National Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

WASHINGTON
HINDERY PULLS OUT OF RACE FOR DNC CHAIRMAN
A Manhattan business executive and political fund-raiser quietly pulled out of the race for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee over the weekend, after concluding he faced an “aggressive and bruising fight.”
The former head of the YES Network, Leo Hindery, arrived Friday morning at an Orlando-area conference where he was to join eight other potential candidates in pitching their ideas to state Democratic leaders from around the nation. Mr. Hindery left a few hours later, after telling supporters to pack up their buttons and brochures.
On the way to the Democratic gathering, Mr. Hindery attended a dinner in St. Louis honoring his friend and adviser Rep. Richard Gephardt, who has retired from Congress. Mr. Hindery reached his decision after conferring with Mr. Gephardt, as well as with the outgoing Senate minority leader, Senator Daschle of South Dakota, who had been advocating his candidacy. He also spoke with abortion-rights activist Kate Michaelman and president of the New School, Bob Kerrey. Although he had planned to express his ideas for strengthening the party with business skills honed at the helm of telecommunications companies such as AT &T Broadband, Mr. Hindery, 57, said he concluded that the field was too crowded.
“The slate of candidates is such that it would be a bruising and aggressive fight,” he said in a telephone interview yesterday.
In addition to his investment activities, Mr. Hindery said he will remain the finance chairman of the mayoral campaign of Fernando Ferrer, former Bronx Borough president, and plans to “put a lot of energy” into the gubernatorial run of the attorney general, Eliot Spitzer. He also plans to help Senator Schumer raise funds at the helm of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
As Democrats debate how best to rebuild their party, Mr. Hindery said they need to pay more attention to local races that were overshadowed by the presidential contest in 2004. “You win presidential elections by winning mayoral and gubernatorial elections,” he said. “An awful lot of the committee’s and party’s energy is fixated on finding someone and putting someone in the White House. That is a noble and perfect goal, but … all kinds of people can feel abandoned by that,” he said.
The eight potential candidates who put themselves forward for the chairmanship over the weekend were the former governor of Vermont, Howard Dean; Rep. Martin Frost of Texas, who lost his re-election bid; a former Clinton White House aide, Harold Ickes; a former governor of Michigan, James Blanchard; a former mayor of Dallas, Ron Kirk; a former mayor of Denver, Wellington Webb; founder of the New Democrat Network, Simon Rosenberg; and strategist Donnie Fowler.
– Staff Reporter of the Sun
LIEBERMAN REPORTEDLY REJECTING WHITE HOUSE OVERTURES
Senator Lieberman, a Democrat of Connecticut, has twice said “no” this week when approached about a major position in the second Bush administration, the Web site of CNN reported last night.
The latest overture to Mr. Lieberman had been the Cabinet vacancy at the Department of Homeland Security, according to CNN’s sources in Washington. There had been an earlier offer of Mr. Lieberman becoming the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, the Web report indicated. White House officials declined to comment, and Mr. Lieberman was traveling last night and not available for comment, the report said. A spokesman for Mr. Lieberman told CNN.com that the senator had not received a formal job offer and was not seeking a new post. The spokesman could not say whether Mr. Lieberman has talked to Bush administration officials about the possibility of joining the Republican administration, according to the Web report.
Mr. Lieberman – the 2000 presidential campaign running mate of Albert Gore, the former vice president – drew up the legislation that led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Lieberman also co-sponsored the resolution giving President Bush the authority to go to war with Iraq.
– Staff Reporter of the Sun
DOCUMENTS DETAIL ADDITIONAL IRAQI ABUSES BY MARINES
U.S. Marines forced Iraqi juveniles to kneel while troops discharged a weapon in a mock execution, used electric shock on one prisoner, and set fire to a puddle of solvent that burned a prisoner, according to U.S. Navy documents released yesterday.
The documents portray a series of abuse cases stretching beyond the Abu Ghraib Prison, where photos surfaced this year of American troops forcing prisoners – often naked – to pose in humiliating positions. The files document a crush of abuse allegations, most from the early months of the American occupation of Iraq, that have swamped investigators.
The approximately 10,000 files include investigation reports from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and witness interviews.
All names have been blacked out in the documents, which were released under a federal court ruling that ordered the government to comply with a Freedom of Information Act petition filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and other organizations.
“This kind of widespread abuse could not have taken place without a leadership failure of the highest order,” said ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero.
The Pentagon says cases of abuse are taken seriously and investigated.
Some of the documents include the alleged executions of Iraqis. The Navy found the allegations to be “unsubstantiated” and closed the investigation. It remains unclear whether any other military branches are investigating.
– Associated Press
NORTHWEST
STATE SUPREME COURT REJECTS GOVERNOR’S RACE RECOUNT SUIT
OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Washington State Supreme Court yesterday unanimously rejected the Democratic Party’s request that previously rejected absentee and provisional ballots be included in the hand recount of Washington State’s contested governor’s race.
Republican Dino Rossi won the November 2 election by 261 votes and held a 42-vote lead over Democrat Christine Gregoire after the first machine recount.
In a brief written opinion, the high court said that under Washington law, “ballots are to be ‘retabulated’ only if they have been previously counted or tallied” – excluding those that had been disqualified by canvassing boards.
The decision does not affect the 561 uncounted ballots in King County that were discovered Sunday to have been wrongly rejected because of mistakes by election workers. Those ballots go to a canvassing board today for verification and could tip the delicate balance of the election toward Ms. Gregoire, who claimed 58% of the vote in the Democratic stronghold that includes Seattle.
“The most likely outcome is Dino wins the hand recount, but we continue to worry about what’s next in King County,” said state Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance. The state Democratic Party filed its lawsuit with the Supreme Court the same day it demanded a hand recount, which began last week. As of Monday night, with 24 of the state’s 39 counties completing their hand recounts, Mr. Rossi had gained 46 additional votes.
– Associated Press
HEALTH
NATURAL BIRTH RISKS AFTER C-SECTION HIGHER, BUT STILL LOW
BOSTON – Pregnant women who try a natural delivery after an earlier Caesarean section face greater risks – but still very low ones – compared with those who opt for a second C-section, a large study suggests.
The lead researcher said the chief risks – a torn uterus in the mother and brain damage in her newborn – are so unlikely that this study may boost the slumping rate of attempted natural births after C-sections. “I think it will certainly open up the dialogue once again,” said Dr. Mark Landon of Ohio State University.
The study was released yesterday before publication in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine. It was carried out at 19 teaching hospitals nationwide, with collaboration and funding from the National Institutes of Health. It is the most elaborate effort yet to examine the safety of natural birth after Caesarean section, researchers say. The medical community has long debated the merits and safety. Surgical C-section risks include hemorrhaging and infection.
In this study, the researchers identified 33,699 women who had previously delivered by Caesarean section. Their subsequent pregnancies were monitored as they chose either to attempt vaginal deliveries or opted for another C-section. More than half of those chose to try natural delivery. Of that group, a quarter encountered problems and had to switch to Caesarean section. In the end, 124 women who started with natural labor, including the C-section transfers, suffered uterine ruptures – less than 1% of cases.
– Associated Press