The Nation

By: JournalNow Staff | JOURNAL WIRE REPORT
Published: October 05, 2008

Army foresees a bigger role in nation-building

WASHINGTON -- The Army will present an unprecedented doctrine on Monday that declares nation-building missions will probably become more important than conventional warfare and defines "fragile states" that breed crime, terrorism and religious and ethnic strife as the greatest threat to U.S. national security.

The doctrine, which has generated intense debate in the U.S. military establishment and government, holds that in coming years, American troops are not likely to engage in major ground combat against hostile states as they did in Iraq and Afghanistan, but instead will frequently be called upon to operate in lawless areas to safeguard populations and rebuild countries.

Such "stability operations" will last longer and ultimately contribute more to the military's success than "traditional combat operations," according to the Army's new Stability Operations Field Manual, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post.

Clinton neighbor convicted in death of wife in New York

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- A disbarred lawyer who lived three doors down from Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton in suburban New York was convicted yesterday of murdering his wife in what prosecutors said was an attempt to collect life-insurance money.

A Westchester County jury found Carlos Perez-Olivo guilty of second-degree murder. He could get life in prison.

Prosecutors said that the troubled lawyer shot his schoolteacher wife, Peggy, in the back of the head as she dozed in their car during a drive to their home in Chappaqua on Nov. 18, 2006.

They said that Perez-Olivo then gave himself a superficial gunshot wound, tossed the weapon into a lake, and called 911 claiming that a carjacker had attacked him and his wife.

Anglican Pittsburgh diocese splits from Episcopal Church

MONROEVILLE, Pa. -- Clergy and lay members of the theologically conservative Pittsburgh diocese voted overwhelmingly yesterday to break from the liberal Episcopal Church, with which it differs on issues ranging from homosexuality to biblical teachings on salvation.

Assistant Bishop Henry Scriven said that the vote means that the Pittsburgh diocese is now more firmly aligned with the majority of the 77 million-member worldwide Anglican Communion, which is more conservative than the communion's 2.2 million-member U.S. church.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the presiding bishop of the U.S. church, criticized the vote, saying, "There is room in this Church for all who desire to be members of it."

Former police officer seeks new trial in his lover's killing

CANTON, Ohio -- A former police officer sentenced to life in prison for killing his pregnant lover is seeking a new trial, arguing that the jury handed down contradictory verdicts.

Attorneys for Bobby Cutts Jr. filed the appeal Friday in the 5th District Court of Appeals.

Cutts, 31, was convicted in February of killing Jessie Davis and their unborn daughter at her northeast Ohio home. Prosecutors alleged that he killed Davis, 26, and the fetus last summer to avoid paying child support.

Jurors convicted Cutts of aggravated murder in the death of the fetus. They found him not guilty of aggravated murder in Davis' death but convicted him of a lesser charge of murder.