International: The Surge's Short Shelf Life
Hospital officials in northwestern Iraq have told TIME that the death toll from Tuesday's blasts in Qahataniya may exceed 300, making the multiple suicide bombings the deadliest terrorist operation in the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein. One hospital is saying that there are at least 500 bodies and that 375 people are injured. That report, however, cannot yet be verified. The only previous occasion when the toll from concerted attacks has exceeded 200 was last November, when six car-bombs in Baghdad's Sadr City killed 215 people. If the toll in the Qataniya incident grows, it could become the worst terrorist incident since al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attack on the U.S. (The Beslan massacre in Russia in September 2004 came to approximately 330, about half of the total children). Here's the story...
Dem heads overseas to deliver strong message
The chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services committee said he was leaving Wednesday for Iraq to tell its leaders that they must accept responsibility for their country.
"Folks, if you want a civil war in this country, that's your choice. Count us out of your civil war. We've been here four-and-a-half years," Democratic Senator Carl Levin of Michigan told reporters Wednesday during a stop at Michigan's statehouse. More here
National:
S&P erases gains for year as mortgage lender sinks
U.S. stocks fell sharply on Wednesday, wiping out the year's gains for the benchmark S&P 500, after Countrywide Financial shares plunged on a brokerage downgrade and rumors it was having trouble raising money.
The clouds enveloping the No. 1 U.S. mortgage lender, which had its biggest one-day percentage drop since the 1987 stock market crash, exacerbated concerns about the health of the mortgage lending business and its effect on wider credit markets. Story linked here.
The clouds enveloping the No. 1 U.S. mortgage lender, which had its biggest one-day percentage drop since the 1987 stock market crash, exacerbated concerns about the health of the mortgage lending business and its effect on wider credit markets. Story linked here.
The U.S.'s top intelligence official has greatly expanded the range of federal and local authorities who can get access to information from the nation's vast network of spy satellites in the U.S.
The decision, made three months ago by Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, places for the first time some of the U.S.'s most powerful intelligence-gathering tools at the disposal of domestic security officials. The move was authorized in a May 25 memo sent to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff asking his department to facilitate access to the spy network on behalf of civilian agencies and law enforcement.
The decision, made three months ago by Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, places for the first time some of the U.S.'s most powerful intelligence-gathering tools at the disposal of domestic security officials. The move was authorized in a May 25 memo sent to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff asking his department to facilitate access to the spy network on behalf of civilian agencies and law enforcement.
U.S. Studying Two Dozen 'Clusters' of Possible Homegrown Terrorists
U.S. law enforcement officials say they have identified more than two dozen "clusters" of young Muslim men in the northeast United States who are on a path that could lead to homegrown terror, ABC News has learned.
"Any one of those clusters may be capable of carrying out a terrorist action that will result in fatalities," Rand Corporation terrorism expert Brian Jenkins tells ABC News.
In a report to be made public today, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly concludes the 9/ll attacks were an "anomaly" and the most serious terror threat to the country comes from clusters of "unremarkable" individuals who are on a path that could lead to homegrown terror. Details...
In Other News...
Despite U.S. claims that violence is down in the Iraqi capital, U.S. military officers are offering a bleak picture of Iraq’s future, saying they’ve yet to see any signs of reconciliation between Sunni and Shiite Muslims despite the drop in violence.
Intent on demonstrating progress in Iraq, the LA Times reports that Gen. David Petraeus “is expected by Bush administration officials to recommend removing American troops soon from several areas where commanders believe security has improved, possibly including Al Anbar province.”
Stephen Hayes writes that in the recent battle over FISA, Vice President Cheney “did not spend much time on Capitol Hill seeking support for the White House-backed changes as he had during the debates over detainee interrogations and earlier versions of the NSA programs. Instead, Mr. Cheney pushed and prodded inside the White House, insisting that the legislative affairs team approach the issue with the same urgency Mr. Cheney feels.”
From The Right: Jonah Goldberg: Karl Rove: Bush's Napoleon There's an old maxim that if Napoleon had been struck by a cannonball on his way to Moscow, he would be remembered as an unrivaled military genius and liberator. But Napoleon overstayed history's welcome and was treated harshly for it, first by the Russians and Mother Nature, then by his own people and, ultimately, by historians.
From The Left: Der Spiegel: Iraq Set to Disintegrate, New Study Warns It's no secret that Iraq is a politically, ethnically and religiously fractured country. But a new study released in Berlin on Wednesday argues that federalism remains the country's last, best hope. Otherwise, it may fall apart completely.
Quote of The Day: “The Iranians continue to work on getting enriched uranium,”. “I’m afraid within, well, at worst, a few months; at best, a few years; they could have a bomb.” Former CIA director James Woolsey- Watch it:
(Sources: TIME, Reuters, ABCNews, DrudgeReport, TruthOut, FOXNews, ThinkProgress, TownHall, LATimes, MccCatchy, WSJ, YOUtube)
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