they could not use "racial classifications in making school assignments." In his opinion, Roberts cited the landmark 1954 case Brown v. Board of Education, which outlawed segregation in public schools. He said, "Before Brown, schoolchildren were told where they could and could not go to school based on the color of their skin. The school districts in these cases have not carried the heavy burden of demonstrating that we should allow this once again - even for very different reasons." The liberal side of the court delivered a strongly worded dissent that was twice as long as Roberts's opinion. Justice Stephen G. Breyer read the dissenting opinion from the bench, a practice used to signal the seriousness of a justice's disagreement. He said the plurality opinion was a "cruel distortion" of Brown, and argued that the school districts' programs were local efforts at fulfilling the promise of racially integrated schools made by Brown



International


Putin Warns U.S. on Missile Defense Bases - On June 1, Pres. Vladimir Putin warned the U.S. that if it went ahead with plans to place missile defense bases in eastern Europe, Russia would target European sites with its own missiles. Pres. Bush said June 5 that the missile plans were "a purely defensive measure." At a private meeting during the summit, Putin proposed to Bush that the U.S. use a Russian-managed radar base in Azerbaijan to guard against a missile attack from Iran.

U.S. Destroyer Attacks Militants in Somalia - A U.S. Navy destroyer June 1 fired cruise missiles into a suspected stronghold for Islamic militants on the northeast coast of Somalia. Dozens of Islamists had been arriving at the site from southern Somalia. The U.S. believed that al-Qaeda fighters were present.

U.S. Troop Buildup in Iraq Complete; Death Toll Rises - The U.S. military said June 3 that 127 U.S. troops had died in May, which was the 3rd highest monthly total for the war so far. Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, a U.S. commander in southern Iraq, said June 10 that field commanders were being allowed to give arms, equipment, and cash to Sunni militants who were antagonistic toward al-Qaeda in Iraq, providing that the supplies were used against that group.
The Defense Dept quarterly report released June 13 said that the joint U.S.-Iraqi security drive had reduced violence in Baghdad and Anbar Province but that attacks were up elsewhere. Suicide attacks had more than doubled from January to March, and attacks utilizing explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) against U.S, forces were at a record high in April. Sec. of Defense Robert Gates, meeting with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad June 15, urged him to move faster on constitutional reforms and political reconciliation. Sen. Richard Lugar (R, IN), the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, broke with the Bush administration on Iraq June 25, saying, in a Senate speech, "Persisting indefinitely with the surge strategy will delay policy adjustments that have a better chance of protecting our vital interests over the long term."
A military spokesman June 15 said that the U.S. surge, which had begun in February, was complete. U.S. forces had been increased by 28,500 to an overall strength of about 160,000. Army Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, said June 17 that 40% of Baghdad was "really very safe on a routine basis." U.S. and allied soldiers June 16 began Operation Phantom Thunder, a new offensive against extremists, including a group known as "Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia," around Baghdad. June 18, they fought Shiite militants north of Basra and clashed with the Mahdi army, a force allied with the militant Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, southeast of Baghdad. On June 19, 10,000 Americans and 3,000 Iraqis, supported by 2 Sunni units that had turned against al-Qaeda, began an offensive on an al-Qaeda stronghold in the Baquba area. Odierno said June 21 that 80% of the top al-Qaeda leaders had fled Baquba. On June 20 and 21, 15 U.S. soldiers were killed, mostly in roadside bomb attacks around Baghdad. Eleven died on June 23.

A Sunni Muslim insurgent group, the Islamic State of Iraq, declared June 4 that 3 U.S. soldiers captured in May were all dead. One of their bodies had been found in the Euphrates River. The group’s video displayed the identity cards of the 2 missing soldiers. On June 9, the ID cards were found during a raid on an al-Qaeda safe house near Samarra.

In Samarra June 13, explosions destroyed the twin golden minarets at the Askariya mosque. A bombing in 2006 had destroyed the golden dome of the mosque, one of the holiest Shiite shrines. A suicide truck bomber in Baghdad June 19 killed 87. A suicide bomber killed 12 in a Baghdad hotel June 25; 6 Sunni sheiks who had been working against al-Qaeda in Anbar Province were among the dead.




German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Leaders of Industrial Nations Meet in Germany - The heads of government of the world’s leading industrial nations, the Group of Eight (G-8) met in Heiligendamm, Germany. In a joint statement June 7, the leaders agreed to "seriously consider" a proposal from the European Union, Canada, and Japan that global greenhouse gas emissions be cut in half by 2050. German Chancellor Angela Merkel had wanted each nation to commit to cutting its own emissions by 50% by 2050. A meeting in Bali, Indonesia, in Germany, would begin negotiations on an agreement on climate change to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which would expire in 2012.
On June 8, the 8 leaders agreed to commit $60 bil to fight AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis in developing countries.


Hamas Faction Wins Bloody Struggle to Control Gaza Strip - The Palestinian Authority violently split in June as Hamas, which opposes Israel’s right to exist, seized control of the Gaza Strip on June 14 after fighting with Fatah that left more than 100 dead. In Gaza City, Hamas captured the police station June 13 and the president’s compound June 14. Some Fatah officials were reportedly executed.

On June 14, Pres. Mahmoud Abbas dissolved the Fatah-Hamas unity government; dismissed the Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniya; and declared a state of emergency. On June 15 he named Salam Fayyad as prime minister. Hamas rejected the new government. U.S. Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice said June 18 that Bush fully supported Abbas and the U.S. would resume full assistance to his government. Hamas rejected June 30 Fatah’s offer for early elections moderated by an international force.


Sudan Opens Darfur Region to Peacekeepers - Negotiators from Sudan tentatively agreed June 12 to allow more than 20,000 peacekeepers from the UN and the African Union into the Darfur region, where civil strife had caused the deaths of 200,000 people since 2003. The current AU force of 7,000 had been unable to control a marauding Arab militia, the Janjaweed.

Lebanese Critic of Syrian Influence Is Assassinated - Walid Eido, a member of Lebanon’s parliament and an opponent of Syrian involvement in Lebanon’s affairs, was killed by a bomb that exploded in a parked car June 13 on a road near Beirut. One of his sons, 2 bodyguards, and 6 passersby were also killed. Eido was the 7th prominent critic of Syria to be killed since 2005. A car bomb killed 5 UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon June 24.

‘Chemical Ali’ Sentenced to Hang in Iraq - The Iraqi High Tribunal June 24 sentenced Ali Hassan al-Majid, known by the nickname "Chemical Ali," to be executed by hanging. Al-Majid, cousin of former Pres. Saddam Hussein, was convicted of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. He had overseen the poison gas attacks that had killed thousands of Kurds in 1987-88. Two former high-ranking Iraqi army officers were also sentenced to death June 24.


International Monetary Fund

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown

Tony Blair Steps Down as British Prime Minister - Prime Min. Tony Blair of Great Britain submitted his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II on June 27. In a final appearance before the House of Commons, Blair said he was sorry for the dangers faced by British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he offered no regrets for entering the Iraq war. The queen June 27 invited Treasury chief Gordon Brown to form a new government. Blair June 27 was named envoy of the so-called quartet of mediators between Israel and the Palestinians - the UN, European Union, Russia, and the U.S.

Suspected Bomb Plot Pushes Britain to "Critical" Alert Level - British police defused two car bombs in London’s theatre district June 29, the first of them just a few hours after new Prime Minister Gordon Brown named his cabinet. Police reported that the bombs were designed to be set off by remote control using cell phones, but that multiple calls to at least one of the cars had failed to trigger a detonation. The next day, June 30, a four-wheel-drive vehicle exploded at Glasgow airport after being driven into the main terminal. Police arrested two men after the attack, one of whom was reported to have a "suspect device" on his body. Britain raised its national alert level to "critical," indicating that new attacks were expected imminently; the U.S. security level remained unchanged, but security was increased at many U.S. airports in advance of the busy July 4 holiday.


General


Anaheim Wins National Hockey League Title - The Anaheim (CA) Ducks defeated the Ottawa Senators, 6-2, June 6 to win the Stanley Cup. The Ducks, coached by Randy Carlyle, beat out the Senators 4 games to 1 to win their first title. Scott Niedermayer, an Anaheim defenseman, was named the most valuable player of the playoffs.

Filly Wins Belmont Stakes - On June 9, for the first time since 1905, a filly, Rags to Riches, won the Belmont Stakes. The winner covered the 1.5-mile distance in 2 minutes and 28.74 seconds.

San Antonio Wins NBA Title in a 4-Game Sweep - The San Antonio Spurs June 14 won their 4th NBA title in 9 years, sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in four games. San Antonio was coached by Gregg Popovich. The Spurs’ Tony Parker, a point guard and a native of France, was named the most valuable player of the final series. The MVP award for the regular season had gone to a forward for the Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki, from Germany. This was the first time that either MVP award had gone to a European.

Collapsing Roof Kills 9 Firefighters - Nine firemen died in Charleston, SC, June 18 when the roof of a furniture warehouse collapsed during a fire. The men were scattered through the Sofa Super Store when the roof fell. Thousands of firefighters from across the United States attended a memorial service June 22.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Science in the News: Atlantis Rock(et)s! —


Space Shuttle Atlantis landed safely in California's Mojave Desert on June 22, 2007, nearly two weeks after it rocketed into space from Florida's Cape Canaveral on June 8. The shuttle spent most of its time aloft docked with the International Space Station. In the course of four spacewalks, the astronauts added a new truss segment to the space station, spread one new solar cell array and folded up a different array of solar panels, preparatory to its relocation.

The mission lasted 13 days, 20 hours and 11½ minutes. Original plans called for the shuttle to land in Florida, but bad weather there caused delays and the eventual decision to divert to the California landing site. The Atlantis was commanded by Rick Sturckow, and Lee Archambault piloted the craft. Sunita Williams returned to Earth on the Atlantis after a stay aboard the Space Station; she now holds the record for the longest-lasting spaceflight by a woman. Also aboard the Atlantis when it landed were mission specialists Patrick Forrester, John "Danny" Olivas, Jim Reilly and Steven Swanson. Clay Anderson had flown into space aboard the Atlantis, but he remained at the space station, taking Williams's place.

A Computer Scare

In shuttle missions, something often doesn't go according to plan; this time it was a computer crash at the International Space Station. Most of us have experienced times when the computer screen freezes. It's one thing, however, not to be able to IM when you want to and something else entirely when the system fails that controls the supply of oxygen, or the steering that keeps you properly oriented in orbit. It was this more serious scenario that confronted the occupants of the International Space Station during the visit of Atlantis.

In the Russian part of the space station are two computers, each with three redundant "lanes." The point of the redundancy is so that the lanes can check each other and so guard against wrong answers. The computers are German-made, using Russian software. On June 12 the astronauts began having difficulties with the computers. The computers control the thrusters that are one of the means used to maintain the space station's orientation; gyroscopes in the U.S. module of the space station also serve that purpose. Proper orientation is vital to the functioning of the station, since if the solar panels are turned away from the Sun, for example, they will not be able to generate the power that the station relies on. The Russian computers, besides their thruster control function, also help regulate oxygen generation. (Oxygen generation can be controlled manually.) A long-term loss of the Russian computers would have posed serious problems, but, with the Atlantis docked to the space station at the time, the shuttle was able to serve as a backstop. Specifically, instead of using the space station thruster, the thrusters on the shuttle could be employed to keep the station in proper position. This unexpected duty meant that certain systems had to be powered down aboard the shuttle to conserve fuel, but the astronauts were still able to perform their key tasks.


NASA

Smoke billows away from the launch pad as Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off on mission STS-117. This is the 118th space shuttle flight, the 21st flight to the station and the 28th flight for Atlantis.

It took a while to get the computers back online. Ground-based Russian engineers were able to trace the crash back to power switches that served as surge protectors for the computers. With that information, the astronauts aboard the craft were able to bypass the switches. By June 16, all six lanes of the computers were back on line. Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov said that day, "In the very beginning, we were a little bit worried about the state of the computers . . . Now we have a good set of computers and station again looks pretty good and in good shape."

Still, the original source of the problem - the reason for the malfunction by the switches - continued to elude engineers, and would be a major focus of analysis for ground crews after the shuttle landed. The trouble developed after astronauts installed new solar panels. One theory was that static electrical charge had built up on the space station or the newly installed solar panel. The space station does not orbit in perfect vacuum - there are many charged particles at that level, and these can cause a build-up of charge, which in turn could have resulted in the problem with the switches. The space station includes features designed to deal with the problem, but the new panel might have been vulnerable, according to some experts. Still, it was not clear that this was the ultimate source of the problem, and NASA officials declined to speculate.

Mending a Thermal Blanket

The problem with the computers aboard the space station was the most serious mishap during the mission, but it was not the only unexpected problem that had to be dealt with. During the launch of the space shuttle, a 4-by-6 inch (10-by-15 centimeter) portion of the thermal blanket that protects various parts of the craft peeled away from where it belonged.


NASA

During the launch of the space shuttle, a 4-by-6 inch portion of the thermal blanket on the outside of the craft peeled away. The solution to this vexing problem—repairs with a medical stapler and pins from an on-board first aid kit.

Ground-based technicians conducted computer simulations to decide whether the damage was sufficient to warrant an in-flight repair. The consensus was that it was worth the trouble and risk. The blanket is designed to give protection against the fearsome heat of re-entry into the atmosphere. NASA officials indicated that they did not think the damage was enough to put the shuttle itself at risk, although after the 2003 disaster with the Columbia, that possibility certainly was at the forefront of everyone's mind. A more likely scenario, they indicated, was that an unrepaired thermal blanket could lead to damage that would be costly, in terms of both time and money, to repair.

With the decision taken to go ahead, the question turned to how specifically to proceed. The universal household fixer - duct tape - was considered, but discarded. "Duct tape doesn't work in the vacuum of space," deputy shuttle program manager John Shannon said June 12. In the end, Olivas used pins and a medical stapler from an on-board first aid kit.

An early inspection after the Atlantis landed indicated the makeshift repairs had largely done the job of protecting the shuttle against damage.

Mission Accomplished

Despite the mission's problems, NASA officials noted that the astronauts were able to complete all its major objectives.

"There were a lot of challenges on this mission and they were all surmounted," was how Sturckow, commander of the Atlantis, put it. Williams, whose stay aloft gave her a place in the record books, said she was looking forward to a big slice of pizza.