Ashcroft has Imus correction

© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 4, 2001

Attorney General John Ashcroft isn't afraid to admit he had a bad hair day.

His short haircut was ridiculed Wednesday by radio announcer Don Imus, but Ashcroft said Imus got the facts wrong.

"A lot of things are said about me that aren't totally true," Ashcroft said at a news conference. "You take Imus, for instance. This morning he said I had the most hideous $2 haircut in the history of the world. And I beg to differ. It's a $7 haircut, not a $2 haircut."

Bill aimed at drugs now tackles terror

Another example of how the events of Sept. 11 can fit anything: When Sen. Bob Graham first offered legislation to increase security at American ports, he wanted to track down drug runners and stolen products. Now he says its purpose is to protect against terrorists coming in on boats with lethal materials.

When Graham introduced the legislation, just four senators supported it. On Friday, Graham said the bill would probably come to the floor this week and will have a better than average chance of passing.

The bill would allocate more than $1-billion to shore up security at the nation's 361 ports, and it's now part of Graham's new strategy to respond before an attack has occurred.

"We cannot continue in a pattern in which we wait for a major sector of the American economy to be hit and then respond with security measures," he said.

According to a named source . . .

Whenever the Pentagon sets up an on-the-record, background briefing for reporters, under the ground rules reporters can identify the briefer only as a "senior defense official."

Indeed, the Pentagon's office of public affairs goes to great lengths to protect the identity of the briefer. For example, TV cameras are off-limits during the briefing and before the presentation; a press aide holds up a piece of paper with the briefer's name to make sure microphones don't catch the name.

Last week, in an update on the air war in Afghanistan, the Pentagon set up a background briefing on unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, remote-controlled aircraft that can scoop up intelligence or engage the enemy in combat.

Before the briefing, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Tim Taylor went through the ground rules.

At least one of the briefers didn't listen.

When it came his turn to speak, he greeted reporters by saying, "Good afternoon, I'm -- "

After he identified himself, reporters started laughing, prompting Taylor to declare, "Strike that from the record."

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