Clinton, Democrats press Pentagon

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday enlisted the help of other Democratic senators in her feud with the Pentagon over end-of-war planning in Iraq.

Clinton, the Democratic Party's front-runner, is in a dispute with Pentagon leadership since she sought a briefing on what planning if any they had done for the eventual withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.

In response to her questions, Undersecretary Eric Edelman last week sent her a tough-worded letter saying public discussion of such matters "reinforces enemy propaganda."

Clinton called that charge an outrageous political attack, and has asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates for an explanation.

The New York lawmaker, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is drumming up support among fellow Democrats, including 2004 presidential nominee John Kerry. On Monday, she and three other Senate Democrats _ Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Jim Webb of Virginia and Evan Bayh of Indiana _ asked the chairman of the Armed Services panel to hold a hearing on the subject.

"The need for the committee to know the status of Department of Defense redeployment planning is clear, yet past efforts by individual members to obtain this information were rebuffed," the senators wrote to the chairman, Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan.

The Democrats also noted that the issue has already been raised by two senior Republicans. Legislation offered by Sens. John Warner of Virginia and Richard Lugar of Indiana sought to have the Pentagon report to Congress in October on end-of-war planning.

Clinton's very public feud with a senior aide at the Pentagon may boost her standing among anti-war voters and liberal Democrats critical in the Democratic primaries next year. Some anti-war voters are wary of her candidacy because she voted to authorize the invasion of Iraq in 2002.

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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) _ Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday plans to launch a trio of radio ads in New Hampshire and in Iowa, highlighting his accomplishments as New York's mayor and promises he has made during the campaign.

"Leadership is about what we can do, what we can accomplish, never saying, taking 'No' for an answer," Giuliani says in one ad.

The ads come weeks before Iowa's Ames Straw Poll, an early indicator of a candidate's strength. Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain both plan to skip that contest, which former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is widely expected to win.

Giuliani's campaign made a national ad buy earlier this year, but these are his first in the key early voting states. In them, Giuliani tells voters he overcame expectations and turned around New York.

"Every promise I made running as mayor of New York City they said couldn't be done, said I couldn't cut crime, New York City was the crime capital of the America _ can't be done," Giuliani says.

A voice-over says crime dropped 56 percent during Giuliani's tenure. The unseen narrator also tells voters that welfare rolls in New York City dropped 58 percent and that Giuliani turned a $2.3 billion deficit into "a multibillion-dollar surplus and cut or eliminated 23 taxes."

Giuliani was mayor during a period of declining crime rates nationwide. Crime in New York peaked in 1990 and had been dropping for three years before Giuliani took office, according to FBI data.

The crime rate decreased by 60 percent in New York and 24 percent nationally between 1993, the year before Giuliani took office, and 2002, when he left.

Giuliani spoke Monday night to an invited audience of about 100 Republicans in San Francisco. He took Democratic White House hopefuls to task Monday for being soft on terrorists.

"At no time during their three debates have they used the words 'Islamic terrorists,'" Giuliani said of the Democratic contenders who, as he spoke, were debating at The Citadel military college in South Carolina. "If they do tonight, I will take credit for it."

He also spoke about his vision for weaning the U.S. off foreign oil and the need for trade agreements with developing countries.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) _ Two Republican presidential candidates are demanding apologies from fellow GOP hopeful Sam Brownback for questioning their opposition to abortion in automated phone calls to voters.

"Mitt Romney is telling Iowans he is firmly pro-life. Nothing could be further from the truth," said the Brownback campaign's phone message.

The message goes on to attack the former Massachusetts governor's wife, warning, "His wife, Ann, has contributed money to Planned Parenthood."

Romney spokesman Tim Albrecht expressed outrage at what he called "despicable, negative phone calls."

"They should apologize to Ann Romney and Governor Romney for this personal attack," Albrecht said.

Brownback's campaign has also been making phone calls in Iowa that criticize Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo for taking campaign money from a Planned Parenthood backer.

"Say no to Tom Tancredo and his Planned Parenthood friend and help end abortion in America," the caller says, according to a script confirmed by Brownback's campaign.

Tancredo said Brownback, a Kansas senator, is a longtime friend who "is well aware of my lifelong commitment to the unborn."

"I call on Senator Brownback to cease with the maliciously misleading push calls intended to harm me and apologize," Tancredo said in a statement.

Brownback's campaign stood by both calls.

"We stand by the accuracy of our statement that Mrs. Romney financially supported Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the world," said spokesman John Rankin.

Rankin also said Tancredo "says he is committed to being pro-life but has accepted thousands of dollars from the founder of a major Planned Parenthood network."

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SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) _ Bill Richardson is airing a new ad in Iowa and New Hampshire touting his record as New Mexico governor in securing approval of a law to pay for life insurance coverage for National Guard troops.

"When a National Guard solider would fall in combat, the family was only getting $12,000. A national disgrace," says the narrator in the new ad. "Bill Richardson passed the first law in the nation giving National Guard soldiers $400,000 in life insurance."

In 2005, Richardson signed legislation that made New Mexico the first state to pay for $250,000 in life insurance for its National Guard members, many of whom have been called to duty in Iraq.

The amount later went to $400,000 after the federal government raised the amount of life insurance that all service members can purchase at a subsidized rate. That same 2005 federal law increased a separate death benefit from $12,000 to $100,000.

At the time the New Mexico law was enacted, National Guard soldiers could buy up to $250,000 in life insurance through a federal program at a subsidized rate or they could opt for reduced coverage at a lower monthly cost. Richardson pushed legislation to have the state underwrite the cost of premiums for its 4,000 National Guard members. Eighteen states have taken similar steps, according to Richardson's campaign.

The ad also mentions the Democratic presidential candidate's proposal for a "hero's health card," which would allow veterans to obtain medical care at locations other than at the government's network of veterans' hospitals and clinics.

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EXETER, N.H. (AP) _ Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is refusing to apologize for posing with a sign that said "No to Osama, Obama and Chelsea's Moma," lumping two Democratic rivals with the al-Qaida leader.

"I don't look at all the signs when I'm having pictures taken. I have a lot of pictures taken with people," Romney said. "I don't really spend all that much time looking at the signs and the T-shirts and the buttons. I don't have anything to say about a sign somebody else was holding."

Romney posed for the photograph while campaigning in South Carolina last week. An audience member at a town hall in Exeter on Sunday pressed him to apologize, saying it was inappropriate to compare Democratic Sen. Barack Obama with Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It also referenced Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose daughter Chelsea was part of the handwritten sign.

"I'm just concerned because I can remember where I was at on Sept. 11," said Jerid Kurtz, a New Hampshire-based contributor to Buckeye State Blog. "How can you compare any American to Osama bin Laden? How can you do that?"

Kurtz's biography on the Web site notes he is a former Democratic campaign operative.

"You know what? Lighten up slightly," Romney said. "There are a lot of jokes out there. I'm not responsible for all the signs I see."

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Associated Press writers Mike Glover in Des Moines, Iowa, Philip Elliott in Concord, N.H., Lisa Leff in San Francisco, Barry Massey in Santa Fe, N.M., and Libby Quaid in Washington contributed to this report.