International:GAO: Iraq Has Not Met 11 of 18 Benchmarks
Congress' research arm has delivered a slightly better but still-grim picture of political and security progress in Iraq following pressure on the agency to revise a draft audit that was crafted to accompany a widely anticipated report from U.S. officials in Iraq.
The Government Accountability Office's independent analysis comes the week before Gen. David Petraeus, the head of Multinational Forces in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker present their findings on Iraqi government success in meeting 18 benchmarks laid out by the U.S. Congress.
In fact, is the GAO Chief suggesting that the administration is ‘cooking the books’? Watch for yourself…
Patraeus To Recommend Troop Reductions
"The surge will run its course. There are limits to what our military can provide, so, my recommendations have to be informed by — not driven by — but they have to be informed by the strain we have put on our military services," Gen. David Petraeus said in the interview at Camp Victory in Baghdad. "That has to be a key factor in what I will recommend."
"The surge will run its course. There are limits to what our military can provide, so, my recommendations have to be informed by — not driven by — but they have to be informed by the strain we have put on our military services," Gen. David Petraeus said in the interview at Camp Victory in Baghdad. "That has to be a key factor in what I will recommend."
While he would not get specific about the recommendations that he gave to President Bush during a surprise visit to Iraq yesterday, when Raddatz asked if March would be the time for a drawdown to avoid further strain on the military and even longer deployments, he answered by saying, "Your calculations are about right."
China Denies Hacking Pentagon Computers
China on Tuesday denied a report that its military had hacked into Pentagon computers, saying the allegations were "groundless" and that Beijing was opposed to cybercrime.
The Financial Times, citing unnamed officials, reported Monday that the People's Liberation Army hacked into a computer system in the office of Defense Secretary Robert Gates in June. The attack forced officials to take down the network for more than a week, the report said. Get the details…
National:
Advisers tell Bush to stand by Iraq war strategy
President Bush's senior advisers on Iraq have recommended he stand by his current war strategy, and he is unlikely to order more than a symbolic cut in troops before the end of the year, administration officials told The Associated Press Tuesday.
The recommendations from the military commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker come despite independent government findings Tuesday that Baghdad has not met most of the political, military and economic markers set by Congress.
Bush appears set on maintaining the central elements of the policy he announced in January, one senior administration official said after discussions with participants in Bush's briefings during his surprise visit to an air base in Iraq on Monday.
White House Wanted To ‘Get Rid Of That Obnoxious FISA Court’
A new book by Jack Goldsmith — one of the “brightest stars in the conservative legal firmament,” and former head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel — has published a book detailing the administration’s extraordinary efforts to expand its wiretapping program. Read more here
Domestic Wiretaps Up 25% Since 9/11
Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the use of wiretaps in traditional criminal cases has increased significantly across the country. In the five years since 9/11, "state and federal courts authorized 8,122 wiretaps for domestic criminal investigations," a nearly 25 percent increase over the previous five years. In that period, "judges denied wiretap applications only twice," according to a review by the Arizona Republic. The paper's numbers include neither the controversial warrantless wiretaps used as part of the administration's so-called Terrorist Surveillance Program nor the "thousands of wiretaps in which a secret court approves warrants in counterterrorism and espionage cases."
Advisers tell Bush to stand by Iraq war strategy
President Bush's senior advisers on Iraq have recommended he stand by his current war strategy, and he is unlikely to order more than a symbolic cut in troops before the end of the year, administration officials told The Associated Press Tuesday.
The recommendations from the military commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker come despite independent government findings Tuesday that Baghdad has not met most of the political, military and economic markers set by Congress.
Bush appears set on maintaining the central elements of the policy he announced in January, one senior administration official said after discussions with participants in Bush's briefings during his surprise visit to an air base in Iraq on Monday.
White House Wanted To ‘Get Rid Of That Obnoxious FISA Court’
A new book by Jack Goldsmith — one of the “brightest stars in the conservative legal firmament,” and former head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel — has published a book detailing the administration’s extraordinary efforts to expand its wiretapping program. Read more here
Domestic Wiretaps Up 25% Since 9/11
Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the use of wiretaps in traditional criminal cases has increased significantly across the country. In the five years since 9/11, "state and federal courts authorized 8,122 wiretaps for domestic criminal investigations," a nearly 25 percent increase over the previous five years. In that period, "judges denied wiretap applications only twice," according to a review by the Arizona Republic. The paper's numbers include neither the controversial warrantless wiretaps used as part of the administration's so-called Terrorist Surveillance Program nor the "thousands of wiretaps in which a secret court approves warrants in counterterrorism and espionage cases."
In Other News…
President Bush's arrival in Sydney was marked by protests. "An established anti-war group called the Stop Bush Coalition called a small 'unwelcoming ceremony' in Sydney to kick off a series of protests culminating in a march by up to 20,000 people on Saturday." Authorities have locked down the city in the biggest security operation in Australian history.
An exchange of letters from 2003, released yesterday by former Iraq envoy Paul Bremer, reveals that President Bush was told in advance of a plan to "dissolve Saddam's military and intelligence structures." The letters contradict claims by Bush "that American policy had been 'to keep the army intact' but that it 'didn't happen.'"
North Korea's foreign ministry said yesterday that the Bush administration had decided to remove the country from its list of states sponsoring terrorism. But Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said today, "No, they haven't been taken off the terrorism list."
Famously opaque when he was chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan—the author—says he relished the opportunity to break out of "Fedspeak" and share his own insights about the nation's economy.
From The Right: Patrick J. Buchanan: Phase III of Bush's War Those who hoped that -- with the victory of the antiwar party in 2006, the departure of Rumsfeld and the neocons from the Pentagon, the rise of Condi and the eclipse of Cheney -- America was headed out of Iraq got a rude awakening. They are about to get another.
From the Left: Mario M. Cuomo: What the Constitution Says About Iraq Most Americans want the war in Iraq ended, but it continues and Americans are killed, mutilated or wounded every day, as the Democratic majorities in Congress struggle to produce legislation that will take our forces out of harm's way. Meanwhile, President Bush continues to insist that as commander in chief, he has the constitutional power to go to war and decide when to end it, unilaterally. At the same time, another possible disaster emerges from the shadows: Bush appears to be considering a military assault on Iran, again apparently without Congress declaring war first.
Quote Of The Day: "A new program opens the borders to Mexican trucking companies. And you were worried about Chinese toothpaste. " -Randi Rhodes
(Sources: AP, DrudgeReport, CNN, FOXNews, ThinkProgress, NYT, TownHall, NewsMax, MSNBC, ArizonaRepublic, USAToday, Newsweek, TruthOut, AFP, ABCNews, Reuters, MoneyTimes, PoliticalCartoons.com)
From the Left: Mario M. Cuomo: What the Constitution Says About Iraq Most Americans want the war in Iraq ended, but it continues and Americans are killed, mutilated or wounded every day, as the Democratic majorities in Congress struggle to produce legislation that will take our forces out of harm's way. Meanwhile, President Bush continues to insist that as commander in chief, he has the constitutional power to go to war and decide when to end it, unilaterally. At the same time, another possible disaster emerges from the shadows: Bush appears to be considering a military assault on Iran, again apparently without Congress declaring war first.
Quote Of The Day: "A new program opens the borders to Mexican trucking companies. And you were worried about Chinese toothpaste. " -Randi Rhodes
(Sources: AP, DrudgeReport, CNN, FOXNews, ThinkProgress, NYT, TownHall, NewsMax, MSNBC, ArizonaRepublic, USAToday, Newsweek, TruthOut, AFP, ABCNews, Reuters, MoneyTimes, PoliticalCartoons.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment