Internal Affairs

Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton said Thursday that an internal investigation has been launched into allegations that a former deputy chief gave preferential treatment -- and helped secure promotions -- for female officers with whom he had intimate relations. The accusations against Michael Berkow, who headed the LAPD's internal affairs division before leaving the department last month to become police chief in Savannah, Ga., were made in a civil lawsuit filed in May.

Re "Staying the wrong course in Iraq," Opinion, June 28 Max Boot reveals that he would only amplify the wrong course we are on in that tragic country. Although the Bush administration is desperately trying to find a graceful way to extricate itself from continued military involvement in Iraq without having to admit it has committed grievous mistakes, and the majority opinion in our country is increasingly that the war has been a misguided endeavor and is failing to achieve desired ends, Boot holds stubbornly to the concept that all we need there are more troops and more military force to turn failure into victory.

AFTER a month of ardent wooing, the Discovery Channel signed veteran ABC correspondent and anchor Ted Koppel to a three-year deal to produce long-form programs for the cable channel, the network announced Wednesday. His hiring is a significant coup for the 20-year-old cable channel, which is best known for its nature documentaries such as "Sharkbite" and such popular unscripted series as "American Chopper."

Re "Bush Skirts Rights Issue," Nov. 21 Before visiting China, President Bush said he would push the Chinese leadership hard to accept the values of civil rights, freedom and democracy. However, we're being told that in reality he did very little, if any, pressuring at all. The Chinese leadership had every right to tell him that as the leader of a government that is now well-known for its subhuman treatment of its prisoners, and whose vice president is using all the power of his office to get Congress to endorse the practice of torture, the United States has lost all moral authority to dictate to anyone how a country treats its internal affairs.

When he spotted an Australian tourist taking in the sights at the capital's Kim Il Sung Square, the young North Korean tour guide was delighted by the chance to practice his English. "Hello, how are you from to country?" the guide recalled asking the woman. When she looked puzzled, he followed up with another question. "How many old are you?" For decades after the 1950-53 Korean War, North Korea's government deemed English a language of the enemy and banned it almost entirely.

The Los Angeles Police Department's civilian watchdog has launched an investigation to determine whether an internal affairs sergeant was improperly ordered last year to shut down his probe of a questionable 1985 murder conviction. The sergeant uncovered new evidence that contradicted the prosecution's case against Bruce Lisker, 39, now serving a life sentence for murdering his 66-year-old mother in the foyer of the family's ranch-style Sherman Oaks home on March 10, 1983.

Re "2 Hurt in Deputies' Crossfire," May 10: Again, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department appears out of control. With no regard for their own lives or the lives of Compton residents, Los Angeles deputies still display the "shoot 'em up" mentality that has come to represent everywhere the negative image of Los Angeles police. Sheriff Lee Baca says he would consider possible changes to the department's pursuit policy depending on the outcome of the investigation, although he doesn't believe any changes would be needed.

After more than 50 years of estrangement between Beijing and the Vatican, it was hardly surprising that China's state-run media paid little attention to the final days of Pope John Paul II. His death was only briefly mentioned in the official media. The Foreign Ministry issued a statement of condolence, but the government announced no plans to send a representative to the funeral Friday.

Syria dismissed televised statements by men who said they had been trained by the Syrian intelligence service to become insurgents in Iraq. The official Syrian Arab News Agency on Thursday quoted a security source as saying the remarks were "utterly baseless and unfounded." Iraq's state-run and U.S.-funded Al Iraqiya television channel Wednesday aired what appeared to be televised confessions by insurgents. In one statement, a man said, "My name is Anas Ahmed al-Essa. I live in Halab.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has paid hefty settlements in recent years in civil cases in which deputies were not disciplined, suggesting that internal affairs investigators "let an officer off the hook when a judge or jury would not," according to a new report.