Roswell Daily Record
INSIDE NEWS
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The Syrian government accused rebels of using chemical weapons Saturday and warned the United States not to launch any military action against Damascus over an alleged chemical attack last week, saying such a move would set the Middle East ablaze.
OBAMA’S PLAN FOR COLLEGE COSTS Barack President Obama is proposing the most sweeping changes to the federal student aid program in decades. His plan would link federal dollars to new Education Department... - PAGE C4
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Syria warns US not to intervene
Vol. 122, No. 204 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
The accusations by the regime of President Bashar Assad against opposition forces came as an international aid group said it has tallied 355 deaths from a
August 25, 2013
SUNDAY
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purported chemical weapons attack on Wednesday in a suburb of the Syrian capital known as Ghouta.
Syria is intertwined in alliances with Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas and Palestinian militant groups. The country also borders its longtime foe and U.S. ally Israel, making the fallout from military action unpredictable.
Violence in Syria has already spilled over the past year to Lebanon, Turkey,
Iraq and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Battlehardened Hezbollah fighters have joined the combat alongside Assad’s forces. Meanwhile, U.S. naval units are moving closer to Syria as President Barack Obama considers a military response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by Assad’s government. U.S. defense officials told The Associated Press that the Navy had sent a fourth warship armed with ballistic missiles into the eastern
Mediterranean Sea but without immediate orders for any missile launch into Syria. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss ship movements publicly. Obama emphasized that a quick intervention in the Syrian civil war was problematic, given the international considerations that should precede a military strike. After Obama met with his national security team Sat-
Piano Man
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SPORTS
Mark Wilson Photo
Leonard Meekins plays his baby grand piano (left) and additional keyboards at the Salvation Army Thrift Store, Friday. Meekins owns the piano but prefers to keep it at the store and is a daily fixture as he serenades shoppers with his sweet melodies.
For many teams, the early-season schedule is filled with matchups with opponents who share a name with a popular baked good (read: cupcakes)... - PAGE B1
Lois Shaffer Robert F. Dove Billie Lorraine Eakin Olive M. Rinker Patricia “Pattie” Clees Edward John Wickenden - PAGE A2, B8
HIGH ...92˚ LOW ....68˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
BUSINESS..............C4 CLASSIFIEDS..........D1 COMICS.................B7 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................C3 WEATHER ..............A8 VISTAS ..................C1
INDEX
Autumn Manning, whose husband, Shawn Manning, survived being shot six times, views the death penalty as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, Hasan would get what he deserves. On the other, it also gives him exactly what he wants.
Govt suspects Snowden bypassed electronic logs
RHS TAKES 2ND IN TOURNEY
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For Hasan, there is honor in execution
As the sentencing phase begins Monday following Hasan’s conviction for killing 13 people in the 2009 attack, the conflict has not gone unnoticed.
INSIDE
OBITUARIES
The White House statement said Obama received a detailed review of the range of options he has requested for the U.S. and the international community to respond if it is determined that Assad has engaged in deadly chemical warfare.
Maj. Nidal Hasan and many of his victims in the Fort Hood shooting seem to want the same thing — his death. But while survivors and relatives of the dead view lethal injection as justice, the Army psychiatrist appears to see it as something else — martyrdom.
For The Past 24 Hours
TODAY’S
urday, the White House said U.S. intelligence officials are still trying to determine whether Assad’s government unleashed the chemical weapons attack earlier this week.
AP Photo
This handout file photo taken on Friday, July 12, shows NSA leaker Edward Snowden during his meeting with Russian activists and officials at Sheremetyevo airport, in Moscow.
Pearce announces bid for re-election JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., officially declared his re-election bid Friday evening, pointing to his bipartisanship record, willingness to work for jobs immigration refor m and protecting southern New Mexico’s economy. “Southern New Mexicans want someone who listens to them and stands up for their concer ns and not cater to any one political party,” Pearce said in a statement. “For that reason, I feel that I am still the best choice to represent the 2nd Congressional District in Congress.” His Chief of Staff Todd Willens said Pearce
planned to make an in-person announcement at a fundraising event in Hobbs later that evening. “He and the team are as energized as ever,” Willens said. “We look forward to using this momentum to carry us into the reelection.” Pearce just completed several town halls in the past three weeks, at which he met and spoke with his constituents. This is Pearce’s seventh run for the U.S. House. He was first elected in 2002 following the retirement of U.S. Rep. Joe Skeen. Rep. Pearce defeated Democrat John Smith, a State Senator. He won a second term See PEARCE, Page A2
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government’s ef forts to deter mine which highly classified materials leaker Edward Snowden took from the National Security Agency have been frustrated by Snowden’s sophisticated efforts to cover his digital trail by deleting or bypassing electronic logs, gover nment of ficials told The Associated Press. Such logs would
have showed what information Snowden viewed or downloaded.
The gover nment’s forensic investigation is wrestling with Snowden’s apparent ability to defeat safeguards established to monitor and deter people looking at infor mation without proper permission, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t
authorized to discuss the sensitive developments publicly.
The disclosure undermines the Obama administration’s assurances to Congress and the public that the NSA surveillance programs can’t be abused because its spying systems are so aggressively monitored and audited for oversight purposes.
Admiring artwork
Mark Wilson Photo
Bob Phillips and Lori Mitteer admire artwork at the Roswell Museum and Art Center during the grand opening of The 30th Annual International Juried Art Show presented by the Roswell Fine Arts League & NM Miniature Arts Society, Thursday evening.