One Shia official said the prime suspects for the attack were Saddam loyalists hoping to stiruptrouble between Shia and Sunni Muslims, but others think the attack may be linked to a power struggle within the Shia community.
Mr Drace-Francis said in his telegram that the crumpled Mr Ashcroft had threatened over breakfast to stiruptrouble for Britain in the Turks and Caicos Islands (thank goodness this foreign-policy calamity was averted) unless he was helped to break into the islands' banking business.
Republicans accused Democrats of trying to stirup political trouble over the cuts, which they promised would not affect FEMA's ability to respond to natural disasters, in part, because the money is being diverted to other agencies -- such as the Forest Service -- to be spent on disaster response.