Middle East” href=”http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article355178.ece”>Independent Online Edition > Middle East The Pentagon has revealed that coalition forces are spending millions of dollars establishing at least six “enduring” bases in Iraq – raising the prospect that US and UK forces could be involved in a long-term deployment in the country. It said it assumed British troops would operate one of the bases. Almost ever since President Bush claimed an end to “major combat operations” in Iraq on 1 May 2003, debate has focused on how quickly troops could be withdrawn. The US and British governments say troops will remain in Iraq “until the…

The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Ex-stripper evangelizes to sex industry RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The phone rang — again — and Heather Veitch answered in her three-bedroom tract home. It was another radio station, this time from Detroit, and the disc jockey wanted to hear the tale of the stripper turned evangelist. “I don’t try to change their life,” she said of the women she seeks out at strip clubs. “I just want them to have a relationship with God.” Amazingly, this does not appear to be an April Fool’s joke. The same story shows up on a lot of…

People planning a hunger strike in San Francisco might want to change their focus – they’re blaming Sen. Arlen Specter, R-PA for the big bad anti-illegal immigrant bill, but it’s a HOUSE bill sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-WI. Specter’s actually a pretty decent pol who has a much more humane proposal on the table. Specter’s proposal would actually create a process for illegal immigrants to gain legal status and his efforts have won the praise of numerous immigrant advocates. It’s Sensenbrenner’s bill that critics say would criminalize illegal aliens and those who harbor and help them. Via The Swamp…