International:White House Forbids Publication Of Op-Ed On Iran By Former Bush Official
Middle East analyst Flynt Leverett, who served under President Bush on the National Security Council and is now a fellow at the New America Foundation, revealed today that the White House has been blocking the publication of an op-ed he wrote for the New York Times. The column is critical of the administration’s refusal to engage Iran.
Listen to Leverett’s remarks at a panel today at the Center for American Progress:
CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO and click here for story.
Rice Shares Farewell Lunch With UN Secretary-General Annan
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack conceded that the lunch took place against a background of U.S. bickering with Annan.
"Of course, there were differences," McCormack said. "We all know what those differences are. We have talked very plainly about them. I think Secretary General Annan has talked plainly about them."
Speaking as the lunch was already under way, McCormack said Rice had no plans to use the occasion to debate differences.
Annan underscored his disagreements on Monday in a speech in Missouri. When the U.S. "appears to abandon its own ideals and objectives, its friends abroad are naturally troubled and confused," he said. Read the full scoop here
National:
C-SPAN Wants Full Picture
"Noting that Democrats have pledged to increase transparency and accountability in government, C-SPAN Thursday called on House Speaker-in-waiting Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to give television viewers the same real-time access to views of the House floor as anyone sitting in the gallery would have," The Hill reports.In a letter to Pelosi, C-SPAN Chairman Brian Lamb wrote that the current 28-year-old arrangement is "an anachronism that does a disservice to the institution and to the public... Congressional technicians are limited to taking static, head-on shots of the representative who's speaking at the podium." More here
Rummy's Last Day
Combative to the last, Rumsfeld took a slap at advocates of withdrawing U.S. troops from the war, now in its fourth year with more than 2,900 Americans dead.
"It may well be comforting to some to consider graceful exits from the agonies and, indeed, the ugliness of combat," Rumsfeld said, choking up slightly as he capped a roster of speakers at his pomp-filled goodbye ceremony. "But the enemy thinks differently."
Cheney: Rumsfeld ‘Is the Finest Secretary of Defense This Nation Has Ever Had’
Today, Vice President Dick Cheney spoke at a ceremony honoring outoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Cheney, himself a former Defense Secretary under George H. W. Bush, said Rumsfeld was the “finest Secretary of Defense this nation has ever had.” See video
Bush on Rumsfeld: ‘This Man Knows How To Lead…And The Country Is Better Off For It’ video
In Other News...
Sen. Bill Nelson's (D-FL) meeting yesterday with Syrian President Assad was "inappropriate and undermined democracy in the region," the White House said. Three more senators, including Arlen Specter (R-PA), will visit Syria soon.
Meanwhile, the White House hedged yesterday when asked whether neocon darling Ahmad Chalabi was reaching out to Syria on behalf of the United States.
White House press secretary Tony Snow apologized yesterday to NBC News correspondent David Gregory, whom he accused last week for posing "partisan" questions at a briefing for journalists. "I've thought a lot about that, and I was wrong," Snow said.
New Zogby poll shows that "Arab attitudes toward American people, products and culture grew increasingly negative last year," in large part from U.S. policy toward Iraq and the Palestinian conflict.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday rejected the Iraq Study Group's recommendation that the United States engage in talks with Syria in Iran, stating, "If they have an interest in a stable Iraq, they will do it anyway."
"Warning that the active-duty Army 'will break' under the strain of today's war-zone rotations, the nation's top Army general yesterday called for expanding the force by 7,000 or more soldiers a year and lifting Pentagon restrictions on involuntary call-ups of Army National Guard and Army Reserve troops."
The idea of escalating troop levels is "running into strong opposition in Baghdad. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has flatly told Gen. George Casey, the top American military commander in Iraq, that he doesn't want more U.S. personnel deployed to the country, according to U.S. military officials."
From The Right: Charles Krauthammer: What did the Iraq Study Group tell us?
"As a result of the Iraq Study Group, President Bush has been given one last chance to alter course on Iraq. This did not, however, come about the way James Baker intended."
From The Left: John Amato : Will the Media hold Lieberman accountable for his words?
C-SPAN Wants Full Picture
"Noting that Democrats have pledged to increase transparency and accountability in government, C-SPAN Thursday called on House Speaker-in-waiting Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to give television viewers the same real-time access to views of the House floor as anyone sitting in the gallery would have," The Hill reports.In a letter to Pelosi, C-SPAN Chairman Brian Lamb wrote that the current 28-year-old arrangement is "an anachronism that does a disservice to the institution and to the public... Congressional technicians are limited to taking static, head-on shots of the representative who's speaking at the podium." More here
Rummy's Last Day
Combative to the last, Rumsfeld took a slap at advocates of withdrawing U.S. troops from the war, now in its fourth year with more than 2,900 Americans dead.
"It may well be comforting to some to consider graceful exits from the agonies and, indeed, the ugliness of combat," Rumsfeld said, choking up slightly as he capped a roster of speakers at his pomp-filled goodbye ceremony. "But the enemy thinks differently."
Cheney: Rumsfeld ‘Is the Finest Secretary of Defense This Nation Has Ever Had’
Today, Vice President Dick Cheney spoke at a ceremony honoring outoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Cheney, himself a former Defense Secretary under George H. W. Bush, said Rumsfeld was the “finest Secretary of Defense this nation has ever had.” See video
Bush on Rumsfeld: ‘This Man Knows How To Lead…And The Country Is Better Off For It’ video
In Other News...
Sen. Bill Nelson's (D-FL) meeting yesterday with Syrian President Assad was "inappropriate and undermined democracy in the region," the White House said. Three more senators, including Arlen Specter (R-PA), will visit Syria soon.
Meanwhile, the White House hedged yesterday when asked whether neocon darling Ahmad Chalabi was reaching out to Syria on behalf of the United States.
White House press secretary Tony Snow apologized yesterday to NBC News correspondent David Gregory, whom he accused last week for posing "partisan" questions at a briefing for journalists. "I've thought a lot about that, and I was wrong," Snow said.
New Zogby poll shows that "Arab attitudes toward American people, products and culture grew increasingly negative last year," in large part from U.S. policy toward Iraq and the Palestinian conflict.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday rejected the Iraq Study Group's recommendation that the United States engage in talks with Syria in Iran, stating, "If they have an interest in a stable Iraq, they will do it anyway."
"Warning that the active-duty Army 'will break' under the strain of today's war-zone rotations, the nation's top Army general yesterday called for expanding the force by 7,000 or more soldiers a year and lifting Pentagon restrictions on involuntary call-ups of Army National Guard and Army Reserve troops."
The idea of escalating troop levels is "running into strong opposition in Baghdad. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has flatly told Gen. George Casey, the top American military commander in Iraq, that he doesn't want more U.S. personnel deployed to the country, according to U.S. military officials."
From The Right: Charles Krauthammer: What did the Iraq Study Group tell us?
"As a result of the Iraq Study Group, President Bush has been given one last chance to alter course on Iraq. This did not, however, come about the way James Baker intended."
From The Left: John Amato : Will the Media hold Lieberman accountable for his words?
In July he said: "So I am confident that the situation is improving enough on the ground that by the end of this year, we will begin to draw down significant numbers of American troops, and by the end of the next year more than half of the troops who are there now will be home."
Quote Of The Day:
"Fuck Saddam, we're taking him out."
President Bush to three U.S. Senators in March 2002, a full year before the Iraq invasion
(Sources: PoliticalWire, TheHill, InformationClearingHouse, NYT, NYSun, MSNBC, WashingtonPost, DrudgeReport, WSJ, Center For American Progress, FOXNews, CNN, CrooksAndLiars, PoliticalCartoons.com)
Quote Of The Day:
"Fuck Saddam, we're taking him out."
President Bush to three U.S. Senators in March 2002, a full year before the Iraq invasion
(Sources: PoliticalWire, TheHill, InformationClearingHouse, NYT, NYSun, MSNBC, WashingtonPost, DrudgeReport, WSJ, Center For American Progress, FOXNews, CNN, CrooksAndLiars, PoliticalCartoons.com)
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