International:
Truck Bomb Blast Kills 9 U.S. Soldiers
An Al Qaeda-linked group posted a Web statement Tuesday claiming responsibility for a suicide car bombing that killed nine U.S. soldiers and wounded 20 in the worst attack on American ground forces in Iraq in more than a year. More here.

National:
Bush: America didn't vote for failure
President Bush today promised to veto the Democrats' plan for withdrawing U.S. troops this year saying that to take such an approach would be "an unforgivable mistake."

"If the Democratic leaders insist on using the bill to make a political statement, they will leave me with only one option: I will veto it," said Mr. Bush, a day before a crucial House vote on the matter. "I'm disappointed that the Democratic leadership has chosen this course."

He added that "it is not too late for Congress to do the right thing."

Mr. Bush, speaking from the White House's south lawn, is calling on Democrats to pass an emergency funding war bill that does not include a timeline for troop withdrawal or restrictions on what kind of operations U.S. forces can engage in. Details here

Kucinich takes steps to impeach Cheney
Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich introduced articles to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney Tuesday, basing his decision on Cheney's initial push to send the United States into war with Iraq."The vice president is beating the same drums of war against Iran that he beat against Iraq under false pretenses, and he's doing it all over again, against Iran," Kucinich said. "And I say that it's time to stand up to that. Our country couldn't afford this last war. We can't afford to go into another one. And somebody has to challenge the conduct of this Vice President."

Kucinich introduced three articles of impeachment before giving a press conference on Capitol Hill. He said Cheney fabricated the threat of weapons of mass destruction to justify going to war with Iraq, made up a connection between the Iraqi government and Al Qaeda and that he is threatening war against Iran, which he said violates the Constitution. More here..

Cheney Rips Reid for 'Blind Opposition' on Iraq
Vice President Dick Cheney accused Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday of pursuing a defeatist strategy in Iraq to win votes in the next election - a charge Reid said did not warrant a response.

The two sparred hours after President Bush said he will veto the latest war spending bill taking shape in Congress, which includes a timetable for withdrawing from Iraq.

Cheney, after attending the weekly Republican policy lunch on Capitol Hill, lashed out at Reid.
"Some Democratic leaders seem to believe that blind opposition to the new strategy in Iraq is good politics," Cheney said. "Sen. Reid himself has said that the war in Iraq will bring his party more seats in the next election. "

"It is cynical to declare that the war is lost because you believe it gives you political advantage," Cheney said. Full story

here.

Senior conservative will oppose Rice subpoena.
Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), the ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said today he will not support the decision of Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) to subpoena Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, “marking the first time this year that he has broken with the committee’s top Democrat on a significant committee issue.” Apparently Davis knows everything he needs to know about the run-up to war

Giuliani warns of 'new 9/11' if Dems win

Rudy Giuliani said if a Democrat is elected president in 2008, America will be at risk for another terrorist attack on the scale of Sept. 11, 2001.

But if a Republican is elected, he said, especially if it is him, terrorist attacks can be anticipated and stopped. Say what?

In Other News…
An "obscure federal investigative unit known as the Office of Special Counsel" is launching a broad investigation into key elements of the White House political operation that "for more than six years have been headed by chief strategist Karl Rove." The administration-led inquiry will be a unified investigation covering many facets of Rove's operations. "We will take the evidence where it leads us," said Scott J. Bloch, a Bush appointee who heads the Office of Special Counsel. "We will not leave any stone unturned."

U.S. Central Command has retired the phrase "the long war" to describe the struggle against global extremists, after cultural advisers became concerned that the concept "

alienated Middle East audiences by suggesting that the United States would keep a large number of forces in the region indefinitely."

"World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz met yesterday with senior managers to promise unspecified changes in his leadership and to appeal for their help." "He is not going to resign," his lawyer said. "

His mood is just fine. ... He feels people are trying to interfere with his job to get at world poverty."

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee conducted a hearing today into misleading information from the battlefield. The hearing will focused on the death of Army Ranger Specialist Patrick Tillman in Afghanistan and the capture and rescue of Army Private Jessica Lynch in Iraq, and question why inaccurate accounts of these two incidents were disseminated.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Rep. David Hobson (R-OH), who recently went on a congressional trip to Syria, confirmed that he never received any of the attacks House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) did. He noted that "none of his Republican colleagues broached the subject." "Nobody ever called me to say, 'Why are you going to Syria with those people?'"

"

Despite President Bush's vow that all Americans would have access to high-speed Internet service by 2007," a new study suggests the United States is continuing to fall behind other developed countries in broadband subscriptions."

From The Right: David Limbaugh: It Depends What the Meaning of "Support" Is
One is entitled to wonder how the prime movers in today's Democratic Party would behave differently if they were trying to dispirit our troops and embolden the enemy.

From the Left: Maddy Sauer: Security Breakdown at the White House?
Current and former employees of the White House Security Office have reported to Chairman Waxman that there was a systemic failure at the White House to follow procedures for protecting classified information. According to the security officers, the White House regularly ignored security breaches, prevented security inspections of the West Wing and condoned mismanagement of the White House Security Office.

Thought To Ponder: For all the practice, tests, and that annoying sound –why do you think that there was no broad use of the Emergency Broadcast System on Sept. 11, 2001?

Quote Of The Day: “I don’t know the answer to that.”
Rudy Giuliani, on whether the Iraq escalation is working.

(Sources: Townhall, CenterForAmericanProgress, FOXNews, LATimes, WashingtonTimes, WashingtonPost, NewsMax, TheHill, NewsDay, NYT, USHouseOfRepresentatives, WSJ, Politico)