John Patrick Bedell had a history of mental illness

John Patrick Bedell had a history of mental illness

The man who opened fire in front of the Pentagon had a history of mental illness and had become so erratic that his parents reached out to local authorities weeks ago with a warning that he was unstable and might have a gun, authorities said Friday.

It's still unclear why John Patrick Bedell opened fire Thursday at the Pentagon entrance, wounding two police officers before he was fatally shot. The two officers were hospitalized briefly with minor injuries.

Bedell was diagnosed as bipolar, or manic depressive, and had been in and out of treatment programs for years. His psychiatrist, J. Michael Nelson, said Bedell tried to self-medicate with marijuana, inadvertently making his symptoms more pronounced.

"Without the stabilizing medication, the symptoms of his disinhibition, agitation and fearfullness complicated the lack of treatment," Nelson said.

His parents reported him missing Jan. 4, a day after a Texas Highway Patrol officer stopped him for speeding in Texarkana. Bedell told the highway patrolman he was heading to the East Coast, and began acting strangely — sitting on his knees by the side of the highway and turning off his cell phone when it would ring.

Bedell said it was his mother calling, prompting the patrolman to answer the phone and talk briefly with her. Family friend Reb Monaco said Kaye Bedell asked the officer to take him to a mental health facility, but that the son refused.

U.S. Helping Somalia in Its Plan to Retake Its Capital

U.S. Helping Somalia in Its Plan to Retake Its Capital
Forces of the transitional government in Somalia control only a part of the capital, Mogadishu.

The Somali government is preparing a major offensive to take back this capital block by crumbling block, and it takes just a listen to the low growl of a small surveillance plane circling in the night sky overhead to know who is surreptitiously backing that effort.

“It’s the Americans,” said Gen. Mohamed Gelle Kahiye, the new chief of Somalia’s military, who said he recently shared plans about coming military operations with American advisers. “They’re helping us.”

That American assistance could be crucial to the effort by Somalia’s government to finally reassert its control over the capital and bring a semblance of order to a country that has been steeped in anarchy for two decades. For the Americans, it is part of a counterterrorism strategy to deny a haven to Al Qaeda, which has found sanctuary for years in Somalia’s chaos and has helped turn this country into a magnet for jihadists from around the world.

The United States is increasingly concerned about the link between Somalia and Yemen, a growing extremist hot spot, with fighters going back and forth across the Red Sea in what one Somali watcher described as an “Al Qaeda exchange program.”

But it seems there has been a genuine shift in Somali policy, too, and the Americans have absorbed a Somali truth that eluded them for nearly 20 years: If Somalia is going to be stabilized, it is going to take Somalis.

“This is not an American offensive,” said Johnnie Carson, the assistant secretary of state for Africa. “The U.S. military is not on the ground in Somalia. Full stop.”

Who Stays and Who's Out this Week on Idol

Who Stays and Who's Out this Week on Idol
"American Idol" whittles the contestants down to 16 tonight as two men and two women are sent packing.

So we lost four more.

John Park, Jermaine Sellers, Michelle Delamor and Haeley Vaughn have crooned their last notes on "American Idol."

John and Michelle were surprises for me. Do you think the voters got it right this time around?

Find out this Week in "American Idol Elimination Night."

Shooting of 2 officers closes Pentagon subway station

Shooting of 2 officers closes Pentagon subway station

An investigation into the shooting of two police officers outside the Pentagon subway station will close the transit hub Friday, affecting the commute of thousands of Washington-area residents, transit officials said.

A man calmly and cooly approached the officers Thursday, before pulling a gun out of his pocket and grazing them, authorities said. The two Pentagon Force Protection Agency officers returned fire with their semi-automatic weapons, critically wounding him, said Pentagon Police Chief Richard S. Keevill.

Subway trains will bypass the Pentagon station Friday as the FBI investigates, transit officials said.

The suspect had "no real emotion in his face" as he approached the officers, Keevill said.

"As the officers started to ask him for his pass to get into the Pentagon, he drew a weapon from his pocket and started shooting immediately at the officers" from a few feet away, the police chief said.

He would not identify the suspect, but praised the officers for acting "quickly and decisively to neutralize him as a threat" without hurting anyone else.

The transit station at the Pentagon, one of the busiest sites in the Washington area, serves two lines of the Washington-area subway, as well as myriad bus routes. All those passengers will be affected by the closing of the station and the temporary relocation of bus stops to a nearby subway station.

Turkish anger at US Armenian 'genocide' vote

Turkish anger at US Armenian 'genocide' vote
Turkey has reacted angrily to a US congressional panel's resolution describing as genocide killings of Armenians in World War I.

PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country had been accused of a crime it did not commit, adding the resolution would harm Turkish-US relations.

Ankara has recalled its ambassador to Washington for consultations and says it is considering other responses.

Correspondents say it is still an extremely sensitive issue in Turkey.

The government of Turkey, a key American ally and fellow Nato member, had lobbied hard for the American Congress not to vote on the issue.

The White House had also warned that the vote would harm reconciliation talks between Turkey and Armenia.

Iraq's Election

Iraq's Election
U.S. Influence Appears to Be Less of an Issue in Iraq's Elections

Iraqis by the thousands began lining up in the early hours this morning as special groups headed to the polls ahead of the nationwide election this weekend.

More than 800,000 security personnel, hospital workers, Iraqis living abroad and even prisoners are expected to cast their votes before all polls close at 5 p.m. Sunday. By comparison, only about 300,000 special-class Iraqis cast their ballots in the 2005 national election.

Officials expected a record-breaking turnout. Voter registration has soared this year to 18.9 million, from 14 million in 2005.

Although this is the third national election in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, this year's vote is significant for two reasons: It's the first time Iraq has had a national election as a fully sovereign nation, and it's the first time candidates' names, not just their parties, will appear on ballots.