CARIBBEAN TODAY


P 0 L I T


I c S


Congresswoman Clarke lashes Bush's Iraq war plan


 FITZGERALD SMITH

C congresswoman Yvette D.
 Cl.rrkL, who is backed by
 strong Caribbean immi-
grant constituency in New York,
is urging United States President
George W. Bush to pull U.S.
troops out of Iraq and send them
back home to their families.
 Clarke, whose parents are
Jamaican, said in an address to
the media last month shortly
after the president's Sept. 13
nationally broadcast speech to
Americans, that the Bush
administration seems too
focused on the war in Iraq
and should pay more attention
to the issues of the nation.
 "Clearly, this administra-
tion favors spending our hard-
earned money on sending
Americans into a hot desert
and harms way than on build-
ing a stronger country at
home," said Clarke, who repre-
sents the llth Congressional
District in Brooklyn.
 "There are 37 million
Americans living below the
poverty line. Six million chil-
dren across America do not
have health care, including
384,000 children in the State of
New York yet, just weeks ago,
when Democrats in Congress
passed programs that would
have cost only a fraction of the
president's war request to help
fight poverty and to guarantee
health insurance for children,
the president ilirLLk niLd to
veto these bills, claiming they
are too expensive. Now the
president is requesting an addi-


tional $50 billion from the
American people to continue
staying-the-course in this war,"
Clarke added.

NEGATIVE RESPONSE
 The prLid k ius highly antic-
ipated speech incited negative
responses from Democratic
leaders and U.S. Senate hope-
fuls alike, all expressing their
dissatisfaction with the presi-
dent's plan to continue pursuits
in the war-torn Middle Eastern
country. This
plan, he noted,
is the result of
a successful
strategy imple- '
mented some
months ago, d
which allowed
U.S. troops to
maximize al
efforts and Clarke
further
progress.
 "Eight months ago we
adopted a new strategy to meet
that objective, including a surge
in U.S. forces that reached full
strength in June," Bush
explained. "(Last month),
General David Petraeus and
Ambassador Ryan Crocker tes-
tified before Congress about
how that strategy is improving."
 According to the presi-
dent, because of this strategy
the situation in Iraq is improv-
ing and the U.S. stands current
with its goal of securing the
Iraqi population; a goal which
he also says will eventually
require less U.S. forces.
 "It will soon be possible to


bring home an Army combat
brigade, for a total force
reduction of 5,700 troops by
Christmas," he added.
"And...by July, we will be able
to reduce our troop levels in
Iraq from 20 combat brigades
to 15."

TURMOIL
 However, Clarke added
that although reports indicate
improvements in Iraq, particu-
larly in the Anbar province,
the majority of the country
remains in turmoil.
 "For Iraqis, the cost of the
war has meant great suffering,"
the congresswoman said. "The
president began the war under
the premise of helping the peo-
ple of Iraq, but after all this time,
they remain in great trauma."
 According to her, recent
reports have also indicated that
actions taken by the Bush admin-
istration to restore order to
Iraq have made little difference.
Additionally, she said, there have
been at least 27,564 Iraqi deaths
due violence because of the war,
raising the question of whether or
not the was was doing more harm
than good.
 "All of the lives, time, and
money invested on the war,
and the Iraqi government has
earned what would be a dis-
mally failing grade in any class-
room," she said.

Fitzgerald Smith is a freelance
writer for Caribbean Today.


Jamaica names 18-member Cabinet


KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC Prime
Minister Bruce Golding named an 18-
member Cabinet.
 Following is the full Cabinet:
* Prime Minister, Minister of Planning,
Development and Defense Bruce
Golding
* Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Trade Dr. Kenneth
Baugh
* Minister of Finance and the Public
Service Audley Shaw
* Minister of National Security Derrick
Smith
* Attorney-General and Minister of
Justice Dorothy Lightbourne
* Minister of Industry and Commerce -
Karl Samuda
* Minister of Education Andrew
Holness
* Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett


* Minister of Agriculture Christopher
Tufton
* Minister of Energy, Mining and
Telecommunications Clive Mullings
* Minister of Water and Housing Dr.
Horace Chang
* Minister of Labour and Social Security -
Pearnel Charles
* Minister of Transport and Works -
Michael Henry
* Minister of Health and Environment -
Rudyard Spencer
* Minister of Information, Culture, Youth
and Sports Olivia Grange
* Minister in the Office of the Prime
Minister James Robertson
* Minister in the Ministry of Finance and
the Public Service Don Wehby
* Minister in the Ministry of Finance and
the Public Service Dwight Nelson


P.M. Golding makes unity call


(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18)
tion and eliminate unneces-
sary bureaucracy and waste
of public resources.
 "I ask the Jamaican peo-
ple to appreciate that the
commitment we intend to
honor during the first 100
days are, of necessity, those
which do not require a signif-
icant outlay of government
expenditure," Golding said.
 "The financial constraints
and fiscal challenges that we
face are well known and the
medium and long term solu-
tions will have to be pursued
over time," he said.
 However, the new prime
minister sought to assure the
nation that even in the face of


the challenges that his gov-
ernment would face, it intend-
ed to honor campaign com-
mitments to abolish the pay-
ment of school tuition fees
and fees at public hospitals.
Concerning the vexed issue of
corruption, Golding pledged
to make a difference by
implementing stiff penalties
for violators. He also noted
that the government would
introduce whistleblower legis-
lation to protect persons who
provided information on
wrongdoing on the part of
public officials and would also
review the libel and slander
laws of the country.
0


P.M. King rejects call for early general elections in St. Lucia


CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC -
Prime Minister Stephenson
King has ruled out the possibil-
ity of early general elections to
obtain his own mandate from
the people of St. Lucia.
 King, who was sworn in as
prime minister recently follow-
ing the Sept. 7 death of Sir
John Compton, made this posi-
tion clear as the country pre-
pares for a by-election in the
Micoud North constituency
that was represented by the
late prime minister.
 Speaking prior to leaving
the island to address the
United Nations General
Assembly last month, King


King being sworn in as prime minister.
said the current mandate of
the government is still fresh,


and early general elections is
not anywhere on the cards.
Instead, he said the focus of
his administration is on doing
the job it was elected to do.
 "The mission of the gov-
ernment is to ensure that we
implement the vision of Sir
John as we move on with the
business of the country," King
told reporters
 "In terms of the timing of
a general election that is far
from my mind, what is on my
mind now, is to fulfill the
promises that were made in
the last general election."
0


Sir John Compton, St. Lucia's 'Father of the Nation', is dead


(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18)
that he was not there for a
"marathon." Sir John was off
the job since May when he suf-
fered a series of small strokes
and handed over day-to-day
running of the government to
King. It was reported that he
was also battling other compli-
cations, such as diabetes, and a
long-standing heart condition.


 The decision to go with
King as head of the government
was agreed to by all 10 elected
members of the ruling UWP.
 Early last month doctors
in Martinique, where Sir John
had been airlifted for medical
treatment, determined that
there was nothing more med-
ically they could do to improve
his condition, leading to the


decision to return him home
on Sept. 5. He died on Sept. 7.
 A state funeral was held
for the late leader last month.
 Sir John leaves to mourn
his wife Lady Compton and
five children.

Compiled from CMC reports.
0


 SQYes, send me 1 year (12 issues) of Caribbean Today
 for: LI $35(US) First Class U $20(US) Bulk Rate
 I1 Payment Enclosed
 Name: I
 Address:
 City: State Zip:
 Country: Telephone:

 Please make check or Money Order payable to
 Caribbean Today, and mail to:
 9020 S.W. 152nd Street Miami, Florida 33157
 or call: (305) 238-2868


 Caribbean ;iday
L ------------------------ J


October 2007