Hunt for Bin Laden Officially Abandoned

The CIA has closed down a secret unit that for a decade had the mission of hunting Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants, intelligence officials said Monday…

The realignment reflects a view that al-Qaida is no longer as hierarchical as it once was, intelligence officials said, as well as growing concern about al-Qaida-inspired groups that have begun carrying out attacks independent of bin Laden and his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

CIA officials said that tracking bin Laden and his deputies remains a high priority, and that the decision to disband the unit is not a sign that the effort has slackened.

What Global Warming?

Caribbean sea temperatures have reached their annual high two months ahead of schedule — a sign that coral reefs, including those in the Florida Keys, may suffer the same widespread damage as last year, scientists said Monday.

Sea temperatures around Puerto Rico and the Florida Keys reached 83.48 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday — a high not normally expected until September…

Bush Inflicts Himself on Ft. Bragg Soldiers Yet Again for Annual 4th of July Lie Fest

Bush [told an estimated 3,500 U.S. troops at an outdoor speech at Fort Bragg] that since the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida’s leader in Iraq, coalition and U.S. Iraqi forces have launched more than 190 raids on targets throughout the country, captured more than 700 enemy operatives and killed some 60 more…”

The outlook was less optimistic in Baghdad.

Gunmen in camouflaged uniforms kidnapped Iraq’s deputy electricity minister, Raed al-Hares, and 11 of his bodyguards in eastern Baghdad. The kidnapping occurred three days after gunmen seized a Sunni female legislator in east Baghdad; she and seven bodyguards are still missing.

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