1 in 136 U.S. Residents Now in Prison
The country’s prison population has reached almost 2.2 million. One in every 136 U.S. residents is now behind bars. The nation’s prison population increased by more than 1,000 inmates a week last year. New data also shows that 12 percent of African-American men between the ages of 25 and 29 are now incarcerated. That is more than ten times the incarceration rate of white men.
Number of Women in U.S. Jails up 750% Since 1977
Meanwhile a new report from the Women’s Prison Association has found the number of women imprisoned in the country has increased by over 750 percent since 1977.
Palestinian In-Fighting Intensifies Between Hamas and Fatah
In the Gaza Strip fighting has intensified between Palestinian factions loyal to Hamas and the former ruling party Fatah. On Saturday, the Palestinian’s chief intelligence officer Tareq Abu Rajab was seriously wounded in an attempt on his life. On Sunday, security officials found a 150 pound bomb planted along a road used by Gaza’s Security Chief Rashid Abu Shbak. Both officials are allies of former Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. On Sunday Abbas said he feared the fighting between Hamas and Fatah could lead to civil war. Meanwhile Israel is continuing to carry out its campaign of assassinating Palestinian militants inside the Gaza Strip. On Saturday an Israeli missile struck a car carrying a commander in the militant group Islamic Jihad. The attack killed the man and three others including a four-year-old boy.
Alberto Gonzales: Gov’t May Arrest & Prosecute Journalists
In Washington, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales suggested Sunday the Justice Department may begin prosecuting journalists for writing articles based on classified information. Under the Espionage Act of 1917 it is a crime for an unauthorized person to receive national defense information and transmit it to others but it has seldom – if ever – been used to target journalists. Gonzales comments came on ABC’s This Week.
George Stephanopoulos: So you believe journalists can be prosecuted for publishing classified information?
Alberto Gonzales: Well, again, George, it depends on the circumstances. There are some statutes on the book which if, if you read the language carefully would seem to indicate that that is a possibility. That's a policy judgment by the Congress in passing that kind of legislation. We have an obligation to enforce those laws. We have an obligation to ensure that our national security is protected.
Juan Cole: Four Wars Are Now Being Fought In Iraq
Middle East analyst Juan Cole said four distinct wars are now being fought in Iraq simultaneously. There is a Sunni Arab guerrilla war to expel US troops from the Sunni heartland; a militant Shiite guerrilla war to expel the British from the south; a civil war between the Sunni and Shiites; and a Kurdish war against Arabs and Turkmen in Kirkuk province.
