The Political Chase

TPC Roundup - Pig in a Poke

Headlines:

• Bush will announce troop reductions by next summer
• Schumer against White House selecting Ted Olson for AG
• Speaker Pelosi says Bush’s troop plan is an insult
• U.S. officials in secret talks with Sadr army since early 2006
• Not looking good for Ted Stevens - implicated in FBI video
• Vitter’s prostitution woes mount
• Judge to hear Craig’s plea for withdrawal

TPC Most Popular (updated 12:35 PM EDT):

The Bush Administration: A Perpetual Cabal

Disagreement between Petraeus and Fallon on Iraq

Summed up in 25 words or less

The significance of Petraeus’s testimony tomorrow

Rhetoric and nothing else

Iraq

• President Bush will reportedly try to sell Americans yet another farce Thursday evening by announcing that “he understands American’s deep concerns and therefore plans to reduce the American troops presence in Iraq by as many as 30,000 by next summer.” First, it is not a guaranteed reduction in troops since Bush is insisting that conditions on the ground must warrant cuts and that events could change the plan. Second, the troops were already scheduled to come out based on tour limits; Bush will simply not replace those ending their tour of duty. Third, the military overall cannot maintain the current troop levels in Iraq and continue to provide adequate protection elsewhere. If the military does not get a mass infusion of trained soldiers by next summer, the military will break; therefore, Bush has no choice but to withdraw the troops and place them elsewhere.
• General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Croker “conceded Tuesday that the Bush administration’s overall strategy in Iraq would remain largely unchanged after the temporary increase in American forces is over next summer, and made clear their view that the United States would need a major troop presence in Iraq for years to come.” the New York Times reports.
• “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Bush appears poised to bring the country back to where it was before the election that put Democrats in control of Congress — with 130,000 troops in Iraq. ‘Please. It’s an insult to the intelligence of the American people that that is a new direction in Iraq,’” the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
• In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday, General David Petraeus said he “did not know” if victory in Iraq would make America safe.”
• “U.S. diplomats and military officers have been in talks with members of the armed movement loyal to Muqtada Sadr, a sharp reversal of policy and a grudging recognition that the radical Shiite cleric holds a dominant position in much of Baghdad and other parts of Iraq,” the LA Times reports. “The secret dialogue has been going on since at least early 2006, but appeared to yield a tangible result only in the last week — with relative calm in an area of west Baghdad that has been among the capital’s most dangerous sections.”

Replacing Alberto Gonzales

• The White House is closing in on a nominee to replace Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, with former Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson considered one of the leading candidates, administration and Congressional officials said Tuesday,” the New York Times reports.
• Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), a leading Democrat and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, commenting on the potential nominee said, “Clearly if you made a list of consensus nominees, Olson wouldn’t appear on that list. My hope is that the White House would seek some kind of candidate who would be broadly acceptable.”

Scandals

• “Analysts said the political future of U.S. Sen. David Vitter again was thrown into question Tuesday after a former New Orleans prostitute vouched in person that the senator was one of her former clients,” the Houston Chronicle reports. This is the second allegation made against Vitter, who previously admitted he was a client of the now infamous DC Madam.
• “During a secret meeting to discuss what prosecutors say was a dirty deal to keep Alaska oil taxes low, two oil contractors said they had a powerful ally coming to town who could help stress the industry’s importance: Sen. Ted Stevens,” USA Today reports. “The FBI played a videotape of the 2006 meeting Tuesday in a corruption trial against former Alaska House Speaker Pete Kott, who is accused of taking gifts and favors in exchange for supporting oil interests.”
• “Sen. Larry E. Craig’s request to withdraw his guilty plea in an airport sex sting will be heard Sept. 26, just four days before the Idaho Republican has said he will step down from his Senate seat,” AP reports. “A spokesman for Craig has said the senator is unlikely to try to finish his third term unless a court moves quickly to overturn his conviction.”