Bloomfield News Blog

Monday, January 19, 2009

(CBS/AP) The Bush administration moved Wednesday to clamp down financially on a New York City business suspected of acting as a front company for Iran’s Bank Melli, which has been accused of providing support to Iran’s nuclear program.

“This scheme to use a front company set up by Bank Melli - a known proliferator - to funnel money from the United States to Iran is yet another example of Iran’s duplicity,” said Stuart Levey, the Treasury Department’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

The Treasury Department covers action ASSA Corp. of New York City as well as its parent, ASSA Co. Ltd., located in the Channel Islands. Any assets belonging to the companies found in the United States are frozen and Americans are prohibited from doing business with them.

The U.S. government alleged that ASSA Corp. was created by Bank Melli to hold its interest in a building located at 650 Fifth Ave. in New York. The building’s construction had been partly financed by a Bank Melli loan, Treasury said. ASSA Corp. co-owns the building through a partnership formed with the Alavi Foundation of New York, called 650 Fifth Avenue Co., the government said.

The United States alleged that ASSA Corp. “has repeatedly transferred rental income generated from the 650 Fifth Avenue partnership back to Bank Melli through ASSA Co. Ltd.” The government alleged that ASSA Corp. has shared financial and other information on a regular basis with Bank Melli.

The department said its action does not interfere with the business or other activities of the building’s tenants.

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Read the Treasury Department’s statement on the front company.

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Last year the United States accused Bank Melli of providing services to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and put the bank on its list of companies whose assets must be frozen.

The move announced Wednesday marks the latest effort to tighten the financial noose on Iran, which the United States accuses of bankrolling terrorism and seeking a nuclear bomb. The United States has already imposed sanctions on several state-run Iranian banks and businesses along with elements of its defense ministry and Revolutionary Guard Corps.

© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

SHAWANO, Wisc., Dec. 17, 2008

(CBS) At the annual holiday parade in scenic Shawano, Wisc., for the first time someone was missing this year. The long-time mayor was nowhere in sight. She was afraid for her life, CBS News cheif investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian reports.

“To have this happen, who would - who would think it?” said Shawano Mayor Lorna Marquardt.

So unthinkable that Marquardt’s open-door policy is now officially closed, and she had bulletproof glass installed on her office door.

It’s all part of a once-quiet town that’s been turned upside down.

“We have weapons in our home now,” Marquardt said.

All a reaction to news of an alleged hit list and claims by a so-called hit man, now telling his story for the first time.

“And I said, ‘you want me to kill 60 people? You want me to kill the whole town of Shawano?” said Canadian businessman Bob Cameron.

Keteyian asked: “They were hiring you as a hit man?”

“Yes, they were,” Cameron said.

“You’re talking about the mayor, the city administrator, the city treasurer, the city attorney, the police chief, judges, investigators, fire commissioners,” Keteyian asked.

“Uh huh,” Cameron assented.

Cameron says in late October he received $175,000 in wire transfers from people known to be part of a secretive group long run out of a house near Shawano called SIST.

 

AP / CBS)

Minutes later, Cameron says his fax machine spit out this list of 60 names - with the city’s Mayor at No. 1 and at the top of the page the word REDRUM. That’s “Murder” spelled backwards.

“And he could get me guns and he had a place to buy them and everything,” Cameron said. “And that’s when I realized that I was in over my head. And I sent this to the authorities right away.”

Sources tell CBS News both the FBI and Royal Canadian Mounted Police consider Cameron’s claims about the hit list to be both serious and credible.

For 30-plus years the group now known as SIST has been led by a man once named Rama Behera, now called Dr. Avraham Cohen.

The group says it’s an educational non-profit, but over the years news reports, public records and former members have characterized it as a religious cult, a charge a lawyer for the group strongly denied.

(CBS/AP) President George W. Bush wrapped up a whirlwind trip to two war zones Monday that in many ways was a victory lap without a clear victory. A signature event occurred when an Iraqi reporter hurled two shoes at Bush, an incident the president called “a bizarre moment.”

Bush visited the Iraqi capital just 37 days before he hands the war off to his successor, Barack Obama, who has pledged to end it. The president wanted to highlight a drop in violence and to celebrate a recent U.S.-Iraq security agreement, which calls for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011.

“The war is not over,” Bush said, but “it is decisively on its way to being won.”

Bush then traveled to Afghanistan where he spoke to U.S. soldiers and Marines at a hangar on the tarmac at Bagram Air Base. The rally for over a thousand military personnel took place in the dark, cold pre-dawn hours. Bush was greeted by loud cheers from the troops.

“Afghanistan is a dramatically different country than it was eight years ago,” he said. “We are making hopeful gains.”

But the president’s message on progress in the region was having trouble competing with the videotaped image of the angry Iraqi who hurled his shoes at Bush in a near-miss, shouting in Arabic, “This is your farewell kiss, you dog!” The reporter was later identified as Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for Al-Baghdadia television, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, Egypt.

Zeidi, 29, has been working for Al-Baghdadiya since it launched in 2005, reports CBS News’ Khaled Wassef in London. Co-workers describe him as a rather quiet and composed.

Zeidi has been arrested before, in error, by American forces and was let go, reports CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer. This time, his family has been told he faces years in jail.

In Iraqi culture, throwing shoes at someone is a sign of contempt. Iraqis whacked a statue of Saddam with their shoes after U.S. Marines toppled it to the ground following the 2003 invasion.

Bush told reporters later that he didn’t think “you can take one guy throwing shoes and say this represents a broad movement in Iraq. You can try to do that if you want but I don’t think that would be accurate.”

Reaction in Iraq was swift but mixed, with some condemning the act and others applauding it. Television news stations throughout Iraq repeatedly showed footage of the incident, and newspapers carried headline stories.

In Baghdad’s Shiite slum of Sadr City, supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for protests against Bush and demanded the release of the reporter. Thousands took to the streets Monday, chanting, “Bush, Bush, listen well: Two shoes on your head.”

Talking to a small group of reporters after the incident, Bush said, “I didn’t know what the guy said, but I saw his sole.” He told the reporters that “you were more concerned than I was. I was watching your faces.”

In the press cabin of Air Force One, jokes were flying faster than the Iraqi reporter’s shoes did, reports CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller.
(Click here to read Knoller’s post in the Couric & Co. blog.)

“I’m pretty good at ducking, as most of you know,” Bush joked, adding quickly that “I’m talking about ducking your questions.”

On a more serious note, he said, “I mean, it was just a bizarre moment, but I’ve had other bizarre moments in the presidency. I remember when Hu Jintao was here. Remember? We had the big event? He’s speaking, and all of a sudden I hear this noise - had no earthly idea what was taking place, but it was the Falun Gong woman screaming at the top of her lungs (near the ceremony on the White House lawn). It was kind of an odd moment.”

The Iraqi government condemned the act and demanded an on-air apology from Al-Baghdadia television, the Iraqi-owned station that employs Muntadar al-Zeidi.

Several people descended on the man immediately after, wrestling him to the ground, and it took a minute or two for security agents to clear the crowd and start hauling him out. As they dragged him off, he was moaning and screaming as if in pain. Later, a large blood trail could be seen on the carpet where he was dragged out of the room.

He was taken into custody and reportedly was being held for questioning by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s guards and is being tested for alcohol and drugs.

Other Arab journalists and commentators, fed up with U.S. policy in the Middle East and Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003 to topple Saddam, echoed al-Zeidi’s sentiments Monday. Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the influential London-based newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, wrote on the newspaper’s Web site that the incident was “a proper goodbye for a war criminal.”

After a meeting with Hamid Karzai in the capital of Kabul, Bush said he told the president of Afghanistan: “You can count on the United States. Just like you’ve been able to count on this administration, you’ll be able to count on the next administration as well.”

After a brief refueling stop in England, Bush headed back to the United States. He was greeted on the South Lawn by the rousing applause of an unusually large crowd, as White House staff members had been invited outside to welcome him home.

The mixed reactions to Bush in both Iraq and Afghanistan emphasized the uncertain situations Bush is leaving behind in the region.

In Iraq, nearly 150,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, protecting the fragile democracy. More than 4,209 members of the U.S. military have died and $576 billion has been spent since the war began five years and nine months ago.

In Afghanistan, there are about 31,000 U.S. troops and commanders have called for up to 20,000 more. The fight is especially difficult in southern Afghanistan, a stronghold of the Taliban where violence has risen sharply this year.

(CBS) Every four years sounds of construction take over the front of the White House. But this time around, there’s something poignant about them.

CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod said to White House Historian William Bushong: “We’re surrounded by workmen here and they’re getting the Obama review stand ready. Fair to say there would have been slaves right here a couple hundred years ago?”

Bushong replied: “Certainly.”

It may not be new to Bushong, but many of the rest of us may be surprised that slaves built much of the White House.

Washington, D.C., in fact, is “right smack in the middle of, between two states that were slave-holding states, Maryland and Virginia,” Bushong points out.

More than 200 years ago, near the White House, there were brick kilns, wood-working sheds and tents for sleeping. It was a slave village.

The distance between living out there and living inside the White House is not something that cannot measured in yards.

Three weeks ago, the National Archives’ Reginald Washington saw a batch of 200-year-old wage records for slaves for the first time.

“They’re paying to Mr. James Claggett for the hire of a negro, George,” Washington said.

This sheds light on an especially symbolic chapter of what’s been called our nation’s original sin.

Talking further to Washington, one learns more about James Hoban, the architect of the White House, who had three slaves working.

“And usually they’re gonna list the negroes only by their given name, not their surname,” Washington said.

But not much about Ben, Harry and Daniel themselves comes across. Just their 23 days worked and money earned is documented - but that money went to their master, of course.

“The slave owners were paid for the services of their slaves just as they were paid for the services of their horses or wagon,” Washington said.

In his 30 years handling documents at the White House archives, nothing has hit him as profoundly as this.

“They never could imagine in their wildest dreams that a man of color, or an African-American would one day sit in the White House itself where they toiled to build this,” Washington said.

Less than six weeks from now those wildest dreams come true.

(CBS/AP) President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday joined others calling for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resign, distancing himself further from the unfolding scandal over allegations that the governor schemed to barter Mr. Obama’s vacant Senate seat for personal gain.

“The president-elect agrees with Lt. Gov. (Pat) Quinn and many others that under the current circumstances it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois,” Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said in response to questions from The Associated Press.

Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday, accused of scheming to enrich himself by selling Mr. Obama’s vacant Senate seat. The governor has authority to appoint the replacement.

In response to questions from The Associated Press, Gibbs said Mr. Obama believes the Illinois legislature should consider a special election to fill the seat. Gibbs says the hope is to put a process in place to select a new senator who will have the trust and confidence of the people of Illinois.

Over the past two days since Blagojevich’s arrest, Mr. Obama and his aides have largely refrained from commenting on the scandal. When he has spoken about the case, he’s been cautious.

In brief comments to reporters Tuesday, Obama said “like the rest of the people of Illinois I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the U.S. attorney’s office today,” but he didn’t go so far to condemn Blagojevich’s alleged actions.

He did add about Blagojevich’s process of considering a successor: “I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so I was not aware of what was happening.”

But three weeks ago, Obama’s top aide David Axelrod told an interviewer, “I know he’s talked to the governor,” referring to Obama. “There’s a whole range of names, many of which have surfaced.”

Axelrod later said that he had misspoken, reports CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds reports.

There has been no hint from prosecutors of any wrongdoing by Obama Indeed, Blagojevich was heard on the tapes repeatedly disparaging and even cursing the president-elect for not playing politics his way. But inconsistencies remain, Reynolds reports. If Obama hadn’t been in contact with Blagojevitch, how did the governor know that Obama wouldn’t play the favors game?

“If the descriptions of these contacts come out differently over time, that will raise suspicions,” former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova told Reynolds.

Mr. Obama reiterated his position in an interview published in the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday. “I have not discussed the Senate seat with the governor at any time,” he said.

But Mr. Obama wouldn’t answer a question on whether he was aware of any conversations between the governor and his top aides, including incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. “It’s an ongoing investigation,” Mr. Obama said. “I think it would be inappropriate for me to … remark on the situation beyond the facts that I know.”

And, aides didn’t say whether Emanuel, a Democratic Illinois congressman, was ever approached by the governor’s emissaries involved in allegedly corrupt schemes.

It now appears likely that investigators will at least want to hear from transition officials, especially Chicagoans like Axelrod and Emanuel, who have past associations with Blagojevich, Reynolds reports.

Long-time observers say Obama and Blagojevich have had limited encounters during their time in Illinois politics, reports CBS News correspondent Chip Reid.

“I don’t think, though, that you can fairly say that Barack Obama and Rod Blagojevich were anything but the most distant allies,” said Mike Flannery, political reporter for CBS station WBBM in Chicago.

But that’s not stopping the Republican National Committee from trying to tie the two men together, reports Reid.

“Given the president-elect’s history of supporting and advising Gov. Blagojevich, he has a responsibility to speak out and fully address the issue,” said RNC chairman Mike Duncan in a statement.

Also on Wednesday, a lawyer for Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. said the congressman is the “Senate Candidate 5″ mentioned in the federal corruption complaint against Blagojevich.

According to the federal complaint, Blagojevich “stated he might be able to cut a deal with Senate Candidate 5 that provided” the governor with something “tangible up front,” presumably campaign money.

Jackson denied any wrongdoing during an afternoon press conference and said he is “not a target of this investigation.”

“I want to make this fact plan: I reject and denounce pay-to-play politics, and have no involvement whatsoever in any wrongdoing,” Jackson said.

“I thought, mistakenly, that the process was fair,” he added. (Read more.)

Blagojevich returned to work on Wednesday, a day after his arrest. He is out on bond and has denied any wrongdoing.

The governor left his home on Chicago’s North Side early Wednesday and waved to the media before quickly getting into a dark SUV without talking to the reporters.

A short time later, Blagojevich’s SUV arrived at his office.

“He is still the sitting governor of Illinois today, now, and that is not something we have any say in or control of,” U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in unveiling corruption charges on Tuesday against the 52-year-old governor.

The governor’s attorney, Sheldon Sorosky, said Tuesday he didn’t know of any immediate plans for the governor to resign. Blagojevich believes he didn’t do anything wrong and asks Illinois residents to have faith in him, Sorosky said.

“I suppose we will have to go to trial,” he said.

One of Blagojevich’s top aides, Deputy Gov. Bob Greenlee, resigned Wednesday, Blagojevich spokeswoman Kelley Quinn said. She didn’t give a reason for Greenlee’s resignation, and it wasn’t immediately clear if Greenlee was one of the deputy governors named in the complaint against Blagojevich.

Two deputy governors are listed, one as a potential Senate candidate to replace Obama and another as a Blagojevich lieutenant who was deeply involved in an alleged scheme to shake down the Chicago Tribune.

Blagojevich could still appoint someone to fill Obama’s seat despite the charges that he tried to barter it away for cash or a plum job in what Fitzgerald called “a political corruption crime spree.” (Read more about this scenario in our Political Hotsheet Blog.)

Trusted with the job of appointing Mr. Obama’s successor in the U.S. Senate, federal prosecutors allege the governor conspired to sell or trade the office to the highest bidder.

“I’ve got this thing and it’s (expletive) golden,” he allegedly said in a wiretapped conversation, “and I’m just not giving it up for (expletive) nothing. I’m not gonna do it.” (Read more quotes from Blagojevich on the FBI tapes.)

That wasn’t all: Prosecutors say he also doled out jobs, contracts and appointments in return for campaign contributions, and tried to strong-arm a newspaper owner into firing editorial writers who had criticized him.

Another alleged scheme was that Blagojevich would possibly rescind an $8 million commitment of state funds to Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago after a $50,000 donation from its chief officer did not materialize.

Blagojevich’s approval rating among voters had been an abysmal 13 percent, but amazingly, court papers show that he talked about rehabilitating his image by appointing himself to the Senate seat. Prosecutors allege he said he would have access to greater resources if he were indicted while in the Senate, and that he even discussed a presidential run in 2016.

Federal investigators had bugged the governor’s campaign offices and tapped his home phone, capturing conversations laced with profanity and tough-guy talk from the governor. Chicago FBI chief Robert Grant said even seasoned investigators were stunned by what they heard, particularly because the governor had known he was under investigation and clearly realized agents might be listening in.

(CBS/AP) Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday on charges he brazenly conspired to sell or trade President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder as part of what federal prosecutors called a “political corruption crime spree.”

Prosecutors did not accuse Obama himself of any wrongdoing. Mr. Obama said he is “saddened and sobered” by the allegations and he had no contact with the governor or his office on the matter.

Blagojevich also was charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in an attempt to strong-arm the newspaper into firing editorial writers who had criticized him.

The 51-year-old Democrat was also accused of engaging in pay-to-play politics - that is, doling out jobs, contracts and appointments in return for campaign contributions.

“We were in the middle of a corruption crime spree, and we wanted to stop it,” U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said, calling the charges against Blagojevich “a truly new low.” He added: “The conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave.”

Federal investigators bugged the governor’s campaign offices and tapped his home phone, capturing conversations laced with profanity and tough-guy talk from the governor. Chicago FBI chief Robert Grant said even seasoned investigators were stunned by what they heard, particularly since the governor had known for three years was under investigation for alleged hiring fraud.

“This is another aggressive move by Fitzgerald, who is best known for indicting and convicting Lewis Scooter Libby on obstruction of justice charges in the CIA Leak case,” said CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen. “Fitzgerald is an excellent trial attorney as well, so the Governor and his aide really are in the thick of it now.”

The FBI said in court papers that the governor was overheard on wiretaps over the last month conspiring to sell the Senate seat for campaign cash or plum jobs for himself or his wife, Patti, a real estate agent. He spoke of landing a job with a nonprofit foundation or a union-affiliated group, and even held out the possibility of a Cabinet appointment or ambassadorship for himself.

“I’ve got this thing and it’s (expletive) golden,” he said of his authority to appoint Obama’s replacement, “and I’m just not giving it up for (expletive) nothing. I’m not gonna do it.”

Blagojevich faces two counts: Conspiracy to commit fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and solicitation to commit bribery, which is punishable by up 10 years. He was released on his own recognizance.

He was the latest in a long line of Illinois governors to become engulfed in scandal. Blagojevich was elected in 2003 as a reformer promising to clean up after former Gov. George Ryan, who is serving six years in prison for racketeering and fraud.

The charges do not identify by name any of the political figures under consideration for the Senate seat, calling them only “Candidate 1,” “Candidate 2,” and so on. However, those being considered for the post include: Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr., Danny Davis, Jan Schakowsky and Luis Gutierrez; Illinois Senate President Emil Jones; and Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth.

Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero had no immediate comment on the charges but issued a statement saying the “allegations do nothing to impact the services, duties or function of the state.”

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Read The Criminal Complaint Against Blagojevich
Statement From The Department Of Justice

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The scandal leaves the Senate seat in limbo. Democratic leaders in Washington and Illinois called on the Illinois Legislature to quickly schedule a special election to fill Obama’s seat rather than leave that power in Blagojevich’s hands.

“No appointment by this governor, under these circumstances, could produce a credible replacement,” said Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.

Some Illinois politicians immediately demanded that the governor step down or face impeachment.

Also arrested was the Blagojevich’s chief of staff, 46-year-old John Harris, who was accused of taking part in the schemes to enrich the governor.

Blagojevich also considered appointing himself to the Senate seat, telling his deputy governor that if “they’re not going to offer me anything of value, I might as well take it,” prosecutors said.

He said becoming a senator might remake his image for a possible presidential run in 2016, according to court papers. And he allegedly said that he would have access to greater resources if he were indicted while in the Senate.

Prosecutors said Blagojevich also talked about getting his wife placed on corporate boards where she might get $150,000 a year in director’s fees.

In court papers, the FBI said Blagojevich expressed frustration at being “stuck” as governor. “I want to make money,” the governor, whose salary is $177,412, was quoted as saying in one conversation.

The head of the FBI’s office in Chicago said he phoned Blagojevich at 6 a.m., telling him of a warrant for his arrest and that there were two FBI agents at his door of his Chicago home. Blagojevich’s first comment was, “Is this a joke?” Grant said.

Nothing in the court papers suggested Obama had any part in the discussions or knew of them - something Fitzgerald repeatedly made clear at Tuesday’s news conference.

In fact, Blagojevich was overheard complaining at one point that Obama’s people are “not going to give me anything except appreciation.” He added: “(Expletive) them.”

The conversations took place between Election Day and as recently as last week. On the recordings, Blagojevich was clearly aware authorities might be listening, warning one person not to use the phone and saying, “The whole world is listening. You hear me?”

Political fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko, who raised money for the campaigns of both Blagojevich and Obama, is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of fraud and other charges. And Blagojevich’s chief fundraiser goes on trial next year on obstruction charges.

The court papers also outline Blagojevich conversations related to Tribune Co., which has been hoping for state aid in selling Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs. Blagojevich was quoted as telling his chief of staff, Harris, in a profanity-laced Nov. 4 conversation that Tribune executives should fire the editorial writers “and get us some editorial support.”

Harris is later overheard telling the governor on Nov. 11 that an unnamed Tribune owner, presumably CEO Sam Zell, “got the message and is very sensitive to the issue.”

O.J’s Emotional Plea “CBS New RAW”: Before being sentenced on kidnapping and armed robbery charges, a visibly emotional O.J. Simpson apologized to the court for his actions.

CBS/AP) A broken O.J. Simpson was sentenced Friday to as much as 33 years in prison for a hotel armed robbery after a judge rejected his apology and said, “It was much more than stupidity.”

The 61-year-old football Hall of Famer stood shackled and stone-faced as Judge Jackie Glass rattled off the punishment. Moments before, Simpson made a rambling, five-minute plea for leniency, simultaneously apologizing for the holdup as a foolish mistake and trying to justify his actions.

He choked back tears as he told her: “I didn’t want to steal anything from anyone. … I’m sorry, sorry.”

Simpson said he was simply trying to retrieve sports memorabilia and other mementos, including his first wife’s wedding ring, from two dealers when he stormed a Las Vegas hotel room on Sept. 13, 2007.

But the judge emphasized that it was a violent confrontation in which at least one gun was drawn, and she said someone could have been shot. She said the evidence was overwhelming, with the planning, the confrontation itself and the aftermath all recorded on audio or videotape.

Glass, a no-nonsense judge known for her tough sentences, imposed such a complex series of consecutive and concurrent sentences that even many attorneys watching the case were confused as to how much time Simpson got.

Simpson could serve up to 33 years but could be eligible for parole after nine years, according to Elana Roberto, the judge’s clerk.

“The sentencing rules bound the judge to hand out these sentences the way she did,” said CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen. “The state legislators in Nevada made sure that these sorts of crimes are punished harshly, so the judge didn’t have a ton of discretion. Simpson’s fate was sealed, you could say, when prosecutors threw the book at him and jurors rejected his defense.”

The judge said several times that her sentence in the Las Vegas case had nothing to do with Simpson’s 1995 acquittal in the slaying of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.

“I’m not here to try and cause any retribution or any payback for anything else,” Glass said.

Simpson was immediately led away to prison after the judge refused to permit him to go free on bail while he appeals.

“We haven’t heard the last of Simpson or this case,” Cohen said. “His lawyers have several good issues to raise on appeal, including some key issues relating to the credibility and reliability of some of the most important witnesses against him. So I wouldn’t be surprised if the appeals courts change, or tweak, to what has just happened.”

Simpson’s co-defendant and former golfing buddy, Clarence “C.J. Stewart, also was sentenced to at least 15 years.

Outside court, Goldman’s father, Fred Goldman, and sister, Kim, said they were delighted with the sentence.

“We are thrilled, and it’s a bittersweet moment,” Fred Goldman said. “It was satisfying seeing him in shackles like he belongs.”

The Goldmans took a measure of credit for Simpson’s fate, saying their relentless pursuit of his assets to satisfy a $33.5 million wrongful-death judgment “pushed him over the edge” and led him to commit the robbery to recover some of his sports memorabilia.

(CBS) In downtown Dallas Friday, new recruits pledged to protect and defend their country.

They’re just part of a growing number who found that in uncertain times, patriotism pays, CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers reports.

“Unemployment rates are [skyrocketing], and when you are looking at how bad unemployment rates are going, I think you find yourself going, ‘What do I do now?”‘ said Army recruit James Stabile.

The troubled economy has even become part of the recruiters’ arsenal. And the pitch may be paying off. The Army led all four branches of the military, exceeding recruiting goals.

And it’s not just new recruits. The Army also surpassed its goal for retaining men and women already serving by 14 percent.

Kevin Bonds signed his re-enlistment papers Friday. The Sgt. First Class could have retired tomorrow after 20 years in the Illinois National Guard.

“Until the economy changes and turns turn around, I’m in for the long run,” he said.

Sgt. Mathew Steen has also re-signed. He says patriotism means more than a paycheck, but admits the Army is a great place to prepare for any career.

“You’ve got good benefits, your medical, you’ve got your dental, and you’re getting the skills to lead people,” Steen said.

The military says the economic downturn is too recent to be the sole reason behind the recruiting surge - but acknowledges that it helps.

“What difficult economic times give us, I think, is an opening to make our case to people we might not otherwise have,” said Undersecretary of Defense David Chu. “And if we make our case, I think we can be successful.”

That success comes at a critical time for a military stretched between two wars, and for soldiers hoping to security their country - and their own economic futures.

(AP) President George W. Bush said Friday that the fight in Iraq has been longer and more costly than expected, but he defended the U.S.-led invasion, saying the world could not risk leaving Saddam Hussein’s power unchecked.

In a speech he was giving later Friday about his Middle East policies, Mr. Bush defended the war, said he sees progress toward finding a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and reaffirmed the U.S. position that Iran should not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.

Mr. Bush, in a sweeping overview outlining ongoing challenges in the Mideast, acknowledged his critics who said his administration tried to link the war in Iraq to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. While it’s true that Saddam Hussein was not connected to the attacks, Mr. Bush said the decision to oust him cannot be viewed in isolation from them.

“In a world where terrorists armed with box cutters had just killed nearly 3,000 people, America had to decide whether we could tolerate a sworn enemy that acted belligerently, that supported terror and that intelligence agencies around the world believed had weapons of mass destruction,” Mr. Bush said, referring to intelligence reports that later proved false.

“It was clear to me, to members of both political parties, and to many leaders around the world that after Sept. 11, this was a risk we could not afford to take,” the president said about the war, which has claimed the lives of more than 4,200 U.S. military personnel and will define his legacy.

Moreover, Mr. Bush said that after Saddam’s regime had been toppled by U.S.-led forces, his administration chose to stand by the Iraqi people, help nurture a budding democracy - even launch a military buildup when increased violence threatened to tear the nation asunder.

“When Saddam’s regime fell, we refused to take the easy option and install a friendly strongman in his place,” he said. “Even though it required enormous sacrifice, we stood by the Iraqi people as they elected their own leaders and built a young democracy.”

Mr. Bush said his policies in the Middle East, which have not always been popular, have not always gone according to plan, and in some cases, have fallen short of the administration’s goals.

“For example, the fight in Iraq has been longer and more costly than expected,” he said.