Around the Nation

Al-Qaeda Greatly Weakened, Anti-Terrorism Official Says

Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda have been rendered ineffective by international anti-terrorism efforts, a Bush administration official said Tuesday.

The comments by Dell L. Dailey, the State Department's counterterrorism coordinator, were among the administration's most confident declarations of progress against the terrorist organization.

Bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, have eluded an intensive manhunt for more than seven years, but Dailey said the men, thought to be holed up in the remote Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, have been reduced to little more than a media operation.

"Bin Laden can't get an operational effort off the ground without it being detected ahead of time and being thwarted," he said. "Their ability to reach is nonexistent."

The lingering threat posed by al-Qaeda, he added, comes from its regional affiliates and its violent intentions. "Most terrorism is kind of regionally focused now," he said.

"We see al-Qaeda, in a centralized role, [as being] totally controlled," Dailey said.

Gates Says $70 Billion More In '09 War Funding Is Needed

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has told members of Congress that he thinks the Pentagon will need nearly $70 billion to finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through September, on top of the $65.9 billion approved by Congress.

Gates told Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, in a Dec. 31 letter that the military needed $69.7 billion more in fiscal 2009 to fund operations, replace equipment lost or worn out in the wars and replenish supplies.

Gates said his estimate did not include an expected massive reinforcement in Afghanistan, because the proposal was still under consideration. The buildup could nearly double the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan -- from 32,000 to about 60,000.

Gates, who has agreed to stay in his job after Barack Obama becomes president Jan. 20, stressed that the dollar figure was his personal assessment and did not reflect the position of the Bush administration or the incoming government.

Wildlife Agency Will Not List 270 Species as Endangered

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has rejected an environmental group's petition to list 270 species as imperiled under the Endangered Species Act.

WildEarth Guardians asked the agency to consider 475 plants and animals for listing; Joshua Winchell, a spokesman for the service, said it has ruled out 270 because the group merely submitted the species' scientific and common names along with brief descriptions, with no supporting documentation.