by Frank James
A quick guided tour of some of the morning's most important or interesting (or both) Washington-related stories.
Hundreds of Iraqis died in a truck bombing in a remote village in northern Iraq in one of the worst single attacks since the war started, an example of insurgents moving to softer targets and away from Baghdad with its increased U.S. and Iraqi security.
White House officials fear that they won't be able to hold onto Senate Republican support for the military surge until mid-September as they had hoped and are debating whether President Bush should announce gradual U.S. troop withdrawals to keep more senators from breaking with him.
The Iraqi foreign minister warned that his nation will descend into full-scale civil war if the U.S. withdraws.
Attacks on supply convoys in Iraq, increasingly guarded by private contractors, have soared with 869 attacks in the 12 months that ended in May compared to 281 in the similar 2006 period.
Voters are both excited and weary by the presidential race, with Democrats enlivened by their choices which include a woman and African-American running well in national polls but already tuning out to a degree because of how much campaigning has already occurred.
Sen. Trent Lott, who criticized conservative talk radio after the immigration bill fell to defeat, has triggered a renewed debate in Congress over the broadcast "fairness doctrine" which would require political balance on the airwaves.
Fred Thompson, who as a young lawyer was an investigator on the Senate Watergate committee, was viewed by the Nixon White House as an ally during the congressional probe, according to tapes.
President Bush's surgeon-general choice of Dr. James W. Holsinger Jr. has come under attack from both the left and right, with gay-rights groups opposed to him because of religious activities perceived as anti-gay and conservative groups expressing concerns about his views on stem-cell research and human cloning.
The number of illegal immigrants being apprehended crossing the U.S.-Mexican border fell 24 percent between Oct. 1, 2006 and June 30, 2007 compared with the same period the year before, evidence that increased border-security efforts are paying off.
U.S. officials are considering how to end the 50 years of official hostilities with North Korea which would involve putting in place a peace accord.
Comments
The so-called liberal Swamp has yet to comment on the article in the paper yesterday that the Bush Administration called of a strike against a suspected Al-Qaeda leadership meeting because they didn't want to hurt Pakistan's feelings. It also said it was unclear if President Bush was aware of the decision by Rumsfeld. Didn't Bush say he was "the Decider" and didn't he say the US would no longer make a distinction between terrorists and nations that harbor terrorists. Spin away Republics if you dare comment.
Posted by: jethro | July 9, 2007 9:03 AM
Who will be last out the door as we run from Iraq? Will the President hang his supporters out to dry or will he give warning before he unveils plans to start removing troops from the high risk areas to cut the horrendous casualty rate.
Rove knows that Senators are going to be falling out weekly. Bush can only get ahead of the flood if he works quickly.
Will he warn candidates and supporters or leave them with egg on their faces?
Egg will look good on "two Guantanamos" Mitt and on Rudy.
Posted by: c. perry | July 9, 2007 9:14 AM
"Hundreds of Iraqis died in a truck bombing in a remote village in northern Iraq in one of the worst single attacks since the war started".
Notice how Frank James avoids saying what really happened: that the terrorists KILLED hundreds of Iraqis. The "hundreds" died only because the terrorists killed them.
In fact, Islamic terrorists kill their fellow Muslims much more than they do non-Muslims. Which fact mocks the Islamicist claim to be acting to defend Islam.
Posted by: Bruce | July 9, 2007 9:51 AM
It's a civil war Bruce. You yourself have pointed out what is happening. It is one group of Iraqi's pitted against another vying for control of the government. WAKE UP!!
Posted by: jethro | July 9, 2007 10:35 AM
RNC Bruce,
Did you follow the link James posted?
No? Of course you didn't.
As far as the rest of your post goes, I must say you do have a knack for stating the obvious.
Posted by: Doug Zook | July 9, 2007 12:19 PM
Maybe it was my spelling and punctuation errors, but as usual not a single Republic chooses to comment on why the Bush Administration would choose to abort a strike into the Afghan/Pakistan border which could have resulted in the capture or killing of senior Al-Qaeda leaders. Republics were pretty vocal when Sandy "Burglar" called off a strike against Bin Laden, yet strangely silent on this matter. I don't understand why? Don't you have principles?
Posted by: jethro | July 9, 2007 12:40 PM
Why is there nothing here about the no confidence vote by the Iraqi government against Maliki?
Posted by: Cheryl | July 9, 2007 2:01 PM
I have a little trouble believing that the Iraqis are so helpless that they will allow their country to disintegrate if the US leaves. Or that the surrounding Arab states with an interest in a stable Iraq--most of them--will let that happen.
It's all Bush/Cheney rhetoric. Even Gates and Rice don't appear to believe it.
But if it does happen, the Iraqis will have made that choice. They are a democracy after all.
They know that the US is leaving and they will have had plenty of time to prepare.
If we have to invade somebody, why don't we invade Zimbabwe or the Sudan. Now those folks really do need some help. Iraq has already received way more than its share of American lives, blood, and resources. In money terms, I believe the US taxpayers have given over $90,000 per Iraqi.If we must expend blood and money let's find a more deserving country to impose our help.
Posted by: Helena | July 9, 2007 2:20 PM