First...since I've been on hiatus, here's your "terror check-up"International: Classified Report: Al-Qaida At Pre-9/11 Strength U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded al-Qaida has rebuilt its operating capability to a level not seen since just before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, The Associated Press has learned.
The conclusion suggests that the group that launched the most devastating terror attack on the United States has been able to rebuild despite nearly six years of bombings, war and other tactics aimed at crippling it.
Still, numerous government officials say they know of no specific, credible threat of a new attack.
A counterterrorism official familiar with a five-page summary of the new government threat assessment called it a stark appraisal that will be discussed at the White House on Thursday as part of a broader meeting on an upcoming National Intelligence Estimate. The official and others spoke on condition of anonymity because the secret report remains classified.
Military killed ‘key al Qaeda leader’ twice. “The U.S. command in Baghdad this week ballyhooed the killing of a key al Qaeda leader but later admitted that the military had declared him dead a year ago. A military spokesman acknowledged the mistake after it was called to his attention by The Examiner. He said public affairs officers will be more careful in announcing significant kills.”
USS Enterprise Strike Group Headed to Persian Gulf
The USS Enterprise CVN 65-Big E Strike Group, the US Navy’s largest air carrier, will join the USS Stennis and the USS Nimitz carriers, building up the largest sea, air, marine concentration the United States has ever deployed opposite Iran. This goes towards making good on the assurances of four carriers US Vice President Dick Cheney offered the Gulf and Middle East nations during his May tour of the region.Washington is considering deploying the fourth US carrier for the region in the Red Sea opposite Saudi Arabian western coast to secure the three US carriers in the Gulf from the rear as well as the Gulf of Aqaba and Suez Canal.
A Cut & Run Lovefest: The following conversation between MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and The Washington Post's Rajiv Chandrasekaran is not only disturbing -- because of the sheer fact that it aired on national television, and some Americans who don't know any better about military operations might actually believe what . . . Go
Leahy: Taylor’s Testimony ‘Undercuts’ White House Claims To Executive Privilege Leahey: “did you speak with President Bush about replacing U.S. attorneys?”
Taylor: “I did not speak to the president about removing U.S. attorneys,”...“did not attend any meetings with the President where that matter was discussed”... and that she was “not aware of a presidential decision document” [in which the president decided to proceed with the firing plan.]
In his closing comments, Leahy noted Taylor’s admission that she did not discuss the U.S. attorney firing plan with the President, saying it “seriously undercuts his claim of executive privilege if he was not involved.” “And that really shows, again, that the White House counsel’s broad instruction is not only unprecedented, but it’s unsound,” added Leahy. Watch here
Bush Orders Miers Not to Testify
President Bush ordered his former White House counsel, Harriet Miers, to defy a congressional subpoena and refuse to appear Thursday before a House panel investigating U.S. attorney firings.
"Ms. Miers has absolute immunity from compelled congressional testimony as to matters occurring while she was a senior adviser to the president," White House Counsel Fred Fielding wrote in a letter to Miers' lawyer, George T. Manning. More in depth...
McGovern Doubts Anti-war Democrat Can Win
"Some people point to the fact that the war in Vietnam was dreadfully unpopular, but that when I came out for an immediate withdrawal, it helped me win the nomination but not the general election,” said McGovern, 84.
"I’m not sure that an anti-war Democrat can win.” Story continues here.
In Other News...
"I believe we are entering a period this summer of increased risk," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told the Chicago Tribune's editorial board yesterday. He indicated that his "remarks were based on 'a gut feeling' formed by past seasonal patterns of terrorist attacks, recent Al Qaeda statements and intelligence he did not disclose." Keith Olbermann responds.
Sen. David Vitter visited a Canal Street brothel several times beginning in the mid-1990s, paying $300 per hour for services at the bordello. Attempting to defend Vitter against the solicitation of prostitution charges, the so-called "Canal Street Madam" whose operation was shut down by a federal investigators in 2001 said, "I want his wife to know he's a good man."
"Two senior Justice Department officials said yesterday that they kept Attorney General Alberto Gonzales apprised of FBI violations of civil liberties and privacy safeguards in recent years." Gonzales told Congress: "There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse" after 2001. But Assistant Attorney General for National Security Kenneth L. Wainstein said, "I'm sure we've discussed violations that have occurred in the past."
"More than two dozen mortar shells pounded the Green Zone on Tuesday, killing three people, including a U.S. military member, and injuring 18, among them five Americans."
Yesterday, the White House promised to veto a House bill "that would slash subsidies paid to college student-loan companies." The legislation has "been attacked by the $85 billion student-loan industry, but championed by industry critics, including some student groups."
From The Right: Sean Lengell: Senate eyes Iraq pullout again
Senate Democrats yesterday called for withdrawing most U.S. troops from Iraq by April 30 — less than two months after a similar measure was soundly defeated — as the White House dispatched its top war advisers to Capitol Hill to embolden Republican allies.
Fom The Left: Maureen Dowd: History as an Alibi [wow...did I say from the LEFT?]
Like W. going out boating and fishing in Kennebunkport as Britain and its new prime minister, Gordon Brown, reeled from terrorist attacks, Condi acted as if she didn't have a care in the world. And why on earth should she?
The homeland security chief, Michael Chertoff, has a gut feeling that a Qaeda cell might be coming or already be here. "Summertime seems to be appealing to them," he said, sounding more like a meteorologist than the man charged with keeping us safe.
Quote Of The Day: “Scooter” Libby will serve as much time in prison for lying under oath to a federal grand jury as Bill Clinton served for lying under oath to a federal grand jury." – Jack Kelly
(Sources: AP, DrudgeReport, SundayTimes, NewsMax, Censor.net.ua, Breitbart, WashingtonTimes, ThinkProgress, TownHall, NYDailyNews, Chicago Tribune, MSNBC, WashingtonPost, Reuters, NationalReview, CNN)
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