Singapore

Rumsfeld fearful of losing broader war on extremism

The United States and its allies are winning some battles in the terrorism war but may be losing the broader struggle against Islamic extremism that is terrorism’s source, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Saturday.

The troubling unknown, he said, is whether the extremists — whom he termed “zealots and despots” bent on destroying the global system of nation-states — are turning out newly trained terrorists faster than the United States can capture or kill them.

“It’s quite clear to me that we do not have a coherent approach to this,” Rumsfeld said at an international security conference.

The Pentagon chief usually lauds the efforts of U.S. troops, denounces terrorist networks and urges other countries to join the effort to stop terrorist acts.

On Saturday he went further, saying that while terrorists must be confronted, the bigger problem is the extremist Islamic ideology that produces them.

Michigan

Mayor leads gay weddings in support for marriages

Nearly a dozen gay and lesbian couples pledged their love and commitment Saturday in a symbolic marriage ceremony officiated by the mayor of Ferndale, a Detroit suburb.

A handful of protesters silently lined the sidewalk in front of City Hall, where the couples and Mayor Robert Porter gathered under a blue and pink banner that proclaimed, “To love, honor and be recognized.”

The ceremonies carried no legal weight, but were part of the weekend’s Motor City Pride festival in Ferndale. In two decades, the city of 22,000 has gone from being a struggling, working-class town to a vibrant center for metropolitan Detroit’s gay community.

The Rev. Mark Bidwell, pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church, joined Porter in performing the marriage ceremonies. However, no marriage licenses were issued because only the county can issue them.

Afghanistan

U.S. troops, planes kill eight Taliban in growing clashes

U.S. troops and warplanes attacked Taliban rebels besieging a remote checkpoint in southern Afghanistan, an Afghan official said Saturday. Eight militants were killed.

American forces also skirmished with guerrillas who attacked them with rockets near the country’s eastern border, the U.S. military said, part of an insurgency threatening plans for landmark national elections in September.

The battle for the checkpoint was in Daychopan district of Zabul province, about 200 miles southwest of the capital Kabul, provincial military commander Naimatullah Khan said.

Khan said Afghan troops used a satellite phone to call for help when a band of 200 Taliban crept down from the mountains and opened fire on the checkpoint in an area called Hazar Boosth.

“Coalition planes bombed the area, and after a four-hour gunfight, the Taliban pulled back into the mountains,” Khan said. “Eight of them were killed. We’ve gathered up their bodies and guns.”