Obama says he can act against Islamic State
WASHINGTON – The White House says President Barack Obama has told congressional leaders he has the authority he needs to take the action against the Islamic State militants that he will outline tonight.
Obama discussed his plans with congressional leaders Tuesday. Following the meeting, the White House said Obama still welcomes action by Congress that would “aid the overall effort” and demonstrate to the world that the United States is united in defeating the threat from the Islamic State.
There has been no consensus on Capitol Hill on whether Obama should seek congressional approval for his plans. But some lawmakers suggested Tuesday that a vote was unlikely.
Terrorism threat is changing, police say
NEW YORK – Air strikes in Iraq, ongoing unrest in Syria and the beheadings of two American journalists are casting a long shadow over the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
While there is no specific threat against New York ahead of the Thursday commemoration, the rising power of disparate militant groups around the world presents the most complex terrorism danger since the twin towers were destroyed, New York intelligence officials said this week.
“It is layer upon layer upon layer – not all coming from the same place or ideology,” said John Miller, the New York Police Department’s deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism.
That differs from five years ago, when the risk was chiefly from al-Qaida, Miller said. Now, he said, the threat is also coming from the well-funded, highly sophisticated “mass marketing of terrorism” – affiliate groups, foreign fighters, uprising militants and the idea of “al-Qaida-ism.”
“When you look at the level of sophistication, the amount of slickness applied to their video production, the amount of thought that goes into creating a narrative,” he said, “They’re doing the same kind of thing as we’ve seen in commercial publishing or in the ad industry.”
House blocks EPA rule over waterways
WASHINGTON – The Republican-controlled House on Tuesday approved a bill to block the Obama administration from implementing a rule that asserts regulatory authority over many of the nation’s streams and wetlands – an action that critics call a classic Washington overreach.
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a rule that it says will clarify which streams and waterways are shielded from development under the Clean Water Act, an issue that remains in dispute even after two U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
Agriculture groups and farm-state politicians call the proposed rule a power grab that would allow the government to dictate what farmers can do on their own land.
Associated Press
