(News Briefs March 1, 2007)

Coalition Trouble
The race for seats on the Coalition of Watershed Towns hit Ulster County last week where a write-in name on the ballot has made the otherwise pro forma election process an actual political event.
Last month the Coalition’s executive committee sent a list of nominees to all the Ulster County towns that sit within the New York City Watershed. All except the town of Hardenburgh, that is, which dropped out of the Coalition last year when town officials took issue with what they see as the Coalition Executive Committee’s taking of sides with the developer in the controversy surrounding the proposed Belleayre Resort at Catskill Park.
Last month the rest of the towns -Shandaken, Olive, Woodstock, Denning, Hurley, Kingston, Marbletown, Rochester and Wawarsing - received this list of nominees. On that list, according to, Coalition Attorney Jeff baker, were only five names.
Shandaken Supervisor Robert Cross Jr. was one and so was Olive councilman Bruce LaMonda. Both are already on the Coalition board and hope to be reelected. A third nomination was for Hurley Supervisor Mike Shultis, but Baker said Shultis has openly announced that he is not interested in the position. The other two names were for alternates to the committee, Olive boardmembers Linda Burkhardt and Henry Rank.
With Cross and LaMonda’s seats up and one alternate seat available, the towns have a simple task. Chose two of the three nominees for the executive committee and chose one name as an alternate.
It turns out there is now a surprise a write in candidate added to the list. And not just for an Executive Committee seat but an alternate as well. Last week the Shandaken Town Board quietly added the name of Woodstock Supervisor Jeremy Wilber for Executive Committee and Shandaken Councilman Peter DiSclafani as an alternate.
“That is their right to do,” Baker said.
LaMonda was shocked to learn that he was in a race all of a sudden. He suspects Wilbur’s name was thrown in by Cross, who was on the losing end of a battle with LaMonda last year when LaMonda asked the Coalition to support Olive’s efforts to get the controversial large parcel bill shot down in the Onteora school district. Wilbur, who supported the bill along with Cross, made a few appearance’s at Coalition meetings in Margaretville to try and sway the board, but did not succeed.
The ballots are to be returned to Baker by March 16. He will tally the votes and announce the results at the March 19th meeting of the executive Board, held at 6pm in the headquarters of the Catskill Watershed Corporation on Main Street in Margaretville.

Bus Stop...
The Town of Olive may be getting its very own New York City-style bus stop shelter, according to Cynthia J. Ruiz, Director of Ulster County Area Transit.
In an e-mail, Ruiz said that a new round of such bus shelters are being delivered in the early spring, and that – if the town board is amenable – one of them will be placed along the UCAT bus route in Olive.
Ruiz continued by reporting that the Pine Hill route, which includes the Town of Olive, is one of UCAT’s busiest.
Referring to UCAT’s “system-wide demographics”, Ruiz stated that 45 percent of the riders coming from and returning to the direction of Pine Hill are students, 35 percent are people with disabilities, and 20 percent are shoppers.
UCAT will be assessing all of their schedules in the spring, Ruiz said. Interested citizens have until March 24 to fill out UCAT’s online survey, which can be found at http://www.co.ulster.ny.us/ucat/2007ucat.html.

Casino Time?
Governor Eliot Spitzer reached an agreement with the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe to build a casino in the Catskills within the last news cycle, amending an existing gaming compact with the Mohawks that grants the tribe authority to build and operate a gaming facility at Monticello Raceway in Sullivan County. Under the compact, the state will receive 20 percent of revenues from slot machines for the first two years, 23 percent for the next two years, and 25 percent thereafter. In addition, the Mohawks have agreed to comply with applicable tax, labor, and health laws, as those laws relate to the Monticello casino project. In conjunction with signing the agreement, Spitzer sent a “concurrence letter,” as required by federal law, to U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne indicating that use of the property for casino purposes is in the best interest of the tribe and surrounding community. The Governor and the tribal chiefs urged the Department of the Interior to move quickly to take the raceway into trust in order that the gaming facility be built and operated in compliance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The proposed $600 million Monticello casino project is expected to create more than 3,000 full-time jobs.
Meanwhile, the Arkville-based Catskill Center for Conservation and Development has joined the Natural Resources Defense League and other co-plaintiffs to file a federal lawsuit contending the Bureau of Indian Affairs should have conducted a full environmental review of the Monticello project, instead of a lesser study, hoping to force the greater study – and mitigation – before the feds approve the $600 million complex. And a number of anti-smoking organizations have fired off a letter to Governor Spitzer urging him to reconsider the compact and ensure the banning of smoking in all public places there. The current compact states the Mohawks will maintain smoke-free environments within the facility, but it does not specify the number, locale, size and configurations, the letter states.
Also, state Assemblyman Kevin Cahill of Kingston has gone on the record to say that he wants to ensure no further casinos for Ulster County even though the original state legislation creating casino availabilities allowed for three in Sullivan and two in Ulster. He added that he plans to reintroduce legislation to have Ulster County taken off the list of areas where casinos may be developed… even though his proposal hasn’t gotten much support from the two state senators who represent the county.
The senators say the change isn’t necessary because there doesn’t appear to be local support for casinos in Ulster.
“Because Ulster County has not gone on record of supporting a casino, one would not be located there,” said Bonacic, R-Mount Hope. “We’ve always listened to what people have said. Not one town has stepped up and said they wanted it. So it’s a non-starter.” Bonacic’s peer, State Senator Bill Larkin, has said Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno’s has stated he will not support a casino where the local government doesn’t support it.
Ulster County Legislature Chairman David Donaldson noted that the Legislature voted in 2005, at the urging of the then-Democratic minority, to only support a casino if it has support from the municipality where it would be located. The 2005 vote was the result of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma proposing to build a casino on the Winston Farm in Saugerties - a plan that was opposed by both the town and village boards.
The joint lawsuit against the current proposal, which asks that a judge stop development plans from moving forward until full measure can be taken of the impact on nearby communities and the environment, will be litigated by Whiteman, Osterman & Hannah, LLP and NRDC.
Plans for the half-billion-dollar facility, to be built by Empire Resorts, Inc. and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, include 766,000 square feet of floor area – equivalent to roughly 13 football fields — 4,200 casino gambling positions, a 600-seat theater, and a parking lot for 4,800 cars and buses.

The Jail Opens!
Who’d have thought the opening of a new county jail would make for good news? But now that the first inmates have been transferred from the old to the new county jail, three years late, everyone’s singing hosannas… excepting the inmates. The actual move occurred on Saturday, February 17.
In the works since early 2000, the new jail was supposed to open in April 2004, but construction delays pushed the project back again and again and drove the price to nearly double its original predictions. The new Law Enforcement Center initially was expected to cost about $53 million. That amount grew to $71.8 million once all the construction bids were approved. Delays in getting the job done have driven the cost to more than $87 million, andwell outstanding claims that contractors have filed are expected to push the final tally past $100 million.
“The worst nightmare in Ulster County history has ended on a good note,” said County Legislative Chairman David Donaldson.
The new jail can hold 402 inmates, far more than the old jail’s capacity of 280. The extra space means the county won’t need to “board out” excess inmates to other counties and, instead, will be able to accept overflow inmates from elsewhere. Counties pay $110 per day per person to house their overflow inmates in other locations, so what has been a hefty expense for Ulster County has the potential to become substantial revenue.
As for the old jail’s future, the county is entertaining several options ranging from selling or leasing the building to a federal agency to tearing it down. In the near term, he said, some space in the building may be used to house Kingston’s City Court.
Meanwhile, the Ulster County Legislature was set to vote this week to settle most of the major claims filed by contractors over the problem-plagued Law Enforcement Center project. Details of the settlement won’t be known until after the legislature votes this Thursday night.
The pending settlement is with Christa Construction, the project’s main contractor, Rotondo Weirich Enterprises, which provided the jail cells, and several other contractors which were involved in various components of the project.
Richard Parete, chairman of the special Law Enforcement Center Committee, says settling with the major contractors will help the county with its own claims against the architect and project management firms.
“By settling with them, they become our allies. They turn over all their information. That’s part of the agreement. They will work with us in court to expose everything the architect and construction manager, their deficiencies.”
Parete concedes Ulster County itself is far from blameless, but they believe a big portion of the responsibility for what went wrong also lies with the architect, Krandell Associates, and the project manager, Bovis Lend Lease.

City Fine Oked
The US Supreme Court has denied New York Citys petition to allow it to continue to discharge hundreds of millions of gallons per day of sediment-laden waters from its Schoharie Reservoir through the Shandaken Tunnel into the Esopus Creek. The action effectively upholds a June 2006 Federal Court decision which compels the City both to remediate the problem and to pay the federal Treasury a $5,225,000 fine for violating the Clean Water Act.
The Court’s decision not to review the case appears a final affirmation of victory for a coalition of fishing and environmental groups which in March 2000 filed suit against the City’s Department of Environmental Protection to stop discharging its silt-polluted water into the Esopus.
According to Pace University’s Daniel Estrin, supervising attorney for the groups challenging the City, Monday’s action makes binding last June’s unanimous Court of Appeals decision that “any transfer of pollutants between distinct and unconnected water bodies is illegal without a permit.” Estrin also indicated the City has now exhausted its legal appeals and will have to both pay the fine and move toward compliance.
“Not only is this a victory for the Esopus Creek and the wild rainbow trout,” said Trout Unlimited’s Bert Darrow, “but it is also a much bigger victory for the Clean Water Act.”
In addition to TU, the group includes the Theodore Gordon Flyfishers, the Federated Sportsman’s Clubs of Ulster County, the Catskill-Delaware Natural Water Alliance and Riverkeeper.
DEP Spokesman Ian Michaels responded to the decision only by saying, “We have been complying with the (state-issued) SPDES permit and we will continue to do so.”
“We think that permit is illegal in that it allows them to continue violating state water quality statues. In any event,” Estrin added. “They were seeking both to overrule the laws that required them to get a permit in the first place and to avoid the penalty for violating the Clean Water Act and they failed to do both those things.”

Flood Bills…
Ulster County lawmakers are considering whether to opt into state bills that would offer revised tax assessments to landowners significantly impacted by flooding in June 2006. An Assembly bill under consideration in Albany would allow any landowner whose property value was diminished by at least 50 percent because of flood damage to have the property reassessed and receive a tax refund. The March deadline for local participation in the bill is being pushed back to May.
Christy Calicchia, a public information officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said 130 Ulster County residents applied for individual assistance as a result of the June flooding. Calicchia did not know how many of those people would be eligible for relief under the 50 percent rule.
The Esopus Creek which flooded in both April 2005 and June 2006. The 2005 flooding was catastrophic and destroyed dozens of homes along the creek. The 2006 flooding along the Esopus was not nearly as bad.
Art Snyder, Ulster County’s director of emergency management, agreed the 2006 assessment relief will not help, but he said that “even if only a few residents could take advantage of it, it’s certainly a positive thing.”
State Sen. John Bonacic is co-sponsoring a flood assessment relief bill in the Senate that mandates only a 20 percent reduction in value because of flooding.

More School!
Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York and Washington, D.C. legislatures have started debating whether to lengthen the school day or year. In addition, individual districts such as Miami-Dade in Florida are experimenting with added hours in some schools.
On average, U.S. students go to school 6.5 hours a day, 180 days a year, fewer than in many other industrialized countries, according to a report by the Education Sector, a Washington-based think tank.
One model that traditional public schools are looking to is the Knowledge is Power Program, which oversees public charter schools nationwide. Those schools typically serve low-income middle-school students, and their test scores show success. Students generally go from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week and for a few hours every other Saturday. They also go to school for several weeks in the summer. That amounts to at least 50 percent more instructional time for students in such programs than in traditional public schools, according to the report.
The extended-day schedule costs on average about $1,200 extra per student, with most of the extra cost going into added pay for teachers.
The National Education Association, the largest teacher’s union, has no official opinion on extending the school day. But its president, Reg Weaver, said teachers probably would support the idea if, like in Massachusetts, they could choose whether to work the longer hours.
An important impetus for the debate around extending school hours is the federal No Child Left Behind law. U.S. Sen. Democrat Edward Kennedy, chairman of the Senate committee overseeing education, is considering allowing schools that fail to meet annual progress goals to extend their day as a possible solution and also looking into putting AmeriCorps volunteers - recent college graduates who can help teach - into schools that adopt a longer day.

Welfare Growth…
The welfare state is bigger than ever despite a decade of policies designed to wean poor people from public aid. The number of families receiving cash benefits from welfare has plummeted since the government imposed time limits on the payments a decade ago. But other programs for the poor, including Medicaid, food stamps and disability benefits, are bursting with new enrollees.The result, according to new analysis: Nearly one in six people rely on some form of public assistance, a larger share than at any time since the government started measuring two decades ago.
Critics of the welfare overhaul say the numbers offer fresh evidence that few former recipients have become self-sufficient, even though millions have moved from welfare to work. They say the vast majority have been forced into low-paying jobs without benefits and few opportunities to advance.
“If the goal of welfare reform was to get people off the welfare rolls, bravo,” said Vivyan Adair, a former welfare recipient who is now an assistant professor of women’s studies at Hamilton College in upstate New York. “If the goal was to reduce poverty and give people economic and job stability, it was not a success.”
Proponents of the changes in welfare say programs that once discouraged work now offer support to people in low-paying jobs. They point to expanded eligibility rules for food stamps and Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor, that enable people to keep getting benefits even after they start working.
Major changes in welfare were enacted in 1996, requiring most recipients to work but allowing them to continue some benefits after they started jobs. The law imposed a five-year limit on cash payments for most people in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, or TANF. Some states have shorter time limits.
About 44 million people - nearly one in six in the country - relied on government services for the poor in 2003, according to the most recent statistics compiled by the Census Bureau. That compares with about 39 million in 1996. Also, the number of people getting government aid continues to increase, according to more recent enrollment figures from individual programs. Medicaid rolls alone topped 45 million people in 2005, pushed up in part by rising health care costs and fewer employers offering benefits. Nearly 26 million people a month received food stamps that year. And those figures don’t even start to take in Disability payments, which average between 20 to 40 percent of our Upstate rural population’s income.
Cash welfare recipients, by comparison, peaked at 14.2 million people in 1994.

Slope of Fame?
Belleayre Mountain has announced the names of the first inductees to its newly formed Belleayre Mountain Hall of Fame. The five chosen will be honored at the Hall of Fame Dinner and Awards Ceremony at Belleayre Mountain’s Overlook Lodge on Friday, March 30, 2007.
The class of 2007 includes: Art Draper, the first Superintendent of Belleayre Mountain; Dot Nebel, the first Ski School Director and designer of Belleayre’s original ski trails; Vincent Quinn, the owner of the first ski shop at Belleayre Mountain; Joe Kelly, the Chairman of the Board of the Belleayre Music Conservatory and founding member of the Coalition to Save Belleayre; Ralph Combe, Assistant Ski School Director at Belleayre Mountain for decades; and Robert & Valerie Konefal, owners of the Pine Hill Arms and founders of the of the Pine Hill Arms Triathlon and Midweek Race Series.
For more information about the Hall of Fame Dinner and all of the upcoming events at Belleayre Mountain, visit their website at www.belleayre.com.

Snow Tragedy
An employee at the Hunter Mountain Ski Resort was killed when his clothes got caught and he was pulled into the moving blades of a six-foot wide snow blower. The accident occurred on Monday, February 19 at about 8:30 p.m. when Greene County 911 received a call of a fatal industrial accident at the ski resort. Police said that Walter Rion, 63, an employee of the resort, was attempting to close the overhead garage door while standing between the door and the running snow blower. His clothes became caught in the moving blades and he was pulled into the machine. Rion lived in Prattsville and had worked at the ski center for over 20 years..

Judge’s List
A list of 11 potential candidates to fill the vacancy created when Justice Vincent Bradley, of the Third Judicial District, died last Nov. 24 is currently making the rounds, with county Democratic chairman John Parete hoping to discuss the pending appointment with Governor Eliot Spitzer in the coming month. Spitzer’s appointee will serve until the end of this year. The 14-year position then will be on the November ballot.
Bradley’s death, coupled with the promotion in November of state Supreme Court Justice Michael Kavanagh to the court’s Appellate Division, has left Ulster County with no Supreme Court justices, resulting in a bottlenecking of court cases.
Parete hopes the governor will chose an Ulster County resident to fill the vacancy, but the new judge could come from any county in the Third Judicial District, which also includes Greene, Columbia, Albany, Rensselaer, Schoharie and Sullivan counties.
The Ulster County Democratic Committee solicited applications for the position earlier this year. A 10-person screening committee, headed by County Attorney Joshua Koplovitz, vetted the applicants. Koplovitz said the committee consisted of five attorneys, including himself, and five members of the community.
The names submitted include Ulster County Family Court support magistrate John Beisel, Gardiner town justice Bruce Blatchly, Christopher Cahill, former law clerk to state Supreme Court Justice Vincent Bradley, Kingston attorney William Cloonan, Marbletown town justice Claudia Davenport, Kingston attorney Rod Futerfas, Kingston city judge James Gilpatric, New Paltz town justice Jonathan Katz, Kingston attorney Philip Kirschner, former Shawangunk town justice James McCarl, and Rochester town justice Deborah Schneer.
The Ulster County Republican Committee is not submitting a list of nominees because the party does not expect Spitzer to select someone from his opposing party..

Paraguay Bush?
A government office forbidden by law from disseminating information domestically, the State Department’s USINFO Counter-Disinformation/Misinformation Team, was the mouthpiece of choice for the administration to deny rumors that the Bush family purchased thousands of acres in a remote portion of northern Paraguay.
Specifically, the agency has said that it is untrue that, “Former President George H.W. Bush owns 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres) in the Chaco region of Paraguay;” that “Current President George W. Bush owns 40,000 hectares (98,842 acres) in the same region, or “Timothy Towell, former U.S. ambassador to Paraguay from 1988 to 1991, administers the 70,000 hectare ranch on behalf of former President Bush.”
Meanwhile, the vice president of the Republic of Paraguay, Luis Castiglioni, admitted indirectly that an agreement with Washington had already been reached, and that the arrangements had been confirmed during last year’s visit to the country by U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. “We have showed our firm intention to make the region much safer, much more stable, and much stronger democratically,” he said. “They [Washington] have made the decision to fortify relations with us because they say this government could be a good example of stability, development and prosperity for the region.”
Paraguay became known in the latter half of the 20th century as one of South America’s worst dictatorships, as well as a home to top Nazi generals who had fled Europe following World War II looking for asylum.

Autism Update
A massive international effort led by Canadian scientists has homed in on the genes behind autism - a breakthrough that could revolutionize how the mysterious and surprisingly common condition is both detected and treated. Touting it as the most significant advance in the field in 30 years, researchers say the landmark project has put within reach a DNA test to identify children with autism early enough to counter the condition’s worst effects.
Doctors currently rely on psychological tests to diagnose autism spectrum disorders in children at age 2 or 3. But a DNA test could identify those affected as babies, or perhaps even before they are born. The findings, based on the largest autism DNA collection ever assembled, could also allow parents who have children with autism to learn through genetic screening their chances of having another affected child.
Using new genome scanning tools, researchers have found that several different autism-related genes can play a role in different families. This helps to explain why no two children - not even identical twins - have identical symptoms. The researchers have pinpointed at least five areas of the genome that harbor genes linked to autism susceptibility, including those crucial for brain function. They have also found a genetic mutation tied to the disorder in girls - who are four times less likely than boys to develop autism disorders. The work has also highlighted how autism can spring from genetic quirks not seen in either parent - suggesting that a genetic glitch has randomly emerged in the sperm or egg cells of the father or mother prior to conception.
Autism disorders have only recently been recognized as the most common serious developmental condition of childhood, affecting roughly one in 165 children. Experts refer to it as a spectrum because the complex neurological condition can range so widely in severity. Some suffer severe cognitive impairment, others are savants. Many battle gastrointestinal problems and show a strong preference for strict routines and repetitive behaviors. But social deficits are its hallmark, impaired language, communication and the ability to interact with others. A;lso, although once considered rare, autism disorders seem to have risen dramatically over the last two decades. But experts believe the increase can largely be explained by greater awareness, different diagnostic criteria and the specialized resources often made available to those with an ASD compared with another form of developmental condition.
Despite the growing awareness, autism’s causes have stumped experts. Many suspect environmental triggers - prenatal hormones, toxins, food allergies and infections. But experts have long known genes play a major role. Autism disorders tend to run in families; if one identical twin has an ASD, there is a 65- to 92-per-cent chance the other will also develop the disorder. Doctors also see subtle forms of autism in parents that may not have been diagnosed.
Locally, families impacted by autism have turned to several resources. Originally founded over 30 years ago by two teachers from Woodstock, Susan Buckler and Jamey Wolff, The Children’s Annex (with its main site in Kingston, NY and a satellite program in Ellenville, NY) has evolved into the premier center in the Hudson Valley region for children with autism. With its goal of transitioning its students back into the regular school districts, and helping them meet their greatest developmental potential, The Children’s Annex has served as a model program and has been recognized as such. A similar program at Onteora, ASPIE, lost its local funding several years ago.
Because of the influx of students in need of its services, The Children’s Annex has been engaging in a “30th Anniversary Campaign” to raise $1 million for a major capital improvement project. At the core of the expansion will be a new “Autism Support Center” that will house a new diagnostic and consultation program that was created in response to a need for evaluations to be performed by trained clinical psychologists using the most current diagnostic measures.
The Children’s Annex accepts referrals from all public schools and counties in the Hudson Valley. To obtain more information on programs and services at The Children’s Annex, or to make a gift to the 30th Anniversary Campaign, please call 845.336.2616 or e-mail: info@childrensannex.org.

New At UCCC
A celebration to mark the grand re-opening of the newly renovated John C. Quimby Theater will take place on Saturday, March 10, at 8:00 p.m. on the Stone Ridge campus of SUNY Ulster, the county community college. The program will feature a performance by the Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Quartet and will include a welcome by college president Donald C. Katt and a dedication of the new stage to Marti and Jack Lawson, long-time directors of college theater productions. The theater re-opening will be followed by a reception in the Vanderlyn Hall Student Lounge, which has also been refurbished.
Quimby Theater has been a busy performance space since it was built in the 1960s. It was named after John C. Quimby, chairman of the Board of Trustees of Ulster County Community College from 1966-1969 and former supervisor of the town of Marlboro. For nearly 30 years, faculty member Jack Lawson and his wife and assistant, Marti Lawson, produced over 100 shows with student and community casts. Funding for the update was obtained from the Ulster County and New York State legislatures in March 2006, with construction beginning in late May and completed in February 2007.
To attend the Quimby Theater Re-opening Celebration and Concert, reservations must be made by calling (845) 687-5262.

DEP Respects
"DEP Respects the will of the electorate" says the agency, in a February 16 letter from Community Planning Manager Jeffrey Graf to Shandaken Supervisor Bob Cross Jr, following the failed sewer district referendum. "A time for healing and respite is desirable in Phoenicia before alternatives are concretely considered anew... At a mutually agreeable time in the future, in coordination with appropriate stakeholders, DEP will regroup with town representatives to discuss viable alternatives." Graf's letter also confirms that no additional funds are authorized for the Phoenicia New Infrastructure project, and asks the town to retain ownership of the property acquired for the once-proposed treatment plant "until such time that we reach concensus on how to proceed or otherwise advise."

Women-Owned
Governor Eliot Spitzer has signed an executive order creating an Executive Leadership Council and Corporate Roundtable to promote opportunities for Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises. Lieutenant Governor David Paterson will chair both the Council and the Roundtable. The MWBE Executive Leadership Council will seek to improve the participation of MWBE businesses in the state’s procurement process through recommendations made by executives in state agencies and public authorities that award business contracts to the private sector. The MWBE Corporate Roundtable will seek to do the same through recommendations made by corporate executives in the private sector.

Video Grilling
The Ulster County District Attorney’s Office has received a $50,000 state grant from the state Division of Criminal Justice Services to be used to buy equipment to video record the interrogation of certain defendants charged with serious crimes. The equipment, which will be installed in up to seven police departments in the county, will allow investigators to video record suspects of violent crimes, as well as certain targeted felonies, such as domestic violence, child abuse, sexual offenses and gang related crimes.
The DA’s Office will help fund the initiative through its Operation Impact.

Generals To Quit
Some of America’s most senior military commanders are prepared to resign if the White House orders a military strike against Iran, according to highly placed defence and intelligence sources. Tension in the Gulf region has raised fears that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely before President George Bush leaves office. Up to five generals and admirals are willing to resign rather than approve what they consider would be a reckless attack.
“There are four or five generals and admirals we know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on Iran,” a source with close ties to British intelligence said. “There is simply no stomach for it in the Pentagon, and a lot of people question whether such an attack would be effective or even possible.”