House Dems threaten floor vote to break impasse

FOXNews

By ERICA WERNER
WASHINGTON — Dissension within Democratic ranks over President Barack Obama's health care initiative all but paralyzed the House Friday, typifying just how many political land mines are littering the path to enactment.

The Obama White House figured on some pushback from congressional Republicans, but leaders of his own Democratic Party struggled to get things moving. A powerful House committee chairman threatened to force a floor vote to break the impasse within Democratic ranks — a drastic step that could roil the House.

Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said negotiations with fiscally conservative Democrats on his panel cannot continue indefinitely. But a floor vote would put fellow Democrats in an exposed position, having to cast a vote on a $544-billion upper-income tax increase that the Senate is unlikely to embrace to help pay for covering the millions of uninsured Americans.

The problems on the House side of the Capitol come a day after Senate Democratic leaders announced they would not go ahead as planned with a floor vote before Congress departs for its August recess. Senate Democrats are also divided. While some are negotiating with Republicans, others want to plow ahead on their own.

"We're going to have to look at perhaps bypassing the (Energy and Commerce) committee because we've got to get moving on this legislation," Waxman said. "I hope we don't come to that conclusion."

Two House panels have already passed legislation. Waxman is stymied because seven conservatives on his committee — part of a group called the Blue Dog Democrats — are sticking together.

Negotiations are continuing, but Waxman said he's running out of patience.

"We're not going to let them empower the Republicans to control the committee," he said.

"This can't be an interminable discussion," Waxman added. He's agreed to a study to address why Medicare rates are lower in rural areas in hopes of mollifying the Blue Dogs, many of whom represent small town constituencies. Billions of dollars are potentially at stake. Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said he hoped the talks would end on a positive note and the bill could proceed through Waxman's committee.

As lawmakers continued to haggle, the White House said Obama will keep working on health care in August even if Congress goes home.

"Nobody in planning meetings decided we should just take August off," said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. "For a long time we planned to continue the discussion on the issues that are important, be it the economy, health care ... education. That had always in many ways been priced into the scenario."

Obama envisions legislation that would, for the first time, require all Americans to be insured. A new government insurance program would compete with private insurers, and insurance companies would be barred from excluding people with pre-existing conditions. The goals are to hold down costs and extend coverage to most of the 50 million uninsured. The price tag: $1 trillion-plus over a decade.

Obama met Friday morning at the White House with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. Reid said Thursday that the panel will push to complete a bill before the Senate breaks Aug. 7. Baucus has been negotiating with the panel's Republicans in hopes of producing a bipartisan bill.

Finance Committee negotiators are looking at a bill that probably won't satisfy Democratic liberals. One of their top goals is a new government-sponsored insurance plan, and that was a centerpiece of legislation passed by the Senate's health committee. But Finance Committee members are looking at nonprofit co-ops instead.

In the House, the Blue Dogs want more done to try to control rising medical costs.

Democratic leaders say the back-and-forth is a normal part of the legislative process, but Republicans are latching on to the disarray in delight. The Republican National Committee has taken to issuing news releases headlined "Chaos" that highlight disagreements within the Democrats' ranks.

In a Tweeter post on Friday, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, gave a shout-out to the Democratic dissidents: "bludogs keep barkin." Grassley is Baucus' counterpart in the Senate health care negotiations.

Associated Press Writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.

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Union chief: Obama should apologize to Cambridge police

New York Times

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN) -- President Obama should apologize to members of the Cambridge Police Department for saying they acted stupidly, the president of the city's police union said Friday.
Dennis O'Connor, president of the Cambridge Police Superior Officers Association, said at a news conference that Obama should not have criticized officers' actions in last week's arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Sgt. James Crowley, the officer who arrested Gates for disorderly conduct, has previously said he was dismayed by the president's remarks and that Obama had offended police in Cambridge and elsewhere.

"I was a little surprised and disappointed that the president, who didn't have all of the facts by his own admission, then weighed in on the events of that night and made a comment that really offended not just officers in the Cambridge Police Department but officers around the country," Crowley told CNN affiliate WHDH-TV in Boston.

Obama, however, stood by his comment, saying he is "surprised by the controversy surrounding" it.

"I think it was a pretty straightforward commentary that you probably don't need to handcuff a guy, a middle-aged man who uses a cane, who's in his own home," Obama told ABC's "Nightline." Video Watch Crowley's boss defend the arrest »

When Obama waded into the story by answering a question about it during his news conference Wednesday night, he admitted that he "may be a little biased" because Gates is a friend.
Don't Miss

* Police commissioner stands by professor's arrest
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* Charge dropped against Harvard professor

"I don't know all the facts," he also conceded.

He said he did not know what role race played, but "the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home." iReport.com: Arrest sparks debate

Crowley, in the police report about the incident, said Gates refused to cooperate with him and repeatedly accusing him of racism when he went to Gates' home following a report of a possible break-in July 16.

Crowley said he tried to determine whether there was someone else at the home and wanted to ensure Gates' safety.

Gates, however, told him "that I had no idea who I was 'messing' with" and was being so loud that he could not give pertinent information to the department when he was calling in, the sergeant said.

Authorities have said they may release tapes of the officer calling in, in which Gates is heard in the background

Crowley's report said that when he asked to speak with Gates outside, the professor at one point responded, "I'll speak with your mama outside." Video Watch Crowley's response »

Gates' attorney, Charles Ogletree, said the professor never made such a remark.

The full story will show that Gates did nothing wrong -- and that Crowley did not identify himself at first, Ogletree said.

Gates said Wednesday he would listen to Crowley "if he would tell the truth about what he did, about the distortions that he fabricated in the police report. I would be prepared as a human being to forgive him."

Crowley has said he will not apologize. The police incident report states that Crowley twice provided his name to Gates, who subsequently asked for it two more times.

Gates ultimately was arrested for disorderly conduct, but the department later dropped the charges.

Cambridge police Commissioner Robert Haas said he "deeply regrets" the arrest but stands by the procedures his department followed.

"I trust [Crowley's] judgment implicitly. He is a stellar officer," Haas said.

He added the department is "very proud about its diversity within this community and how hard we've worked over the years to build a strong, solid relationship [between] the department and the community."

Haas said he agreed with Crowley about Obama's remarks.

"I have to tell you the officers take that very personally and basically feel hurt by that comment. We truly are trying to do the best service we can to the community and sometimes we make mistakes. We're human. But we learn from those mistakes and we move on," he said.

Numerous police officers, including African-Americans, have spoken up on Crowley's behalf and portrayed him as a good and fair officer. Crowley, who is white, had once been chosen by a black police officer to teach a police academy course on ways to avoid racial profiling.

Obama said he had heard of Crowley's record, saying, "I don't know all the extenuating circumstances, and as I said, I respect what police officers do. From what I can tell, the sergeant who was involved is an outstanding police officer, but my suspicion is probably it would have been better if cooler heads prevailed."

Gates' legal team argues that authorities are misrepresenting the professor and the officer, and Gates has said he is determined to keep the issue alive despite the charges being dropped.

"This is not about me; this is about the vulnerability of black men in America," he said this week.

Ogletree said Gates might sue the department and would bring forward witnesses who say they've had similar experiences with Crowley.
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When asked for examples, Ogletree said only that they may come out in time depending on how the police department handles the situation moving forward.

"I think you will be hearing much more complex and different perspective on him [Crowley] in the coming days and weeks," Ogletree said, alleging that Crowley "is well-known among people, particularly young people, for some of his police practices

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Reports on U.S. Detention Policy Will Be Delayed

Washington Post

vBy Peter Finn
Washington Post Staff Writer By Peter Finn
Washington Post Staff Writer
The Obama administration is delaying completion of reports examining U.S. detention and interrogation policy, officials said Monday, in a sign of the formidable issues it faces in grappling with how to handle terrorism suspects as it prepares to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

The work of a Justice Department-led task force, which had been scheduled to send a report on detention policy to President Obama on Tuesday, will be extended for six months, according to senior administration officials. A second task force examining interrogation policy will get a two-month extension to complete its work, which had also been due Tuesday.

"These are hard, complicated, consequential decisions," one official said in a White House briefing in which four officials spoke to reporters on the condition that the officials not be named. "What we are trying to do is to make sure that we make the right decisions. And so they are looked at, they are reviewed and re-reviewed. By teeing them up to the president, we want to make sure that we have looked at every single angle, because he will challenge us on these issues."

The officials said the administration remains committed to closing the prison in Cuba by January 2010, as Obama ordered, but the delays are an indication of the political and legal complexities of making good on the president's timeline.

Some of the Guantanamo Bay detainees may be deemed too dangerous to release but also too difficult to prosecute in federal court or before a military commission.
Officials said Monday that it is still unclear how many Guantanamo Bay prisoners might be placed in some system of prolonged detention, and how that system might be structured. But they said that Obama will seek congressional backing for any system and not unilaterally assert his authority to hold detainees indefinitely under the laws of war. Officials had previously said they were considering an executive order to establish a system of indefinite detention.

"There is no intent in the administration to rely on anything other than congressional authority," said one senior administration official. He said any system of prolonged detention would include periodic follow-up reviews on whether a detainee continued to pose a threat to national security.

A separate interagency task force is examining the cases of the 229 detainees who remain at Guantanamo Bay, and is on track to complete its work by October. Officials said more than half those cases have been reviewed, with recommendations to transfer more than 50 detainees home or to third countries, and to prosecute others.

While the task force report focusing on detention policy has been delayed, officials released an interim report on Monday evening. It said the decision on where to prosecute detainees will be made by lawyers from the Justice Department's national security division, along with personnel from the Defense Department, including military prosecutors. Various factors will be considered, including the need to protect intelligence sources and methods, and "evidentiary problems that might attend prosecution in the other jurisdiction," according to the report.

The report does not specify what kind of evidentiary problems might arise. Human rights groups argue that military commissions, even if restructured, offer a lower standard of justice because of the ability, in some circumstances, to allow in evidence obtained under duress.

The six-month delay in deciding on detention policy, coupled with the need to craft and pass legislation, suggests that the closing of Guantanamo Bay will come down to the wire. In separate interviews, some administration officials have said they fear the closing date could slide.

One official said that, in its efforts to resettle detainees, the government is making "good progress with a number of European countries and countries outside of Europe." He cited, in particular, the Pacific island of Palau, which has offered to settle Chinese Uighurs held at Guantanamo Bay who have been ordered released by the courts. Four Uighurs have been resettled in Bermuda.

The official said some countries are willing to help the administration even though Congress has barred the administration from resettling any detainees in the United States.

"If there are constraints, that's the terrain we have to deal with, and we will," one official

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RAF jet crashes in Afghanistan as four NATO troops killed

Britain has around 9,000 troops in Afghanistan

By Nasrat Shoaib (AFP)
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A British fighter jet crashed in Afghanistan on Monday injuring two pilots, while four NATO troops were killed in a bomb blast as foreign casualties soar in the war-torn country.

The crash and the unrelated killing of a British soldier in a bomb attack Sunday -- bringing to 17 the number killed so far this month -- was likely to spark renewed political debate in London over Britain's role in the conflict.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) meanwhile said that four soldiers were killed in a bomb blast Monday in the east of the country, but gave no details on their nationalities.


Western military casualties have hit record levels in Afghanistan as foreign governments scramble extra troops to the war-torn nation hoping to ease an increasingly virulent Taliban insurgency ahead of elections on August 20.

Mohammad Aslam Yar, a spokesman for the southern Kandahar air base, said an ISAF fighter jet crashed early Monday at the airfield, which is at the biggest military base in the south, a Taliban stronghold.

"There were two pilots who ejected and were taken to a military hospital inside the base for treatment. Apart from that there are no other casualties. No enemy fire was involved," Yar told AFP.

A defence ministry spokeswoman in London told AFP the jet was a Royal Air Force Tornado GR4, but ruled out insurgent activity as the cause of the crash. "Their next of kin have been told that they have been injured. The assessment's going on at the hospital in the base," the spokeswoman said.

On Sunday, a civilian-contracted helicopter crashed on take-off at Kandahar airbase, killing 16 civilians. On Saturday, two US crew were killed when their jet went down in the southeastern province of Ghazni, a Taliban hotbed.

Officials denied that either crash was caused by enemy fire, although Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for another helicopter crash that killed seven people last Tuesday in the southern province of Helmand.

Air traffic has increased recently in the south with the arrival of thousands of extra Western troops on a mission to stabilise the country with the Taliban insurgency at its deadliest since the 2001 US-led invasion.

Military casualties have surged in recent weeks as about 4,000 US Marines and thousands of British and Afghan forces battle their way into Taliban strongholds in the south in separate assaults launched in June and July.

The defence ministry in London confirmed that a British soldier from The 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was killed by an explosion while on a foot patrol Sunday in Helmand.

The death brings to 186 the number of British troops who have died in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion. Of these, at least 154 were killed in hostile action and 17 have been killed this month.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has faced stinging criticism from the main opposition party that his government is denying troops vital resources, after Britain suffered eight deaths within 24 hours in Afghanistan last week.

There are about 90,000 foreign troops, mainly US, British and Canadian, deployed in Afghanistan to help Kabul fight the Taliban insurgency.

According to the independent www.icasualties-org website, which tracks military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, around 208 foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this year without counting the ISAF deaths Monday.

In other unrest, 11 civilians were killed and two others wounded Sunday when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb planted by insurgents in southwestern Farah province, deputy provincial governor Mohammad Yunus Rasouli told AFP.

In northern Kunduz province, two civilians were killed and two others wounded Sunday when German and local forces opened fire on a car that failed to slow down at a checkpoint, a press release from the German forces said.

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Clinton says US will do everything to free soldier

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States will do everything it can to find and free an American soldier captured in Afghanistan and whose detention was aired on video.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States will do everything it can to find and free an American soldier captured in Afghanistan and whose detention was aired on video.

The video, portions of which were posted on YouTube on the Internet, shows Private Bowe Bergdahl, 23, of Idaho in traditional Afghan dress, being prompted in English by his captors to call for U.S. forces to be withdrawn from Afghanistan.



"We are attempting to do everything we can to locate him and free him," Clinton, who is in India, said in an interview aired on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday.

"It's just outrageous," she said. "It's a real sign of desperation and inappropriate criminal behavior on the parts of these terrorist groups, so we are going to do everything we can to get him."

The U.S. military has denounced the video as Taliban propaganda that violated international law.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Eric Beech)

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Photos from Phnom Trop, Preah Vihear province

(337 miles) north of Phnom Penh,

Cambodia soldiers patrol on the top of Phnom Trop, near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 19, 2008. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Thai troops stand guard on the top of Phnom Trop mountain near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 19, 2008. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea


Cambodian soldiers stand guard while Cambodian and Thai commanders have a negotiation about a reset of soldier zones of the Cambodian-Thai border at the frontline on top of the mountain Phnom Trop about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) east of the famed Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008. Thai and Cambodian field commanders worked Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008, to strengthen a fragile truce following a deadly gun battle between their soldiers stationed on the border. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)


A Cambodian soldier carries Thailand's B-40 rocket that he found on the ground last week back to Thai soldiers during a negotiation about a reset of soldier zones of the Cambodian-Thai border at the frontline on top of the mountain Phnom Trop about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) east of the famed Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008. Thai and Cambodian field commanders worked Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008, to strengthen a fragile truce following a deadly gun battle between their soldiers stationed on the border. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)


A Cambodian soldier carries a cow's leg on the way up to Phnom Trop mountain near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 19, 2008. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea


Cambodian troops patrol on the top of Phnom Trop mountain near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 19, 2008. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea


Cambodian troops patrol on the top of Phnom Trop mountain near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 19, 2008. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Cambodian troops patrol on the top of Phnom Trop mountain near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 19, 2008. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

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Photographer Showcases Legendary Khmer Temple Preah Vihear

Photo of Preah Vihear by Jon Ortner

Guarded by giant seven-headed serpent gods high on a mountain, on the border between Thailand and Cambodia, is an ancient sacred site that's often been at the center of conflict.

Jon Ortner, photographer and author of the book "Angkor, Celestial Temples of the Khmer Empire," shares his first encounters and impressions of the thousand-year-old sanctuary Preah Vihear in this essay of words and photos composed especially for NatGeo News Watch.











By Jon Ortner



Special Contributor to NatGeo News Watch



"Sir, you cannot go!" My heart sank as the harsh voice of a Thailand border patrol officer rang out, "If you go...boom, boom, boom."



I looked through the military binoculars the guard handed me. Across the valley, surrounded by thick piles of sand bags, was a bunker. In it was a group of young soldiers, members of the feared Khmer Rouge.



Casually smoking cigarettes, they were aiming a machine gun directly at us.



No other explanation necessary.



Our disappointment, hard to accept, was tempered by the stern and rugged faces of the men behind the machine gun. We needed no reminder that this place had a history of serious conflict.





My wife Martha and I were traveling along the rugged Dangrek Mountains where Thailand and Cambodia share a much-disputed border--and which is also home to some of the most magnificent temples in Asia.



It was March 1997, and we were approaching our objective, the reason we had traveled so far.



Our driver had stopped the car and motioned for us to start walking. Strangely alone, we walked down the empty road for 20 minutes.



After about a mile we approached what appeared to be a military border post. Partially dug into the ground, it was protected by walls of sand bags.



Across a forested valley we could see a mountain. A long flat plateau ran up its flank leading to the summit.



Scattered along the plateau, glinting in the harsh afternoon sun, were ancient ruins. Through the forest we could discern fragments of massive walls, terraces and piles of huge stones scattered about.



We were getting our first tantalizing glimpse of the legendary temple of Preah Vihear.





Translated as the "holy monastery," Preah Vihear is one of the great architectural treasures of the world. Some experts consider it the most spectacularly situated of all the Khmer monuments.



We had been drawn there by the faintest of rumors that had been floating around Bangkok: We had heard that it might be possible to visit Preah Vihear, a remote shrine famous for its fine carvings.



I had long dreamt of an opportunity to explore and photograph Preah Vihear. I had heard it described as a premier repository of Hindu art and architecture and a masterpiece of the Khmer civilization.



But as I took a last glance at Preah Vihear in the distance, the Thai officer reminded me that visiting this unique and beautiful place was forbidden, and that no attempt should be made to cross the border a few hundred yards away.



A monk stands beside the collapsed tower (prang) of the innermost sanctuary. The courtyard is enclosed by galleries.



Photo by Jon Ortner



Tragically, Preah Vihear had been taken over by the last desperate vestiges of the Khmer Rouge. Their notorious leader, Pol Pot, accused of murdering perhaps as many as two million of his countrymen, was hiding nearby in the small village of Anlong Veng. It was not until his death in April of 1998 and the surrender of the last Khmer Rouge forces that the area became safe to visit once again.



Attributed to the reign of Yasovarman I, who ruled from AD 889-910, the temple was maintained and embellished over a 300-year period by as many as seven kings.



Lord of the Summit



Constructed as a monastic sanctuary, it was dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva in his manifestation as the Shikhareshvara, Lord of the Summit.



Preah Vihear sits atop a 1,700-foot cliff named Pey Ta Di, The promontory on which it is built is part of a chain of heavily forested peaks that form the border of Thailand and Cambodia. And it is this geography that has put Preah Vihear at the center of conflict.



Although Preah Vihear was originally placed clearly within Cambodia on the first border maps drawn up in the early 1900s, its precarious location on the top of a peak has traditionally made access easier from the Thai side.





The pediment on the gopura of the second level illustrates the Hindu myth of creation, "The Churning of the Sea of Milk."



Photo by Jon Ortner



Thailand has had a long history of disagreement with the placement of the border with Cambodia, which has led to repeated armed clashes between the two nations. The matter was brought to the International Court of Justice in the Hague, and in July 1962 Cambodia was awarded official ownership of the temple and its precincts.



Civil war broke out in Cambodia in 1970 and by May of 1977 Preah Vihear was fully controlled by the Khmer Rouge.



Invasion by Vietnam



From 1979 through 1989 Vietnam invaded and occupied Cambodia, trying to rescue the country from the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge.



The continuation of guerilla warfare throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, and the planting of land mines in the area surrounding Preah Vihear, kept it completely off limits.



During those decades no one knew if warfare or theft had severely damaged or even destroyed the delicate and irreplaceable art and architecture of the shrine.



A stable government was seated in Phnom Penh by September 1998, and by 2000 Preah Vihear was again open for visits from the Thai side.



The gopura, or entrance pavilion, of the first level is ornamented with an unusual diamond-shaped decoration at the top of the gable."



Photo by Jon Ortner



In November 2000, finding ourselves once more based in Bangkok, Martha agreed to try to visit Preah Vihear again. We flew from Bangkok to Ubon, then drove toward the border.



After staying overnight in the town of Kantharalak, we approached the first Thai check post early the next morning. My knees were weak with anticipation as we passed through in the direction of Cambodia. Again we were let off by the driver and told to start walking.



Soon we were crossing a footbridge across a small stream. We opened a wire gate and walked through. Chain-link fences heavily festooned with barbed wire extended from us. Our attention was immediately drawn to the ominous warning signs of land mines. They directed us, convincingly, not to step off the path.



Photo of Martha and Jon Ortner courtesy Jon Ortner



We crossed the actual border, then, walking uphill, we soon came to a small market. We were practically alone, didn't see any other westerners, and had to ask where we could find the Cambodian border guard to stamp our passports.



After paying visa fees and getting our papers stamped, we were on our way.



Just ahead we could see the beginning of an ancient stone stairway, almost 30 feet wide at its base. Its massive steps were made of single slabs, some hewn directly out of the mountain.



At the top we emerged onto a platform, flanked by a pair of giant seven-headed Nagas, or snakes. Protectors of the underworld, granters of the monsoon rains, controllers of the sacred rivers, they guarded and sanctified the grounds we were about to enter.





Naga, a seven-headed serpent god, at the entrance of Preah Vihear.



Photo by Jon Ortner



When we reached the lowest pavilion we were greeted by a group of young Cambodian soldiers. Very friendly and eager to practice their English, they welcomed us to Cambodia and to Preah Vihear.



Our first impressions of the temple were overpowering. The carving was some of the most beautiful and detailed that we had ever seen, reminding us of the intricate work we had observed at the miniature pink temple of Banteay Srei, near Angkor. At Preah Vihear the colors of the stone glowed richly in shades of tan, yellow, and russet. Faint traces of the original red paint were visible.



Lichens and mosses fed by the persistent cool and foggy conditions had grown over everything. A living patina covered the crumbled ruins of towers, walls and colossal foundations. It had the appearance of great age, and as we wondered through it we imagined we heard echoes of prayers and the chants of veneration accorded it over the centuries.



Spiritual Power



Slightly overgrown with tall grasses swaying in the breeze, Preah Vihear gave us a vision of a place that still resonates with an indescribable spiritual power. We felt as if we had entered a forgotten paradise whose sanctity somehow still infuses every stone, every leaf, and each moment in time.



For two glorious days we explored, discovered and were mesmerized by the complexity, the elegance, and the overpowering beauty of the location and the shrine itself.



Aside from a few Thai tourists, we were almost completely by ourselves. Only now do we realize what an extraordinary experience it truly was.



As we walked through immense hallways, giant stone colonnades arranged in rows spoke of the power and grandeur of these structures.



When we reached the main sanctuary situated on the summit of the mountain, what struck us so notably was that, unlike most of the other Khmer temples we had studied and photographed, this one was not enclosed by vegetation.



Surprisingly it was neither overgrown by dense jungle nor shaded by tall tropical trees. Instead, it was open to the sky, with expansive views in all directions.



Yet the temple faced south, and its purpose was not for the enjoyment of scenic views, but for introspection, meditation, and worship of the Hindu gods. The cliff upon which it sat was sheer and extended far out over the plain below. The main shrine was built at the very tip of this triangular promontory.



The courtyard enclosed by galleries contained a cruciform-shape mandapa or pavilion, and the ruins of a large prang or tower. It was likely that only the king and certain high priests would have been allowed in this inner sanctum.



Here we found a solitary monk, standing quietly, as delicate and shy as a forest deer.



Illuminated by the late afternoon light, his robe glowed deep orange, the color sacred to both Hindu and Buddhist ascetics. He kindly gave us blessings for having arrived at the end of our journey, the very heart of Preah Vihear.



Its inaccessible location on top of the peak gave the whole complex a feeling of mystical isolation. It was an earthly representation of the mythological abode of Shiva on celestial Mount Meru high in the Himalaya.





On the fourth level, square pillars once supported a tiled, wooden roof of a grand hall leading to the inner enclosure.



Photo by Jon Ortner



Unlike the gargantuan temple-cities of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, monuments that projected the unlimited power of the gods and the kings, Preah Vihear was constructed as a monastic retreat, a hermitage and the distant outpost of the empire.



The levels of the temple symbolize the progressive stages of spiritual evolution through the higher states of consciousness, and ultimately to nirvana.



As we ascended the levels of the shrine, we were aware of the deeply held belief that the levels of the temple symbolize the progressive stages of spiritual evolution through the higher states of consciousness, and ultimately to nirvana or enlightenment.



Almost everywhere we looked, carved into the lintels and pediments above each doorway were scenes of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, the trinity of great Hindu gods.



Looking down upon us they were forever frozen in time, enacting their elaborate roles in the cosmic drama, the stories of creation, destruction, war and love, from the Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.



World Heritage Site



In 2008 Preah Vihear was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which should have brought additional protection to the site.



But by July 2008 there were renewed tensions as the boundary issue flared again. Sporadic fighting has continued, and in April 2009 Thai rockets fired across the border destroyed a Cambodian market. At least 11 soldiers have died in the last year during this series of skirmishes.



Currently the temple is again off limits.



Perhaps some kind of international park with the shrine open from both Thailand and Cambodia may be the only way to resolve the stand-off.



We can only hope that soon the thousand-year-old Preah Vihear and its sacred mountain will once again be open to elevate the aspirations of mankind and to inspire with its beauty all who are privileged to see it.





Jon Ortner is the photographer and author of a number of photography books, including "Angkor: Celestial Temples of the Khmer Empire" (Abbeville Press, 2002).



The book contains more than 200 photographs (shot with 6x7cm medium-format cameras and Fuji Velvia 50 film), historic illustrations, maps, crhonology of sites, and floor plans. The photographs were created over a six-year period, starting in 1995 and ending in 2001, on numerous extended journeys to Cambodia and eastern Thailand.



Preah Vihear, Phnom Kulen, Kbal Spean, and Beng Mealea--areas closed for decades because of the activities of the Khmer Rouge--are among the many seldom-visited locations of Khmer sacred sites included in the book.

TVK Khmer News- 7 July 2009-2 Preah Vihear (UNESCO)
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Cambodia, Thailand: Preah Vihear dispute continues

Two boys sit in the Temple. Photo by paniek at Flickr.

The ancient Temple of Preah Vihear, which, according to UNESCO, dates back to the eleventh century and is dedicated to Shiva, rests on the Cambodian and Thai borders. Exactly which country can claim Preah Vihear has been a source of contention between the neighboring countries. In 1962, the International Court of Justice, acting on an application by the Cambodian government, ruled that the Temple is within Cambodian territory. In July 2008, UNESCO listed the Temple as a World Heritage Site, citing its “unique architectural complex.”

Photo below by paniek at Flickr.
Since the July 2008 inscription by UNESCO, there has been violence in the region between Cambodian and Thai soldiers. However, as The Mirror reports, various Cambodian government officials have denied that the UNESCO listing is the reason behind the violence. Thailand has urged that UNESCO re-list the Temple so that it would be jointly managed by Thailand and Cambodia. The Mirror notes:


Based on the relevant UNESCO documents, and referenced here point by point, we bring additional information related to the procedures of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee and the listing of the Sacred Site of the Temple of Preah Vihear, which led to military confrontations, the loss of human life on both sides, and a sharp decline of tourism – all this has been reflected in different degrees in the Mirror during the last year.

Unfortunately, and to our surprise – in spite of the wide emotional concerns related to the Preah Vihear listing – the press in Cambodia has not reported much about the delicate and detailed legal and contractual arguments at the basis of the listing as a World Heritage Site, and the future obligations entered into by the Cambodian government.


But if the Cambodian press is failing to report on the implications of the listing, the Cambodian government is very much aware of the UNESCO designation. The Cambodian government recently recognized the one-year anniversary of UNESCO’s listing with singing, dancing and speeches. Photos of the event are available on Monkgol’s blog and at Khmerization.

Video of the festivities is available as well.
TVK Khmer News- 7 July 2009-2 Preah Vihear (UNESCO)
Uploaded by KampongSpeu.

The animosity between the two countries has manifested online as well, as Kounila Keo points out in her post entitled “I Love Khmer vs. I Love Thailand” about competing websites ilovethailand.org
and ilovekhmer.org.

Details are Sketchy, with comments from ThaRum, reports that the ilovethailand.org site is blocked in Cambodia, but it is unclear which side is censoring the site.

As hostilities continue, Sopheap Chak charges the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (”ASEAN”) for not fulfilling its duty to “promote regional peace and stability.” In an editorial published in UPI Asia, Chak writes that ASEAN’s passivity in the Preah Vihear matter is unacceptable. Chak writes that “[i]t seems that ASEAN is simply irrelevant when it comes to member states’ security…[and that continued lack of action will mean] ASEAN cannot continue to be considered a crucial regional body.”
Proceedings in the case concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear, between Cambodia and Thailand, were instituted on 6 October 1959 by an Application of the Government of Cambodia; the Government of Thailand having raised two preliminary objections, the Court, by its Judgment of 26 May 1961, found that it had jurisdiction.

In its Judgment on the merits the Court, by nine votes to three, found that the Temple of Preah Vihear was situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia and, in consequence, that Thailand was under an obligation to withdraw any military or police forces, or other guards or keepers, stationed by her at the Temple, or in its vicinity on Cambodian territory.

By seven votes to five, the Court found that Thailand was under an obligation to restore to Cambodia any sculptures, stelae, fragments of monuments, sandstone model and ancient pottery which might, since the date of the occupation of the Temple by Thailand in 1954, have been removed from the Temple or the Temple area by the Thai authorities.

Judge Tanaka and Judge Morelli appended to the Judgment a Joint Declaration. Vice-President Alfaro and Judge Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice appended Separate Opinions; Judges Moreno Quintana, Wellington Koo and Sir Percy Spender appended Dissenting Opinions.

*

* *

In its Judgment, the Court found that the subject of the dispute was sovereignty over the region of the Temple of Preah Vihear. This ancient sanctuary, partially in ruins, stood on a promontory of the Dangrek range of mountains which constituted the boundary between Cambodia and Thailand. The dispute had its fons et origo in the boundary settlements made in the period 1904-1908 between France, then conducting the foreign relations of Indo-China, and Siam. The application of the Treaty of 13 February 1904 was, in particular, involved. That Treaty established the general character of the frontier the exact boundary of which was to be delimited by a Franco-Siamese Mixed Commission

In the eastern sector of the Dangrek range, in which Preah Vihear was situated, the frontier was to follow the watershed line. For the purpose of delimiting that frontier, it was agreed, at a meeting held on 2 December 1906, that the Mixed Commission should travel along the Dangrek range carrying out all the necessary reconnaissance, and that a survey officer of the French section of the Commission should survey the whole of the eastern part of the range. It had not been contested that the Presidents of the French and Siamese sections duly made this journey, in the course of which they visited the Temple of Preah Vihear. In January-February 1907, the President of the French section had reported to his Government that the frontier-line had been definitely established. It therefore seemed clear that a frontier had been surveyed and fixed, although there was no record of any decision and no reference to the Dangrek region in any minutes of the meetings of the Commission after 2 December 1906. Moreover, at the time when the Commission might have met for the purpose of winding up its work, attention was directed towards the conclusion of a further Franco-Siamese boundary treaty, the Treaty of 23 March 1907.

The final stage of the delimitation was the preparation of maps. The Siamese Government, which did not dispose of adequate technical means, had requested that French officers should map the frontier region. These maps were completed in the autumn of 1907 by a team of French officers, some of whom had been members of the Mixed Commission, and they were communicated to the Siamese Government in 1908. Amongst them was a map of the Dangrek range showing Preah Vihear on the Cambodian side. It was on that map (filed as Annex I to its Memorial) that Cambodia had principally relied in support of her claim to sovereignty over the Temple. Thailand, on the other hand, had contended that the map, not being the work of the Mixed Commission, had no binding character; that the frontier indicated on it was not the true watershed line and that the true watershed line would place the Temple in Thailand, that the map had never been accepted by Thailand or, alternatively, that if Thailand had accepted it she had done so only because of a mistaken belief that the frontier indicated corresponded with the watershed line.

The Annex I map was never formally approved by the Mixed Commission, which had ceased to function some months before its production. While there could be no reasonable doubt that it was based on the work of the surveying officers in the Dangrek sector, the Court nevertheless concluded that, in its inception, it had no binding character. It was clear from the record, however, that the maps were communicated to the Siamese Government as purporting to represent the outcome of the work of delimitation; since there was no reaction on the part of the Siamese authorities, either then or for many years, they must be held to have acquiesced. The maps were moreover communicated to the Siamese members of the Mixed Commission, who said nothing. to the Siamese Minister of the Interior, Prince Damrong, who thanked the French Minister in Bangkok for them, and to the Siamese provincial governors, some of whom knew of Preah Vihear. If the Siamese authorities accepted the Annex I map without investigation, they could not now plead any error vitiating the reality of their consent.

The Siamese Government and later the Thai Government had raised no query about the Annex I map prior to its negotiations with Cambodia in Bangkok in 1958. But in 1934-1935 a survey had established a divergence between the map line and the true line of the watershed, and other maps had been produced showing the Temple as being in Thailand: Thailand had nevertheless continued also to use and indeed to publish maps showing Preah Vihear as lying in Cambodia. Moreover, in the course of the negotiations for the 1925 and 1937 Franco-Siamese Treaties, which confirmed the existing frontiers, and in 1947 in Washington before the Franco-Siamese Conciliation Commission, it would have been natural for Thailand to raise the matter: she did not do so. The natural inference was that she had accepted the frontier at Preah Vihear as it was drawn on the map, irrespective of its correspondence with the watershed line. Thailand had stated that having been, at all material times, in possession of Preah Vihear, she had had no need to raise the matter; she had indeed instanced the acts of her administrative authorities on the ground as evidence that she had never accepted the Annex I line at Preah Vihear. But the Court found it difficult to regard such local acts as negativing the consistent attitude of the central authorities. Moreover, when in 1930 Prince Damrong, on a visit to the Temple, was officially received there by the French Resident for the adjoining Cambodian province, Siam failed to react.

From these facts, the court concluded that Thailand had accepted the Annex I map. Even if there were any doubt in this connection, Thailand was not precluded from asserting that she had not accepted it since France and Cambodia had relied upon her acceptance and she had for fifty years enjoyed such benefits as the Treaty of 1904 has conferred on her. Furthermore, the acceptance of the Annex I map caused it to enter the treaty settlement; the Parties had at that time adopted an interpretation of that settlement which caused the map line to prevail over the provisions of the Treaty and, as there was no reason to think that the Parties had attached any special importance to the line of the watershed as such, as compared with the overriding importance of a final regulation of their own frontiers, the Court considered that the interpretation to be given now would be the same.

The Court therefore felt bound to pronounce in favour of the frontier indicated on the Annex I map in the disputed area and it became unnecessary to consider whether the line as mapped did in fact correspond to the true watershed line.

For these reasons, the Court upheld the submissions of Cambodia concerning sovereignty over Preah Vihear.

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Invading Thai troops are now inside Preah Vihear temple compound

Thai soldier stand inside a cambodia Buddhist temple near the Preas Vihear

A Thai army soldier stands inside a Cambodian Buddhist temple near the Preah Vihear temple, in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, Wednesday, July 16, 2008. Cambodian officials said more Thai troops crossed into their country's territory Wednesday in the second day of alleged incursions amid tensions over disputed border land near the historic Preah Vihear temple. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)











Cambodian soldiers (L and 2nd R) hold radios as they stand guard over a group of soldiers from Thailand (background and R) in the Preah Vihear temple compound, 245km north of Phnom Penh, July 16, 2008. Thailand and Cambodia moved on Wednesday to ratchet down tensions on their border where hundreds of troops face each other over a disputed ancient temple. Senior Thai and Cambodian officials were trying to negotiate an end to the stand-off, triggered by Thai protests against the the listing of the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site earlier this month, Thailand's Supreme Commander, Boonsrang Niumpradit, told Reuters. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea







Cambodian soldiers are deployed in the Preah Vihaer temple compound, 245km (152 miles) north of Phnom Penh July 16, 2008. Thailand and Cambodia moved on Wednesday to ratchet down tensions on their border where hundreds of troops face each other over a disputed ancient temple. Senior Thai and Cambodian officials were trying to negotiate an end to the stand-off, triggered by Thai protests against the the listing of the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site earlier this month, Thailand's Supreme Commander, Boonsrang Niumpradit, told Reuters. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea



Cambodian Army soldiers walk as they guard near Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia, Wednesday, July 16, 2008. Cambodian officials said more Thai troops crossed into their country's territory Wednesday in the second day of alleged incursions amid tensions over disputed border land near a historic temple. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)





Cambodian soldiers are deployed in the Preah Vihaer temple compound, 245km (152 miles) north of Phnom Penh July 16, 2008. Thailand and Cambodia moved on Wednesday to ratchet down tensions on their border where hundreds of troops face each other over a disputed ancient temple. Senior Thai and Cambodian officials were trying to negotiate an end to the stand-off, triggered by Thai protests against the the listing of the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site earlier this month, Thailand's Supreme Commander, Boonsrang Niumpradit, told Reuters. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea



Cambodian soldiers stand guard in Preah Vihear temple compound, 245km (152 miles) north of Phnom Penh July 16, 2008. Thailand and Cambodia moved on Wednesday to ratchet down tensions on their border where hundreds of troops face each other over a disputed ancient temple. Senior Thai and Cambodian officials were trying to negotiate an end to the stand-off, triggered by Thai protests against the the listing of the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site earlier this month, Thailand's Supreme Commander, Boonsrang Niumpradit, told Reuters. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea





A Cambodian soldier (R) takes a photo of Thai soldiers on his cellphone at the Cekakiri Svarak pagoda in the Preah Vihear temple compound near the Cambodian-Thai border, 245km (142 miles) north of Phnom Penh July 16, 2008. Thailand and Cambodia moved on Wednesday to ratchet down tensions on their border where hundreds of troops face each other over a disputed ancient temple. Senior Thai and Cambodian officials were trying to negotiate an end to the stand-off, triggered by Thai protests against the the listing of the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site earlier this month, Thailand's Supreme Commander, Boonsrang Niumpradit, told Reuters. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea





Thai soldiers rest in the Preah Vihear temple compound, 245km (152 miles) north of Phnom Penh July 16, 2008. Thailand and Cambodia moved on Wednesday to ratchet down tensions on their border where hundreds of troops face each other over a disputed ancient temple. Senior Thai and Cambodian officials were trying to negotiate an end to the stand-off, triggered by Thai protests against the the listing of the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site earlier this month, Thailand's Supreme Commander, Boonsrang Niumpradit, told Reuters. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea





A Cambodian man watches a soldier from Thailand (R) in the Preah Vihear temple compound 245km (152 miles) north of Phnom Penh, July 16, 2008. Thailand and Cambodia moved on Wednesday to ratchet down tensions on their border where hundreds of troops face each other over a disputed ancient temple. Senior Thai and Cambodian officials were trying to negotiate an end to the stand-off, triggered by Thai protests against the the listing of the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site earlier this month, Thailand's Supreme Commander, Boonsrang Niumpradit, told Reuters. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

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Clinton prepares to sign India cooperation deals

Mrs Clinton will talk to India about efforts to combat climate change

By ROBERT BURNS (AP)

NEW DELHI — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is applauding new progress in U.S.-India relations, highlighted by an agreement to broaden cooperation beyond trade and military ties to include agriculture, education and women's issues.

Clinton was meeting with top Indian officials Monday, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna, to announce a wider partnership between two countries still struggling to overcome distrust rooted in Cold War rivalries. The Obama administration regards India as an emerging world power and a key to turning the tide against violent Islamic extremism.



Clinton was also expected to sign an agreement Monday enabling U.S. companies sell nuclear reactors to India, and possibly another on defense sales.

The nuclear deal would give American companies exclusive rights to sell nuclear power plants at specified locations in India — an opportunity that could be worth $10 billion for U.S. sellers. A second deal, which officials said they hoped would also be ready for signing Monday, is known as an end-use monitoring agreement that would give the U.S. the right to ensure that U.S. arms sold to India are used for their intended purpose and that the technology is not resold or otherwise provided to third countries.

On Sunday, India stood firm against Western demands that it accept binding limits on carbon emissions even as Clinton expressed optimism about an eventual climate change deal to India's benefit.

"There is simply no case for the pressure that we — who have among the lowest emissions per capita — face to actually reduce emissions," India's minister of environment and forests, Jairam Ramesh, told Clinton and her visiting delegation in a meeting.

"And as if this pressure was not enough, we also face the threat of carbon tariffs on our exports to countries such as yours," he added.

U.S. officials had expected the discussions to focus more on cooperation in related areas of energy efficiency, green buildings and clean-burning fuels.

The minister distributed copies of his remarks to reporters in a gesture aimed at underlining India's tough stance. The comments showed the political sensitivity in India of one of the Obama administration's foreign policy priorities.

Clinton said Ramesh presented a "fair argument." But she said India's case "loses force" because the fast-growing country's absolute level of carbon emissions — as opposed to the per capita amount — is "going up, and dramatically."

Later, at an agricultural research site in a farm field outside the capital, Clinton told reporters she is optimistic about getting a climate change deal that will satisfy India.

"This is part of a negotiation," she said. "It's part of a give-and-take and it's multilateral, which makes it even more complex. But until proven otherwise, I'm going to continue to speak out in favor of every country doing its part to deal with the challenge of global climate change."

In an interview with the TV station NDTV on Sunday, Clinton said she wants to discuss what she called India's more benign interpretation of Iran's intentions, particularly regarding Iran's disputed presidential election and its nuclear program. Clinton was pressed to say whether she is worried that India has a different view of Iran, which the U.S. sees as a supporter of terrorist groups, an obstacle to Mideast peace and a threat to build a nuclear bomb.

"I'm not concerned yet. I want to understand why it is and why it is held," she said, referring to India's view.

Clinton's trip to India, which began with a two-day visit to Mumbai, reflects a push by the Obama administration to keep U.S.-India relations on the improving path they have followed for more than a decade. For example, two-way trade has doubled since 2004.

India is widely viewed as an indispensable partner on climate change, along with China and Brazil. Those three countries and others in the developing world argue that the industrial world produced most of the harmful gases in recent decades and should bear the costs of fixing the problem.

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Apollo astronauts look ahead ... to Mars?

Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin, left, and Neil Armstrong participate in a panel discussion during the National Aviation Hall of Fame Spirit of Flight Award at the National Museum of the USAF on Friday in Dayton, Ohio.

40 years after first landing on moon, explorers point in new directions

msnbc.com staff and news service reports

updated 12:05 a.m. ET July 20, 2009



WASHINGTON - The astronauts who first landed on the moon aren't dwelling on their small lunar steps. Instead, two of them on Sunday urged mankind to take a giant leap to Mars.



In one of their few joint public appearances, the crew of Apollo 11 spoke on the eve of the 40th anniversary of man's first landing on the moon, but didn't get soggy with nostalgia. They preferred to talk about the future and the more distant past.



On Monday, the three astronauts will get another chance to make the pitch for a Mars trip, this time to someone with a little more sway: President Barack Obama.

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Countering Riots, China Rounds Up Hundreds

Nurmen Met held photographs of his sons, 19 and 21, who he said had been taken by riot officers as they entered the public bathhouse his family owns.

URUMQI, China — The two boys were seized while kneading dough at a sidewalk bakery.
he livery driver went out to get a drink of water and did not come home.

Tuer Shunjal, a vegetable vendor, was bundled off with four of his neighbors when he made the mistake of peering out from a hallway bathroom during a police sweep of his building. “They threw a shirt over his head and led him away without saying a word,” said his wife, Resuangul.

In the two weeks since ethnic riots tore through Urumqi, the regional capital of Xinjiang, killing more than 190 people and injuring more than 1,700, security forces have been combing the city and detaining hundreds of people, many of them Uighur men whom the authorities blame for much of the slaughter.

The Chinese government has promised harsh punishment for those who had a hand in the violence, which erupted July 5 after a rally by ethnic Uighurs angry over the murder of two factory workers in a distant province. First came the packs of young Uighurs, then the Han Chinese mobs seeking revenge.

“To those who have committed crimes with cruel means, we will execute them,” Li Zhi, the top Communist Party official in Urumqi, said July 8.

The vow, broadcast repeatedly, has struck fear into Xiangyang Po, a grimy quarter of the city dominated by Uighurs, Turkic-speaking Muslims who have often had an uneasy relationship with China’s Han majority. Uighurs are the largest ethnic group in Xinjiang, but in Urumqi, Han make up more than 70 percent of the 2.3 million residents.

It was here on the streets of Xiangyang Po, amid the densely packed tenements and stalls selling thick noodles and lamb kebabs, that many Han were killed. As young Uighur men marauded through the streets, residents huddled inside their homes or shops, they said; others claim they gave refuge to Han neighbors.

“It was horrible for everyone,” said Leitipa Yusufajan, 40, who spent the night cowering at the back of her grocery store with her 10-year-old daughter. “The rioters were not from here. Our people would not behave so brutally.”

But to security officials, the neighborhood has long been a haven for those bent on violently cleaving Xinjiang, a northwest region, from China. Last year, during a raid on an apartment, the authorities fatally shot two men they said were part of a terrorist group making homemade explosives. Last Monday, police officers killed two men and wounded a third, the authorities said, after the men tried to attack officers on patrol.

“This is not a safe place,” said Mao Daqing, the local police chief.

Local residents disagree, saying the neighborhood is made up of poor but law-abiding people, most of them farmers who came to Urumqi seeking a slice of the city’s prosperity. Interviews with two dozen people showed vehement condemnation of the rioters. “Those people are nothing but human trash,” one man said, spitting on the ground.

Still, the police response has been indiscriminate, they said. Nurmen Met, 54, said his two sons, 19 and 21, were nabbed as riot officers entered the public bathhouse his family owns. “They weren’t even outside on the day of the troubles,” he said, holding up photos of his sons. “They are good, honest boys.”

Many people said they feared that their family members might be swallowed up by a penal system that is vast and notoriously opaque. Last year, in the months leading to the Beijing Olympics, the authorities arrested and tried more than 1,100 people in Xinjiang during a campaign against what they called “religious extremists and separatists.”

Shortly after the arrests, Wang Lequan, the region’s Communist Party secretary, described the crackdown as a “life and death” struggle.

Uighur exile groups and human rights advocates say the government sometimes uses such charges to silence those who press for greater religious and political freedoms. Trials, they say, are often cursory. “Justice is pretty rough in Xinjiang,” said James Seymour, a senior research fellow at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

In a sign of the sensitivities surrounding the unrest, the Bureau for Legal Affairs in Beijing has warned lawyers to stay away from cases in Xinjiang, suggesting that those who assist anyone accused of rioting pose a threat to national unity. Officials on Friday shut down the Open Constitution Initiative, a consortium of volunteer lawyers who have taken on cases that challenge the government and other powerful interests. Separately, the bureau canceled the licenses of 53 lawyers, some of whom had offered to help Tibetans accused of rioting last year in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

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Aim for Mars, Apollo 11 crew says

Trace this history of the Apollo program through video, photos and more.

By Traci Watson, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the first human moon landing, the astronauts on that storied mission spoke of their great luck in being the first to go to the moon and lamented that NASA is working to send humans not to Mars but back to the moon.

In a rare joint appearance Sunday, the members of the Apollo 11 crew recognized that what for them had been a daring flight was also a stand-in for hostilities between the Soviet Union and the United States.


40 YEARS LATER: What's the next step?

"The space race faded away. It was the ultimate peaceful competition," said Neil Armstrong, 78, and it "did allow both sides to take the high road."

On July 20, 1969, Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon, Buzz Aldrin the second. Michael Collins remained in orbit around the moon aboard the mother ship that would carry the three men back to Earth.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: George W. Bush | Barack Obama | NASA | Neil Armstrong | Buzz Aldrin | Apollo 11 | Michael Collins | National Air and Space Museum

Collins, 78, said he had gotten to be part of the Apollo 11 crew through "10% shrewd planning, 90% blind luck." At the same time, he said "sometimes I think I flew to the wrong place" — a reference to his belief that Mars is more interesting than the moon.

Aldrin, 79, also called himself "lucky" and pushed Americans to set their sights on Mars rather than the moon. "America, do you still dream great dreams? Do you still believe in yourself? Are you ready for a great national challenge?" he asked.


The crew will meet today with President Obama, who has a checkered history on support of human space exploration. During the presidential campaign, he endorsed President George W. Bush's plan to send astronauts back to the moon, but last month the White House ordered a panel of independent space experts to reconsider that goal.

The three astronauts chose vastly different paths after the events that made them mega-celebrities. Armstrong taught engineering at the University of Cincinnati, then worked as an aerospace executive. He rarely speaks in public.

Collins wrote a memoir, headed the National Air and Space Museum and generally avoids the limelight.

Aldrin battled depression and alcoholism, a struggle chronicled in a book published this summer. He speaks widely, conducts frequent interviews and even appears in a new rap video.

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