Arab-Americans hope Osama's death means a new beginning

DEARBORN, Mich. -- Arab-Americans and Muslims are hoping that the death of Osama bin Laden might lead to changes in how they're perceived and treated.

The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks turned the spotlight of federal law enforcement and the news media toward people of Arab descent, often casting them in an unflattering light.

It's been a tense past 10 years, so they welcomed the news that bin Laden is dead, hoping it can bring about a new day, said Executive Director Hassan Jaber of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services. the largest Arab-American social services group in the U.S.

On Sept. 11, Jaber was inside his office at ACCESS, voicing concerns that the attacks would lead to problems for Arab Americans.

"The death of Osama bin Laden thankfully closes out this long winter of political upheaval, social turmoil and economic disparity," Jaber said. "This is, indeed, a new day in America. Osama bin Laden is dead. We must not allow his legacy to live on by continuing to divide us. Extremism of any type demands our ongoing vigilance."

Early Monday, the death of the world's most wanted terrorist led to scenes of jubilation here: Drivers honked horns, beaming Arab-American men waved U.S. flags at City Hall, and loud fireworks crackled in a city known for its Muslim community.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, became a leader in forging cooperation between federal law enforcement and Arab-American and Muslim communities.

On Monday, he was on a conference call with the Department of Homeland Security about the death of bin Laden. Hamad said that though bin Laden is dead, his extreme ideology still exists and needs to be challenged.

Imam Husham Al-Husainy of the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center here wondered what took the U.S. so long and noted -- like many others Monday -- that bin Laden "was under the protection of the Pakistan military," which U.S. tax dollars pay for.

Still, he was hopeful that this would be "the beginning of a new period."

Al-Husainy, a native of Iraq, noted that bin Laden and his followers killed thousands in his native country and around the world.

"He was harmful to Muslims and non-Muslims," Al-Husainy said. "They should have gotten rid of him earlier, but we will put this dark period behind us."

Yet anti-Arab slurs continued Monday, showing up on Facebook and Twitter as bin Laden was discussed.

"We have to remind ourselves that this is not us against them, but it's us against evil elements wherever they may arise," said Bishop Charles Ellis III of Greater Grace Temple in Detroit. "We don't want to think that evil only exists in the Middle East when we experience it every day in our streets."

(Contributing: Tammy Stables Battaglia and Bill Laitner, Detroit Free Press)

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Taliban announce beginning of spring offensive

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban on Saturday announced the beginning of their spring military offensive against the U.S.-led coalition, a day after a new Pentagon report claimed that the militants' fighting spirit was low after sustaining heavy losses on the battlefield.

In a two-page statement, the Taliban said that beginning Sunday they would launch attacks on military bases, convoys and Afghan officials, including members of the government's peace council, who are working to reconcile with top insurgent leaders.

"The war in our country will not come to an end unless and until the foreign invading forces pull out of Afghanistan," said the announcement released by the leadership council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which is what the Taliban calls itself.

Senior officers with the U.S.-led coalition said on Friday that the Taliban ? aided by the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network ? have plans to conduct a brief series of high-profile attacks, such as suicide bombings, across the country in a display of power as fighting gears up with the warmer weather. The senior officers spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss recent intelligence that lead to the assessment.

Lt. Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for the coalition, said the Taliban planned to use the spate of violence as a "propaganda ploy" to try to demonstrate their relevance and create the perception of momentum despite recent setbacks.

The Pentagon report said the insurgents' momentum had been "broadly arrested" and their morale had begun to erode. Hundreds of insurgent leaders have been killed or captured and since last July 700 former Taliban have officially reintegrated into Afghan society and another 2,000 insurgents are in various stages of the process, the report said.

The Taliban, known for their resiliency, said insurgents will target "foreign invading forces, members of their spy networks and other spies, high-ranking officials of the Kabul puppet administration ? and heads of foreign and local companies working for the enemy and contractors."

The Taliban ordered its fighters to pay "strict attention" to protecting civilians during the spring offensive. A recent U.N. report said about three-quarters of the estimated 2,777 civilians killed in Afghanistan last year died at the hands of insurgents, not international forces.

Also on Saturday, the coalition released initial findings of the April 27 attack at the Kabul airport where a veteran Afghan military pilot opened fire, killing eight U.S. troops and an American civilian contractor who had been training the nascent Afghan air force.

The shooting was the deadliest attack by a member of the Afghan security forces, or an insurgent impersonating them, on coalition troops or Afghan soldiers or policemen. Seven of the eight U.S. airmen killed were commissioned officers.

The gunman was severely wounded by gunfire and was bleeding heavily when he left the room where most, but not all, of the trainers were killed, according to a senior NATO official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is not complete. The gunman was found dead in another part of the building, he said.

The attack occurred at an Afghan facility, the air force headquarters, so the usual coalition weapons procedures would not have been in place and the trainers would have had their weapons ? with magazines in place ? in their possession, the official said.

The trainers would not have had to load their guns to defend themselves, he said. All the NATO trainers killed were armed at the time of the attack, he said.

According to the initial findings, the gunman appeared to be carrying two handguns.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, but the coalition said it has uncovered no evidence to suggest that the insurgency was behind it.

"At this point in the investigation, it appears that the gunman was acting alone," the coalition said. "Beyond that, no Taliban connection with the gunman has been discovered. However, the investigation is still ongoing and we have not conclusively ruled out that possibility."

Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi declined comment Saturday, saying the joint investigation by the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan and the Afghan government was still under way.

In a statement issued late Friday, the U.S. Defense Department identified those killed as:

•Lt. Col. Frank D. Bryant Jr., 37, of Knoxville, Tennessee.

•Maj. Philip D. Ambard, 44, of Edmonds, Washington.

•Maj. Jeffrey O. Ausborn, 41, of Gadsden, Alabama.

•Maj. David L. Brodeur, 34, of Auburn, Massachusetts.

•Maj. Raymond G. Estelle II, 40, of New Haven, Connecticut.

•Capt. Nathan J. Nylander, 35, of Hockley, Texas.

•Capt. Charles A. Ransom, 31, of Midlothian, Virginia.

•Master Sgt. Tara R. Brown, 33, of Deltona, Florida.

The civilian contractor was James McLaughlin Jr., 55, of Santa Rosa, California. McLaughlin was a helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft pilot who spent 32 years in the Army before retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2007. In recent years, he trained Afghan helicopter pilots as an employee of L-3 MPRI, a consulting company based in Alexandria, Virginia.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Taliban announce beginning of spring offensive

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban on Saturday announced the beginning of their spring military offensive against the U.S.-led coalition, a day after a new Pentagon report claimed that the militants' fighting spirit was low after sustaining heavy losses on the battlefield.

In a two-page statement, the Taliban said that beginning Sunday they would launch attacks on military bases, convoys and Afghan officials, including members of the government's peace council, who are working to reconcile with top insurgent leaders.

"The war in our country will not come to an end unless and until the foreign invading forces pull out of Afghanistan," said the announcement released by the leadership council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which is what the Taliban calls itself.

Senior officers with the U.S.-led coalition said on Friday that the Taliban ? aided by the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network ? have plans to conduct a brief series of high-profile attacks, such as suicide bombings, across the country in a display of power as fighting gears up with the warmer weather. The senior officers spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss recent intelligence that lead to the assessment.

Lt. Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for the coalition, said the Taliban planned to use the spate of violence as a "propaganda ploy" to try to demonstrate their relevance and create the perception of momentum despite recent setbacks.

The Pentagon report said the insurgents' momentum had been "broadly arrested" and their morale had begun to erode. Hundreds of insurgent leaders have been killed or captured and since last July 700 former Taliban have officially reintegrated into Afghan society and another 2,000 insurgents are in various stages of the process, the report said.

The Taliban, known for their resiliency, said insurgents will target "foreign invading forces, members of their spy networks and other spies, high-ranking officials of the Kabul puppet administration ? and heads of foreign and local companies working for the enemy and contractors."

The Taliban ordered its fighters to pay "strict attention" to protecting civilians during the spring offensive. A recent U.N. report said about three-quarters of the estimated 2,777 civilians killed in Afghanistan last year died at the hands of insurgents, not international forces.

Also on Saturday, the coalition released initial findings of the April 27 attack at the Kabul airport where a veteran Afghan military pilot opened fire, killing eight U.S. troops and an American civilian contractor who had been training the nascent Afghan air force.

The shooting was the deadliest attack by a member of the Afghan security forces, or an insurgent impersonating them, on coalition troops or Afghan soldiers or policemen. Seven of the eight U.S. airmen killed were commissioned officers.

The gunman was severely wounded by gunfire and was bleeding heavily when he left the room where most, but not all, of the trainers were killed, according to a senior NATO official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is not complete. The gunman was found dead in another part of the building, he said.

The attack occurred at an Afghan facility, the air force headquarters, so the usual coalition weapons procedures would not have been in place and the trainers would have had their weapons ? with magazines in place ? in their possession, the official said.

The trainers would not have had to load their guns to defend themselves, he said. All the NATO trainers killed were armed at the time of the attack, he said.

According to the initial findings, the gunman appeared to be carrying two handguns.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, but the coalition said it has uncovered no evidence to suggest that the insurgency was behind it.

"At this point in the investigation, it appears that the gunman was acting alone," the coalition said. "Beyond that, no Taliban connection with the gunman has been discovered. However, the investigation is still ongoing and we have not conclusively ruled out that possibility."

Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi declined comment Saturday, saying the joint investigation by the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan and the Afghan government was still under way.

In a statement issued late Friday, the U.S. Defense Department identified those killed as:

•Lt. Col. Frank D. Bryant Jr., 37, of Knoxville, Tennessee.

•Maj. Philip D. Ambard, 44, of Edmonds, Washington.

•Maj. Jeffrey O. Ausborn, 41, of Gadsden, Alabama.

•Maj. David L. Brodeur, 34, of Auburn, Massachusetts.

•Maj. Raymond G. Estelle II, 40, of New Haven, Connecticut.

•Capt. Nathan J. Nylander, 35, of Hockley, Texas.

•Capt. Charles A. Ransom, 31, of Midlothian, Virginia.

•Master Sgt. Tara R. Brown, 33, of Deltona, Florida.

The civilian contractor was James McLaughlin Jr., 55, of Santa Rosa, California. McLaughlin was a helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft pilot who spent 32 years in the Army before retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2007. In recent years, he trained Afghan helicopter pilots as an employee of L-3 MPRI, a consulting company based in Alexandria, Virginia.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.

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Social Security Payments to Go Paperless Beginning May 1

AP

In this Feb. 11, 2005, file photo, trays of printed social security checks wait to be mailed from a facility in Philadelphia.

Social Security checks are going paperless beginning May 1, as the U.S. Treasury Department retires paper checks for electronic payments. 

The cost-saving measure, which won't be fully implemented until May 2013, is aimed at reducing government expenses by $1 billion over the next decade as millions of baby boomers and others apply for monthly federal benefits. Federal benefits will also be paid electronically to recipients of veterans and disability payments, the Treasury Department announced Friday. 

Eighteen million baby boomers are expected to go onto the retirement rolls in the next five years. 

Direct deposit has long been an option for Social Security recipients and others, and in fact, most recipients of federal checks already get payments electronically. 

But electronic payments are still precarious to some, especially Depression-era babies who never learned to trust banks. Currently, 11 million people still get government checks in the mail.  

U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios will be rolling out the new system next week in anticipation of the May 1 turnover. 

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Republicans: 2011 Budget Deal 'Only the Beginning,' More Cuts Ahead

AP

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill April 7.

Fresh off winning nearly $40 billion in cuts to the rest of this year's budget, congressional Republicans on Sunday began listing their demands ahead of the next crucial spending fight on Capitol Hill. 

Entitlement reform, spending caps, a balanced-budget amendment and an overhaul of the budget process are among the items on that GOP wish list. Having gotten much, though not all, of what they wanted in the last set of marathon negotiations, Republican leaders vowed Sunday to build on their momentum as Congress takes up a budget plan for 2012 and the rest of the decade. 

"This budget deal that was cut ... is only the beginning," House Republican Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., told "Fox News Sunday." "This is the first bite of the apple." 

In the last round of negotiations, the threat of a government shutdown was used as a bargaining chip by both sides of the aisle. That threat undoubtedly helped Republicans and Democrats reach an eleventh-hour deal late Friday night -- under the terms, Congress passed a bridge bill keeping the government open through next Thursday and plans to vote on a final fiscal 2011 budget in the coming days. 

But in the next round, Republicans made clear that they plan to use the looming vote on whether to raise the debt ceiling as their not-so-secret weapon. 

Cantor bluntly called this a "leverage moment." He said that if the White House wants Congress to raise the country's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, Republicans are going to need to see real changes. 

"This is about making the right decisions now," Cantor said. He touted Rep. Paul Ryan's, R-Wis., budget proposal -- a plan released last week that contains about $6 trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years -- and suggested Republicans would fight for at least a chunk of that plan as a condition of their support on the debt limit vote. 

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, told Fox News he's looking for statutory caps on spending, a constitutional amendment calling for a balanced budget and perhaps a new system where budgets are drafted for two years at a time, instead of one. At the least, he said President Obama needs to embark on a bipartisan effort to "rein in" the systemic problems that have the national debt in an upward tailspin. 

"If he does not come forward with that, we're not going to pass the debt increase," Sessions said. Democrats, though, have assailed Republicans for exploiting the debt ceiling vote. The Obama administration repeatedly has warned that Congress risks sending the nation into default, while triggering higher interest rates and an erosion of the job market, if it fails to raise the debt limit. 

"It could be a formula for recession or worse," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., told CBS' "Face the Nation." "So this is playing with fire. And I would urge both sides to take the threat of not renewing the debt ceiling off the table." 

Senior White House adviser David Plouffe said Sunday, over the course of several television interviews, that Obama will outline a new plan this week for reducing the deficit, and Schumer described that as a positive step. 

But while the White House, with its new plan, is trying to persuade Republicans against freezing the debt ceiling, the two parties are likely to be left with major differences in their approach to spending cuts. 

Plouffe predicted Sunday that Ryan's budget plan would not become law. 

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., on ABC's" This Week" slammed Ryan's budget proposal as an attack on seniors. The Republican proposal would, for those under 55, stop paying doctors directly for senior health care and instead give seniors a subsidy to purchase private insurance from an approved list of plans. Though Ryan claims his proposal saves an otherwise unsustainable entitlement program, estimates show seniors will be left paying more out of pocket. 

"It's totally unbalanced," Van Hollen said. "He ends the Medicare guarantee for seniors. ... They'll have to eat all of the rising costs of health care, while they provide big tax breaks for millionaires and the corporate special interest. " 

Van Hollen described the GOP's threats regarding the debt ceiling as a "hugely dangerous" game of chicken. 

Ryan, in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press," said the GOP is merely trying to achieve a "clean break" from current fiscal policies. 

"Our strategy is not to default. Our strategy is to get spending under control," he said. Though the government just averted a shutdown, Ryan acknowledged that more tense showdowns may be ahead for Congress. 

"We want to move from talking about saving billions of dollars to going on and saving trillions of dollars," he said.

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