by Frank James
A quick guided-tour of some of the morning's most important or interesting Washington-related stories.
President Bush intends to begin emphasizing the next phase of U.S. military involvement in Iraq, including potential troop reductions next year if the security circumstances allow, as he responds to several senior Republican senators who have broken with the White House on the war.
With anti-war pressure mounting on Congress, the Senate began what was expected to be critical debate on continued U.S. involvement in the Iraq War as part of its work on legislation to fund the Defense Department next year.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told lawmakers he knew of no violations of civil liberties under the Patriot Act even after he was repeatedly told of Federal Bureau of Investigation violations.
U.S ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, echoing the Iraqi foreign minister, warned of much greater violence and a wider regional conflict if U.S. troops were withdrawn too quickly from Iraq.
The Army missed its recruiting goal in June for the second month in a row, raising worries in the Pentagon, as the unpopularity of the Iraq War and the longer combat tours appear to be depressing interest among high-school graduates.
The fight between President Bush and Congress over White House refusal to let former aides testify and turn over subpoenaed material in the case of the fired federal prosecutors may pose more risks for Congress than Bush with voters already unhappy about Congress's inability to produce legislation.
Attacks on public-school students and teachers in Afghanistan by the Taliban and other militants have made school attendance an anxious experience for students and parents alike.
President Bush's approval rating hit a new low, 29 percent, in a USA Today-Gallup poll, reflecting continued anger at and disapproval of his management of the Iraq War.
Despite polls suggesting otherwise, voters in Iowa insisted that the race for the Democratic presidential nomination remained wide open.
Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) issued a public apology after his phone number appeared in the records of the woman known as the "DC Madam" who ran a prostitution service.
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Comments
The USA Today/Gallup Poll out today has Rudi Giuliani holding a steady lead in the GOP race for president, and Clinton with a hefty 16% lead over Obama among Demcrats.
According to the poll, "Swamp" favorite Chris Dodd draws "no support" among Democrats--not even 1%.
These poll results, unfavorable to St. Barack, can be seen at http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2007/07/usatgallup-poll.html
Posted by: Bruce | July 10, 2007 8:53 AM
The following is a link to a timeline of the Iraq War:
http://thinkprogress.org/iraq-timeline
While reading it one can note that this war has lasted longer than WWII. It would be one thing if there were some kind of tangible progress being made, but there isn't. Running up a body count does not equal success.
By far the most intractable problem is the political situation in Iraq. These various religious, political, ethnic, and tribal factions have proven over the last four+ years that they are incapable of forging a political compromise.
We need to leave the basket case commonly known as the Iraqi Civil War and let the Iraqis figure out their own problems.
Posted by: Doug Zook | July 10, 2007 8:58 AM
Alberto Gonzalez took an oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or Domestic."
By lying to Congress that the Patriot act provisions were not being abused, violating citizens Constitutional rights, when he specifically knew otherwise, he committed a gross violation of his oath of office.
Attorney General Gonzalez hould resign. If he does not, he should be immediately fired by the President. (That will never happen.) If neither of those evemts take place the Congress should start immediate impeachment proceding against Gonzalez for his failure to faithfully carry out his oath of office.
Posted by: Anonymous | July 10, 2007 9:11 AM
While our soldiers are getting killed and maimed,Repubs are oh so busy.LMAO.
You probably heard about Louisiana Senator and local hardcore rightwinger David Vitter's phone number showing up in the call log of a supposed DC madam yesterday. He admitted (through a spokesman) that he had 'sinned' and had been forgiven by his wife and hoped to be forgiven by Christ. What the articles on this are neglecting to mention is... this is not the first time he has been found out as not the family candidate. Hypocrite Vitter was accused of an extramarital affair in 1999 with a New Orleans prostitute, Wendy Cortez. Wendy Cortez contacted former Governor Treen's office during the 2002 campaign for governor that year, because she was unhappy he was claiming to be a family values candidate and cheating on his wife with her. The whole thing can back to almost hurt Vitter before he won his Senate seat in 2004 (around the time, I can only assume, he may have been visiting the DC madam).
Posted by: Raving Loon | July 10, 2007 9:45 AM
Well, the Iraqis may not have met those targets, and the Senate may be starting more hearings, and the White House may (or may not) be talking alternatives to an endless surge, but one thing is clear. The Iraqis really don't want us to leave. And there's the problem.
The Sunnis fear if we leave they will be smushed by the Shia. The various Shia groups will be left to fight each other, leaving the lot of those Shia groups currently ascendant in great doubt Al
Qaeda will lose a huge recruiting tool--the chance to shoot and kill American soldiers. And then there's all that money, money, money--$12 billion a month, half a trillion so far going into Iraq one way or another. Americans have paid the Iraqis at least
$90,000 per Iraqi so far. Every one of us. A household of four--you've paid them $360,000.
So of course the Iraqui foreign minister is predicting gloom and doom if we don't stay indefinitely. And the Kurds are claiming they are about to be invaded by the Turks (will we be fighting Turkey too?).
The closer we get to even beginning a pullout, expect all these groups to start acting up big time. These are very old cultures. They think in terms of centuries
not decades or less. And they want us there for centuries for their own ends. And they'll start slaughtering each other big time to keep us from leaving.
Not sure those wishy washy Dems (the Repubs are useless) will be able to stand the bloodbath. So we COULD be there for centuries.
Posted by: Helena | July 10, 2007 10:34 AM
From Think Progress (which is a liberal blog, so if you're a neocon, you'll disregard this):
– A large majority of Iraqis–71%–say they would like the Iraqi government to ask for US-led forces to be withdrawn from Iraq within a year or less. Given four options, 37 percent take the position that they would like US-led forces withdrawn “within six months,” while another 34 percent opt for “gradually withdraw[ing] US-led forces according to a one-year timeline.”
– Support for attacks against US-led forces has increased sharply to 61 percent (27% strongly, 34% somewhat). This represents a 14-point increase from January 2006, when only 47 percent of Iraqis supported attacks.
– More broadly, 79 percent of Iraqis say that the US is having a negative influence on the situation in Iraq, with just 14 percent saying that it is having a positive influence.
– Asked “If the US made a commitment to withdraw from Iraq according to a timeline, do you think this would strengthen the Iraqi government, weaken it, or have no effect either way?” 53 percent said that it would strengthen the government, while just 24 percent said it would weaken the government.
– Asked what effect it would have “if US-led forces withdraw from Iraq in the next six months,” 58 percent overall say that violence would decrease (35% a lot, 23% a little).
Posted by: Cheryl | July 10, 2007 1:24 PM
Of course, the Iraqis say they want us to go. It's the politically correct thing for them to do. But they don't want us to leave their neighborhood. Or maybe they do but, well, not just yet. Next year.
Or the year after that. Maybe after the 2016 Olympics....
I am for a US troop withdrawal now, today. I don't want to expend one more drop of American blood for Iraq.
But I seriously doubt that
either the hawky Repubs or the bleeding heart Dems are going to be able to tolerate the ruckus and the bloodbath that the Iraqis will stir up if we get really serious about leaving. Because it is in the best interest of the most powerful groups that we stay and expend our blood and billions there indefinitely.
Posted by: Helena | July 10, 2007 2:26 PM
"Of course, the Iraqis say they want us to go. It's the politically correct thing for them to do. But they don't want us to leave their neighborhood. Or maybe they do but, well, not just yet. Next year.
Or the year after that. Maybe after the 2016 Olympics...."
What proof exactly do you have of this contention Helena? Polls have shown that Iraqis overwhelmingly support US withdrawal.
Posted by: Tony | July 10, 2007 3:39 PM
There have been a number of articles in the mainstream press recently quoting various Iraqi leaders and citizens as saying they don't want the US to leave just yet. And not all them are supporters of Al Maliki.
Of course they don't like being occupied. But they live there. They know that our withdrawal will come with great upheaval and pain and that many political actors who are being shored up by the Americans will lose power when we leave. There will be a rearrangement of political power and many Iraqis don't want that, for obvious reasons.
Watch what happens whenever Americans start talking loudly about withdrawal. Huge car bombs go off like this weekend. The Green Zone gets shelled (today)
and an American gets killed. Joe Lieberman helps out by suggesting we bomb Iran's training camps. The Kurds ratchet up their raid s into Turkey, provoking the Turks to threaten war.
The oil sharing bill doesn't get done. The Iraqis don't want us to leave and they are prepared to bring about whatever violence is necessary to scare the Americans into staying. If you read the news with this theory in mind, you'll see it very clearly. I fully expect
a couple of border wars (with Turkey and Iran) to start up momentarily, and then we will be well and truly stuck. Even a military draft might be necessary unless we decide to go to a mercenary army.
Posted by: Helena | July 10, 2007 8:14 PM
"Of course, the Iraqis say they want us to go. It's the politically correct thing for them to do. But they don't want us to leave their neighborhood. Or maybe they do but, well, not just yet. Next year.
Or the year after that. Maybe after the 2016 Olympics...."
"There have been a number of articles in the mainstream press recently quoting various Iraqi leaders and citizens as saying they don't want the US to leave just yet."
This is the equivalent of what your saying.
Of course, the Americans say they want us to go. It's the politically correct thing for them to do. But they don't want to leave the sandbox that is Iraq. Or maybe they do but, well, not just yet. Next year. Or the year after that. Maybe after the 2016 Olympics....
There have been a number of articles in the mainstream press recently quoting various American leaders and citizens as saying they don't want to leave Iraq just yet.
The first is the impression MSM media gives to Americans about Iraqi "wants." The second is the impression the the MSM media gives Iraqis about American "wants." Neither one jives bc neither one allows for the fragmentation of opinion among different groups, but attributes the voices of some to all in order to construct an intentional double talking on the part of the majority.
Posted by: AR | July 11, 2007 1:01 PM