WASHINGTON — As the United States turns increasingly to Special Operations forces to confront developing threats scattered around the world, the nation’s top Special Operations officer, a member of the Navy Seals who oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, is seeking new authority to move his forces faster and outside of normal Pentagon deployment channels.

The officer, Adm. William H. McRaven, who leads the Special Operations Command, is pushing for a larger role for his elite units who have traditionally operated in the dark corners of American foreign policy. The plan would give him more autonomy to position his forces and their war-fighting equipment where intelligence and global events indicate they are most needed.

It would also allow the Special Operations forces to expand their presence in regions where they have not operated in large numbers for the past decade, especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

While President Obama and his Pentagon’s leadership have increasingly made Special Operations forces their military tool of choice, similar plans in the past have foundered because of opposition from regional commanders and the State Department. The military’s regional combatant commanders have feared a decrease of their authority, and some ambassadors in crisis zones have voiced concerns that commandos may carry out missions that are perceived to tread on a host country’s sovereignty, like the rift in ties with Pakistan after the Bin Laden raid.

Administration, military and Congressional officials say that the Special Operations Command has embarked on a quiet lobbying campaign to push through the initiative. Pentagon and administration officials note that while the Special Operations Command is certain to see a growth in its budget and personnel when the new Defense Department spending plan is released Monday — in contrast to many other parts of the military that are being cut — no decisions have been made on whether to expand Admiral McRaven’s authorities.

The White House and State Department declined to comment on the proposal on Sunday.

The proposals are put forward as a new model for warfare in an age of diminishing Pentagon budgets, shrinking numbers of troops and declining public appetite for large wars of occupation, according to Pentagon officials, military officers and civilian contractors briefed on the plan. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because no decisions have been made.

Under the new concepts, a significant number of Special Operations forces — projected at 12,000 — would remain deployed around the world. While commando teams would be on call for striking terrorist targets and rescuing hostages, just as significant would be the increased number of these personnel deployed on training and liaison assignments and to gather information to help the command better predict approaching national security risks.

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Def-Con Hill:

A ticker-tape parade for the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants on Tuesday has helped spark a growing national debate over how veterans coming back from the Iraq War should be honored.

“Getting Super Bowl-champ football players a parade in their hometowns is never an issue. But Iraq War veterans?” Paul Rieckhoff, founder of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, wrote in a blog post this week. “For some reason, they’re running into all kinds of resistance.”

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that New York isn’t holding a parade at this time because Pentagon officials told the city they don’t want to have one with troops still fighting in Afghanistan.

“We simply don’t think a national-level parade is appropriate while we continue to have America’s sons and daughters in harm’s way,” said Col. David Lapan, spokesman for Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey.

“While we are very appreciative of the offer to host such a parade to recognize the significant accomplishments of those who have served in Iraq, Gen. Dempsey has expressed the view that he doesn’t think it is appropriate while we still have forces engaged in combat operations in Afghanistan,” he said.

But a parade for veterans held two weeks ago in St. Louis, which drew tens of thousands of people, has launched a movement for more parades across the country.

Craig Schneider and Tom Appelbaum, two St. Louis men who had not served in the military, organized the St. Louis parade after posting the idea on a Facebook group and growing support there.

Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.), who represents St. Louis and attended the parade, called it “a stunning display of patriotism and gratitude for our returning troops from Iraq.

“To witness thousands of people along the parade route embrace these soldiers, saying ‘thank you, welcome home’ was truly inspirational,” he said.

Appelbaum said that since the parade, he’s received inquiries from citizens and officials in 20 cities across the country, from Tucson to Philadelphia to San Antonio, to hold parades of their own. He thinks New York should also hold one.

“There’s a huge significance to the fact that so many cities are stepping up to do something right now,” Appelbaum said in a phone interview.

“I’m perfectly happy to see this thing go national, and every other city but New York have a parade,” he said. “But eventually New York’s going to have to have their parade. They’re going to have to change their minds.”

Rieckhoff’s group has launched an online petition on its website for a ticker-tape parade, which more than 20,000 people have signed.

Pentagon spokesman Doug Wilson said the Defense Department is not opposed to cities holding their own parades like St. Louis did, but officials don’t feel there should be a national-level parade.

That’s the significance a parade in New York would take on, where parades have been held for more than a century in the world-famous “Canyon of Heroes.”

Wilson said that when a ticker-tape parade was held in New York for veterans of the first Gulf War, there was no other armed conflict occurring.

Still, some city officials are pushing for New York to move forward with a ticker-tape celebration for veterans. Christine Quinn, New York’s City Council speaker and a potential candidate for mayor in 2013, said on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show that the city should hold a parade if that’s what veterans want.

She said that she felt “badly” for Bloomberg, who is agreeing to a decision made by top military leaders.

“That position on the part of the Pentagon or the Department of Defense puts mayors in a tough spot, because do you disregard what the federal government has said to you?” Quinn said. “I really think what needs to happen is the federal government or the Pentagon needs to change their position and make it OK for cities if they want to do this to do this.”

Stu Loeser, a Bloomberg spokesman, said the city “asked the military’s top leaders for guidance, and when it comes to what’s best for our troops we will follow their lead.”

On Monday, the White House announced plans to hold a dinner for Iraq War veterans. The dinner, which will be at the end of the month, will host 200 people and have veterans from every state, rank and service, said Wilson.

Wilson emphasized that the dinner was unconnected to the debate over holding a parade. “This is not a matter of a dinner instead of a parade,” he said.

“Senior military leaders here support a national-level parade at the appropriate time, and they feel the appropriate time will be when troops have returned from Afghanistan,” he said.

Appelbaum said the momentum that’s building for hosting veterans parades shows there’s no reason not to have one now as well as when the war in Afghanistan is over.

“We should be coming up with reasons to have parades for our veterans,” he said, “not coming up with excuses not to have them.”

Excerpted from Radar Online:

Law enforcement officials found Lorazepam, Valium, and a sleeping medication in Whitney Houston’s hotel room, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.

The singer was found unresponsive by members of her entourage on Saturday afternoon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and she was declared dead by responding paramedics at 3:55 p.m. PST on the eve of the Grammy’s.

Houston had “a plethora of sedatives including Lorazepam, Valium, Xanax, and a sleeping medication that was found in her hotel room,” a law enforcement source tells us.

IBD:

A Keanu Reeves death hoax began spreading on Sunday morning, and became a trending topic on Twitter. The hoax shocked some fans amid mourning for Whitney Houston, who died at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday, at age 48.

While Houston’s death was confirmed by authorities, there are no official reports that Reeves has died.

The Keanu Reeves death hoax picked up speed on the heels of Houston’s death. The story was spread by the fake “news” site Global Associated News, which has been known to falsely report the deaths of other actors. The site claimed that Reeves died shortly after a snowboarding accident on Sunday.

“The actor & novice snowboarder was vacationing at the Zermatt ski resort in Zermatt, Switzerland with family and friends. Witnesses indicate that Keanu Reeves lost control of his snowboard and struck a tree at a high rate of speed,” the fake report stated.

“Keanu Reeves was air lifted by ski patrol teams to a local hospital, however, it is believed that the actor died instantly from the impact of the crash,” the account claimed. “The actor was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident and drugs and alcohol do not appear to have played any part in his death.

Here’s what Twitter users are saying:

– “We’re not even done with mourning #WhitneyHouston’s death and there are rumors that Keanu Reeves is dead. Please not let this be real!” – Gwen Y

– “Snowboarding?? Crazy. RT @Ndirishlover I hope the news about Keanu Reeves is not true.” – Tyler Shoemaker

– “Someone tell me that Keanu Reeves hasn’t died?? ” – Chloe-leigh Mayes

– “goodness…now their trying to kill Keanu Reeves!! I know hes been ghost for a min but that doesnt mean he deserves internet death!!” – Sharne S

– “RT @ST_BMARIE: Noooooooooo Keanu reeves passed!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t right now. Think its a hoax” – Mr Wide Open Radio

– “Keanu Reeves dies in snowboard accident. so so sad. My condolences to his family.” – Danielle Campos

Last week, rapper Drake was a victim of a death hoax that also started trending on Twitter because worried fans were scrambling to find out whether the news was true. Prior to that actor Eddie Murphy was rumored dead, TMZ verified that Murphy was in fact alive after Web site MediaFetcher.com triggered the false report.

Other celebrities who have been falsely reported as dead include Adele, Rick Ross, LeBron James, Jon Bon Jovi, Charlie Sheen, Adam Sandler, TooShort, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Bacon, Luke Perry, Jack Black, Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Tom Green, Mac Miller, Tiger Woods, and George Clooney to name a few.

The Hill:

Rick Santorum suggested on Sunday that Mitt Romney’s campaign may have rigged a straw poll of conservative activists by paying the entrance fee for supporters.

Romney beat Santorum by 7 points Saturday in a straw poll of almost 3,500 attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Santorum pointed out that Ron Paul had won the poll in both of the past two years “because he just trucks in a lot of people pays for their ticket, they come in and vote and then leave.”

“I don’t try to rig straw polls,” Santorum said on CNN’s State of the Union.

Paul actually came in last on Saturday, having declined to address the conference or to activate his base for the straw poll. But Santorum said that wasn’t the case with Romney.

“You have to talk to the Romney campaign and how many tickets they bought,” Santorum said. “We’ve heard all sorts of things.”

Romney’s campaign shot back, pointing out that Romney on Saturday had also won the Maine caucuses and a separate, national telephone poll conducted by CPAC.

“Rick Santorum has a history of making statements that aren’t grounded in the truth,” Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said in an email. “Conservative voters recognize that in order to change Washington, we need someone who isn’t a creature of Washington.”

Santorum said his second-place finish was thanks to supporters who showed up voluntarily because they were excited about his campaign, not because their tickets had been purchased for them.

“There’s nothing wrong with that. We just don’t think that’s a good use of our resources,” Santorum said. “Gov. Romney obviously may have a different idea.”

Santorum’s campaign has been working to sustain his gains from three wins in primary contests on Tuesday, and to blunt more recent gains by Romney in the CPAC poll and in Maine’s caucuses, where Romney was declared the winner on Saturday.

Santorum told NBC’s Meet the Press his campaign had raised more than $3 million in the past week, and that he had performed better than he had expected in Maine, where he hadn’t invested any resources or seriously competed.

“I won three races this week. I beat Gov. Romney by 30 points in Missouri,” he said. “I feel very good that this is a two-person race.”

Romney, speaking after the results came in on Tuesday, accused both Santorum and Newt Gingrich of acting like Democrats — a charge Santorum said was “pretty funny.”

RELATED: Crowd goes wild for Santorum at CPAC

“You reach a point where desperate people do desperate things,” Santorum said on CBS’s Face the Nation. “And I think Gov. Romney now, as, you know, another candidate has come up to challenge him, and this time he’s having trouble finding out how to go after someone who is a solid conservative, who’s got a great track record of attracting independents and Democrats and winning states as a conservative.”

Santorum also weighed in on the ongoing controversy over contraception coverage, blasting President Obama and dismissing a compromise to shift the cost from religious organizations to insurance companies.

“They’re going to be forced to pay for something they feel is a deeply, morally wrong thing,” Santorum said on NBC. “You’ve got a lot of Democrats, a lot of liberals, who are just aghast that this president is going to take on this fight of saying, ‘You’re going to have to do something that is against your conscience.’”

Santorum, a Catholic, said he agreed with the Catholic Church’s opposition to birth control, but as a public policy matter, had no problem with women having access to it — as long as religious groups aren’t forced to pay for it.

“This is government taking over choices from people,” he said.

Santorum and other conservatives have attempted to use disagreement over contraception coverage as a pivot point to talk about other social issues where they allege Obama is infringing on traditional values.

“People have referred to me as the Richie Cunningham candidate,” Santorum said, referring to the clean-cut, wholesome teenager from the TV show “Happy Days.” “Contrasting that with what’s going on out there in the popular culture, a little Richie Cunningham wouldn’t be bad right now.”

(Reuters) - The Greek parliament approved a deeply unpopular austerity bill to secure a second EU/IMF bailout and avoid national bankruptcy, as buildings burned across central Athens and violence spread around the country.

Cinemas, cafes, shops and banks were set ablaze in central Athens as black-masked protesters fought riot police outside parliament.

State television reported the violence spread to the tourist islands of Corfu and Crete, the northern city of Thessaloniki and towns in central Greece. Shops were looted in the capital where police said 34 buildings were ablaze.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos denounced the worst breakdown of order since 2008 when violence gripped Greece for weeks after police shot a 15-year-old schoolboy.

“Vandalism, violence and destruction have no place in a democratic country and won’t be tolerated,” he told parliament as it prepared to vote on the new 130 billion euro bailout to save Greece from a chaotic bankruptcy.

Papademos told lawmakers shortly before they voted that they would be gravely mistaken if they rejected the package that demands deep pay, pension and job cuts, as this would threaten Greece’s place in the European mainstream.

“It would be a huge historical injustice if the country from which European culture sprang … reached bankruptcy and was led, due to one more mistake, to national isolation and national despair,” he said.

The chaos outside parliament showed how tough it will be to implement the measures. A Reuters photographer saw buildings in Athens engulfed in flames and huge plumes of smoke rose in the night sky.

“We are facing destruction. Our country, our home, has become ripe for burning, the centre of Athens is in flames. We cannot allow populism to burn our country down,” conservative lawmaker Costis Hatzidakis told parliament.

The air in Syntagma Square outside parliament was thick with tear gas as riot police fought running battles with youths who smashed marble balustrades and hurled stones and petrol bombs.

Terrified Greeks and tourists fled the rock-strewn streets and the clouds of stinging gas, cramming into hotel lobbies for shelter as lines of riot police

The violent left wing loons are at it again, and are now targeting state senators and their families. Mark Grisanti Republican New York state Senator from the Buffalo area.Grisanti and his wife were viciously attacked after Mr. and Mrs. Grisanti were at the Indian Casino to listen to their daughter sing for the Seneca Diabetes Foundation.

Related: After Whitney Houston Dies, Bobby Brown Takes The Stage And Spotlight Ignoring Daughter In City Far Away

Fox News:

Whitney Houston’s daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles on Sunday, Fox News confirms.

Brown, 18, was taken on a stretcher out of the Beverly Hills Hilton, the same hotel her mother died in on Saturday.

It was Brown’s second visit to the hospital since her mother died, People.com reported. The first time was late Saturday night when a source told the website she was “having a complete breakdown.”

“[Bobbi Kristina] was screaming, ‘What’s wrong with her? What’s wrong with her?,” People.com reported.

“She went back to the hospital for the same thing [on Sunday] stress and anxiety,” the source said, adding that Brown was then released.

Bobbi Kristina is Whitney’s only child from husband Bobby Brown. Houston and Brown divorced in 2007.

Houston was at a Hollywood club with her daughter on Thursday night, and went on stage to sing “Yes, Jesus Loves Me” with singer Kelly Price. It turned out to be Houston’s last public performance.

Earlier Sunday, Us Weekly quoted a source as saying, “Bobbi was always by [Houston's] side in everything she did … She was really her mom’s caretaker and biggest cheerleader and biggest fan … I don’t know how she will be able to go on.”

Houston’s body was transported to the L.A. coroner early Sunday morning. An autopsy is scheduled to be performed Sunday, but toxicology reports showing the cause of Houston’s death are not expected for some time.

At her peak, Houston was the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world’s best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.

Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like “The Bodyguard” and “Waiting to Exhale.”

She had the perfect voice, and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.

“Six-time Grammy winner Whitney Houston was one of the world’s greatest pop singers of all time who leaves behind a robust musical soundtrack spanning the past three decades,” Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy said in a statement.

“Her powerful voice graced many memorable and award-winning songs. A light has been dimmed in our music community today, and we extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends, fans and all who have been touched by her beautiful voice,” he said.

Houston influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey.