The Political Chase

Olbermann: The President of Hypocrisy

In response to President Bush’s ignominious press conference yesterday, Keith Olbermann blasted the president in a Special Comment on Countdown last night. Olbermann accused the president of polticizing the military by pimping General Petraeus, “reducing a four-star hero to a political hack,” and intentionally diverting criticism.

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TPC Roundup - Congressional Bombs and Syrian Bombs

HEADLINES

• Washington: Bush No Comment on Syria, Will Veto Child Health Bill
• Washington: Bush “Received B in Econ 101, A in Keeping Taxes Low”
• Congress: Iraq War Funding Bill Fails, Senate Condemns MoveOn.org
• Iraq: Blackwater Unprovoked According to Iraq Probe
• Nation: Thousands March Protesting “Jena 6″

TPC MOST POPULAR

Will Wes Clark be Hillary’s VP? (on the top all week)
Biden Breaks Away in Dems Iowa Debate
Gates Doesn’t Know if Iraq Invasion Was Good Idea
Clinton Video: ‘Darth Vader Emerges’
Give me, Give me, Give me

WASHINGTON

• “Israel’s decision to attack Syria on Sept. 6, bombing a suspected nuclear site set up in apparent collaboration with North Korea, came after Israel shared intelligence with President Bush this summer indicating that North Korean nuclear personnel were in Syria, U.S. government sources said,” the Washington Post reports. “The Bush administration has not commented on the Israeli raid or the underlying intelligence.”
• President Bush threatened yesterday, “to veto a bill expanding a popular children’s health insurance program, calling it “a step toward federalization of health care,” the New York Times reports. “The program expires Sept. 30, and Congress is on the verge of renewing it by providing coverage to an additional 4 million children over the 6.6 million already enrolled — at an additional cost of $35 billion over five years.”
• “President Bush pointedly declined on Thursday to discuss an Israeli airstrike in northern Syria,” the New York Times reports. “Mr. Bush did, however, warn North Korea that the United States expected it to dismantle its nuclear weapons programs and to stop selling weapons or expertise abroad, as it promised to do this year.”
• “Sidestepping the turmoil in the housing market and the credit problems associated with it, President Bush said Thursday that the nation’s economy was strong and would remain so if Congress steered clear of tax increases,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “But he would not rate the risk of recession, saying, ‘You need to talk to economists. I think I got a B in Econ 101. I got an A, however, in keeping taxes low.’”
• “President Bush acknowledged “some unsettling times” in the country’s troubled housing and credit markets, while Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke offered more assurances steps would be taken to curb the fallout,” the Boston Globe reports. “The housing slump, the worst in 16 years, is likely to drag on well into 2008, when the nation will be voting for a new president. Home foreclosures - now at record highs - and delinquencies are likely to get worse, Bernanke told the House Financial Services Committee yesterday.”
• Bush “plans to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in New York on Monday during the U.N. General Assembly meetings, the White House said,” Reuters reports. “The meeting will be to ‘continue discussions on helping the Palestinian Authority and on issues related to an eventual two-state solution of Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security,’ White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said on Thursday.”

CONGRESS

• “Underscoring his resolve,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid “revived a proposal to cut off funding for most U.S. military operations in Iraq by next summer — the most drastic antiwar measure in the legislative mix, and the biggest long shot for passage,” the Washington Post reports. “With only a few votes changing since May 16, when similar language died on a 67 to 29 vote.”
• “Congress gave final approval Thursday to legislation designed to transform the Food and Drug Administration from a passive monitor to an active detective seeking out medications that have been approved for sale but turn out to be hazardous — a problem linked to an estimated 15,000 deaths a year,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “The drug-safety provisions were the centerpiece of a massive bill that also would renew industry user fees that fund the FDA’s review of medications and medical devices submitted for approval.”
• “Democrats are disappointed they have been unable to force President Bush to change course in Iraq, but they will keep pushing — with or without Republican help,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said Thursday, CNN reports. “GOP senators have filibustered every Democratic-led push to bring troops home from Iraq.”
• The Senate on Thursday “overwhelmingly condemned the liberal anti-war group MoveOn.org for its newspaper ad that last week accused the top U.S. general in Iraq of lying and misrepresenting the situation on the ground, a measure on which Democratic leaders had refused to allow a vote last week,” the Washington Times reports. “The nonbinding measure, offered by Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, passed by a vote of 72-25, with 24 Democrats and one independent, Bernard Sanders of Vermont, voting against it.”
• “The FBI has taped conversations between Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska and an oil company executive who has pleaded guilty to bribery, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation,” CNN reports. “The calls were between Stevens, who is up for re-election in 2008, and Bill Allen, then CEO of oilfield services firm VECO Corp., the source said Thursday.”
• “A Washington watchdog group on Thursday asked the Justice Department to investigate Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) for possible tax violations and improper use of his House office and staff,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW) filed the complaint here just two days after declaring Scott among the 25 ‘most corrupt’ congressmen here for mingling personal and campaign interests, failing repeatedly to pay personal and business taxes and, as one of his former aides claimed, using his House staff to work on his campaign.”

IRAQ

• “Iraq’s Ministry of Interior has concluded that employees of a private American security firm fired an unprovoked barrage in the shooting last Sunday in which at least eight Iraqis were killed and is proposing a radical reshaping of the way American diplomats and contractors here are protected,” the New York Times reports. “In the first comprehensive account of the day’s events, the ministry said that security guards for Blackwater USA, a company that guards all senior American diplomats here, fired on Iraqis in their cars in midday traffic.”
• “Iraq wants to tighten control over security contractors after a deadly shooting incident involving the U.S. firm Blackwater, ending their long immunity from Iraqi prosecution, the Interior Ministry said” today, Reuters reports. “Spokesman Major-General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf said the ministry had drafted legislation giving it wider powers over the contractors and calling for ’severe punishment for those who fail to adhere to the…guidelines on how they should operate.’”
• “Military officials said Thursday that contracts worth $6 billion to provide essential supplies to American troops in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan–including food, water and shelter–were under review by criminal investigators, double the amount the Pentagon had previously disclosed,” the New York Times reports. “In addition, $88 billion in contracts and programs, including those for body armor for American soldiers and materiel for Iraqi and Afghan security forces, are being audited for financial irregularities, the officials said.”
• “The first cases of cholera appeared in Baghdad on Thursday, in a sign the epidemic that has already sickened thousands in northern Iraq is now spreading more widely in a population made vulnerable by war to a normally preventable disease,” the New York Times reports. “The World Health Organization and Iraqi Red Crescent Society reported two cases here and Iraqi television reported another case, in a 7-month-old baby, in Basra, far to the south.”

NATION

• “Tens of thousands of chanting marchers descended on the small Louisiana town of Jena on Thursday to protest the treatment of six black teenagers who allegedly beat a white classmate after a series of racially tinged incidents at the local high school,” the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. “Hailing from as far as England, protesters arrived at sunrise by the busload to rally behind the ‘Jena Six,’ as the accused teens have come to be known, in a legal case that has drawn worldwide attention.”
• “Prominent Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu violated federal election laws by reimbursing several donors for the political checks they wrote, and extracted campaign donations from others by threatening to cut their ties with a highly lucrative Ponzi scheme he oversaw, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Justice Department” on Thursday, the Washington Post reports. “A federal fraud case that the U.S. attorney for New York’s Southern District unsealed against Hsu suggests for the first time why he in a short period of time became one of the nation’s most prolific bundlers of campaign funds.”
• “A big overhang of property will bring U.S. house prices down further, but it is too early to say if the economy will plunge into recession, former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan was quoted as saying” today, Reuters reports. “Greenspan said in an interview with Austrian magazine Format that low interest rates in the past 15 years were to blame for the house price bubble, but that central banks were powerless when they tried to bring it under control.”
• “A federal grand jury has subpoenaed House records connected to a one-time aide to” former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, “who has been caught up in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal,” AP reports. “The subpoena involving Ed Buckham was issued to the chief administrative officer of the House by a grand jury in Washington.”

WORLD

• “Hundreds of Islamists chanting slogans against Pakistan’s military leader rallied outside the Supreme Court” today “as judges heard petitions challenging President Gen. Pervez Musharraf right to run for re-election,” AP reports. “Opposition parties have promised to stage anti-Musharraf street protests across Pakistan” today, “claiming it would be illegal for the general, who seized power in a 1999 coup, to run.”
• “A bomb attack” today “against a convoy of French troops killed one soldier and caused many casualties among Afghans near the blast, while heavy fighting in southern Afghanistan killed about 75 Taliban fighters, officials said,” AP reports. “The attack in western Kabul blew the windows out of a civilian bus and set at least one vehicle on fire.”

Democracy Restored

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced a resolution condemning the MoveOn ad, which passed by a substantial margin, 72 to 25. Thank goodness. Democracy has been restored and hopefully the Republic will not face another crisis of this magnitude.

Democrats voting for the bill were:

Baucus (MT), Bayh (IN), Cardin (MD), Carper (DE), Casey (PA), Conrad (ND), Dorgan (ND), Feinstein (CA), Johnson (SD), Klobuchar (MN), Kohl (WI), Landrieu (LA), Leahy (VT), Lincoln (AR), McCaskill (MO), Mikulski (MD), Nelson (NE), Nelson (FL), Pryor (AR), Salazar (CO), Tester (MT), and Webb (VA).

Presidential candidate votes:

Clinton - against’ Obama - did not show up for vote’ Biden - in Iowa and did not vote; Dodd  - against; McCain - for; Brownback - for

The Resolution:

SEC. 1070. SENSE OF SENATE ON GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS.

    (a) Findings.–The Senate makes the following findings:

    (1) The Senate unanimously confirmed General David H. Petraeus as Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, by a vote of 81-0 on January 26, 2007.

    (2) General Petraeus graduated first in his class at the United States Army Command and General Staff College.

    (3) General Petraeus earned Masters of Public Administration and Doctoral degrees in international relations from Princeton University.

    (4) General Petraeus has served multiple combat tours in Iraq, including command of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) during combat operations throughout the first year of Operation Iraqi Freedom, which tours included both major combat operations and subsequent stability and support operations.

    (5) General Petraeus supervised the development and crafting of the United States Army and Marine Corps counterinsurgency manual based in large measure on his combat experience in Iraq, scholarly study, and other professional experiences.

    (6) General Petraeus has taken a solemn oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.

    (7) During his 35-year career, General Petraeus has amassed a distinguished and unvarnished record of military service to the United States as recognized by his receipt of a Defense Distinguished Service Medal, two Distinguished Service Medals, two Defense Superior Service Medals, four Legions of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal for valor, the State Department Superior Honor Award, the NATO Meritorious Service Medal, and other awards and medals.

    (8) A recent attack through a full-page advertisement in the New York Times by the liberal activist group, Moveon.org, impugns the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all the members of the United States Armed Forces.

    (b) Sense of Senate.–It is the sense of the Senate–

    (1) to reaffirm its support for all the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, including General David H. Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq;

    (2) to strongly condemn any effort to attack the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all the members of the United States Armed Forces; and

    (3) to specifically repudiate the unwarranted personal attack on General Petraeus by the liberal activist group Moveon.org.

Gates Doesn’t Know if Iraq Invasion Was Good Idea

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates delivered the second profound “I don’t know” with respect to Iraq in a week.

In an interview with New York Times columnist David Brooks, Secretary Gates was asked,  “whether invading Iraq was a good idea, knowing what we know now?” According to Brooks, “He looked at me for a bit and said, ‘I don’t know.’ ”

Given Brooks account of the interview, the White House cannot contend Gates was distracted or simply misspoke without seriously challenging Brooks credibility. It is clear Gates gave a thoughtful, deliberate answer.

Last week in sworn testimony before Congress when asked if the war in Iraq would make America safer, Gen. David Petraeus answered “I don’t know.” Realizing the significance of his candid answer, several questions later Gen. Petraeus made an unsuccessful attempt to backpedal out of the situation.

Surely, the White House shilling will intensify over the next few days to ameliorate Secretary Gates’ welcomed, deliberate candor. “I don’t know” is arguably not part of the White House’s lexicon.

TPC Round Up - Cover-Ups, Tasers, and Staged Rallies

HEADLINES

• State Department Official Investigated for Cover-Up
• NSA Claims No Warantless Wiretapping
• Democrats Demand Troop Withdrawal Deadline
• U.S and British Officials Downplay Iraq Differences
• Immigrants Protest at Capitol
• Student Protestor Tasered at Kerry Speech
• Rice Scolds U.N. over Iran Strategy

TPC MOST POPULAR

Will Wes Clark be Hillary’s VP?
Telegraph: Bush-Cheney Planning War with Iran
Bush Selects Mukasey for Attorney General
Bush and Reid spar, Mukasey is nominated

WASHINGTON

“Howard J. Krongard, the State Department’s inspector general, has repeatedly thwarted investigations into contracting fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan, including construction of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, and censored reports that might prove politically embarrassing to the Bush administration, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform charged” on Tuesday “in a 13-page letter,” the Washington Post reports. See TPC related post.

“The National Security Agency has not conducted wiretapping without warrants on the telephones of any Americans since at least February, the nation’s top intelligence officer told Congress on Tuesday,” the New York Times reports. “Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, told the House Judiciary Committee that since he took office that month, the government has conducted electronic surveillance only after seeking court-approved warrants.” See TPC related post.

“President Bush, cheered on by Iraq war veterans and their families on the White House’s South Lawn, urged lawmakers Tuesday to back his plan to withdraw some troops from Iraq but keep at least 130,000 through next summer or longer,” AP reports. “‘I ask the United States Congress to support the troop levels and the strategies I have embraced,’ Bush said, to loud cheers and chants of ‘USA! USA!’”

“President Bush defended himself Tuesday defended himself from criticism by former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, who said Bush has not been a good shepherd of the economy,” according to a FOX News interview with the president. “Our fiscal record is admirable and good. After all, the deficit as a percentage of GDP is low relative to the 30-year average. It’s about 1.5 percent of GDP which is good, and we submitted a budget that shows we can get to balance.” See TPC related post.

“Internal discord in the office of U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose has led to an investigation of complaints that she retaliated against dissenters,” the Star-Tribune reports. “The internal upheaval that roiled the upper ranks of the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota last spring has prompted an investigation by an independent federal agency that looks into whistleblower and discrimination complaints involving federal employees.” TPC reported on Ms. Paulrose back in April as the DOJ scandal was unfolding.

CONGRESS

“Unable to garner enough Republican support, Senate Democratic leaders said” on Tuesday “that they are abandoning a bipartisan effort to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq by next spring,” the Washington Post reports. Instead, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid, D-Nev., “will again push for a firm deadline, this time June 2008, along with a stronger effort at cutting off war funding.” See TPC related post.

“Four new Senate Republicans signaled Tuesday that they may vote for a Democratic amendment aimed at giving U.S. troops in Iraq more time at home between deployments, helping Democrats inch closer to a rare victory on the conduct of the Iraq war,” The Hill reports. “The talks came amid tense backroom negotiations over the terms of the Iraq debate in the Senate, which is expected to dominate the floor schedule during the next two weeks. ”

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., “and 11 other members of Congress have been subpoenaed to testify in the trial of a defense contractor charged with bribing jailed” former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif.,, USA Today reports. “All of the lawmakers said they do not intend to comply with the subpoenas.”

“Even as Senate Democrats on Tuesday softened demands that the White House provide thousands of documents in advance of a hearing to confirm Michael Mukasey as attorney general, they warned that it remained highly improbable that a vote on his installation would occur before the October recess,” Roll Call (sub. req.) reports. “The White House has asked Democrats to complete the confirmation process by Oct. 8 — a date on which Democrats said they are unlikely to meet.”

The House Federal Workforce Subcommittee split along party lines yesterday “over proposed legislation that would ban discrimination against federal employees and job applicants based on sexual orientation.” the Washington Post reports. “Republicans asked for a roll call, and Democrats, as the majority party, prevailed, 5 to 3.

“Twelve years after conservative Republicans in Congress were blamed for shutting down the government, they are introducing legislation to ensure that government continues to function no matter what,” The Hill reports. “Anticipating a showdown with Democrats that could force government offices to close, President Bush is backing the legislation.”

IRAQ

“The top two American military and diplomatic officials in Iraq sought to play down differences over Iraq policy as they met with senior British officials on Tuesday, at a time of mounting pressure here for the withdrawal of Britain’s remaining 5,200 soldiers from southern Iraq,” the New York Times reports. “At a news conference with Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, Gen. David H. Petraeus sought to ease strains that developed this month when British commanders withdrew the 500-man contingent that comprised their last remaining troops in central Basra.”

“The U.S. military has introduced ‘religious enlightenment’ and other education programs for Iraqi detainees, some of whom are as young as 11, Marine Maj. Gen. Douglas M. Stone, the commander of U.S. detention facilities in Iraq, said yesterday, the Washington Post reports. “Stone said such efforts, aimed mainly at Iraqis who have been held for more than a year, are intended to “bend them back to our will” and are part of waging war in what he called ‘the battlefield of the mind.’ ”

“A preliminary Iraqi report on a shooting involving an American diplomatic motorcade said Tuesday that Blackwater security guards were not ambushed, as the company reported, but instead fired at a car when it did not heed a policeman’s call to stop, killing a couple and their infant,” the New York Times reports. “The report, by the Ministry of Interior, was presented to the Iraqi cabinet and, though unverified, seemed to contradict an account offered by Blackwater USA that the guards were responding to gunfire by militants.”

“A vast internal migration is radically reshaping Iraq’s ethnic and sectarian landscape, according to new data collected by thousands of relief workers, but displacement in the most populous and mixed areas is surprisingly complex, suggesting that partitioning the country into semiautonomous Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish enclaves would not be easy,” the New York Times reports. “In Baghdad alone there are now nearly 170,000 families, accounting for almost a million people, that have fled their homes.”

NATION

“About 1,000 highly skilled legal immigrants, carrying placards and wearing T-shirts emblazoned with American flags, rallied Tuesday at the Capitol to protest long delays and vast bureaucratic backlogs in the immigration system,” the New York Times reports. “The immigrants, including doctors, medical technicians and computer engineers from India and China, came from as far as California and Washington State to call on Congress to provide more permanent visas for highly educated immigrants and more resources for the overburdened immigration system.”

“Video of police Tasering a persistent questioner of Sen. John Kerry became an Internet and TV sensation Tuesday, generating fierce debate about free speech and the motives of the college student involved — a known prankster who often posts practical jokes online,” AP reports. “University of Florida President Bernie Machen said Monday’s takedown, in which the student loudly yelled, ‘Don’t Tase me, bro’ was ‘regretful.’”

“Advocacy groups sued the FBI and the Department of Justice on Tuesday for failing to turn over records they requested on surveillance in the Muslim-American community,” AP reports. “The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the Muslim groups, alleges that the FBI has turned over only four pages of documents to community leaders, despite a Freedom of Information Act request filed more than a year ago. The documents were not related to surveillance.”

WORLD

“U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice scolded the U.N.’s atomic watchdog agency” today “over its Iran strategy and called for diplomacy with ‘teeth’ to end Tehran’s nuclear plans,” Reuters reports. “While repeating the U.S. stand that ‘all options’ remained on the table — a reference to military action against Tehran — Rice sought to ease fresh concerns over talk of war.”

“A multinational force commanded and led by British troops has launched a major offensive against the Taleban in the southern Afghan province of Helmand,” BBC News reports. “The operation involves about 700 men, mostly infantry and engineers. ”

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan “refused on Tuesday to rule out the possibility of military operations into northern Iraq to root out armed Kurdish separatist groups that he said had taken refuge in the border region,” the New York Times reports. “Mr. Erdogan also criticized some Western countries for what he called their increasingly hawkish stance against Iran.”

“Pro-Taliban militants in northwest Pakistan attacked a military checkpost” today “and captured seven paramilitary soldiers,” Reuters reports. “The raid was the latest in a series of bloody militant attacks on security forces and abductions of soldiers since July, when a pact with militants broke down and commandos stormed a radical mosque in Islamabad.”

Eating steak, turning Baptist, and cleaning up the mess

For Lunch today, Iowa democrats serve up fried steak a la Tom Harkin, McCain gets pressed for a little straight talk, Giuliani tries to blend in (again) on race day, and we ponder the claims of Hillary’s healthcare critics.

You’ll enjoy Mitt Romney cleaning up and John “the Baptist” McCain.

Pentagon Blowback on Rudy’s Ad

Rudy’s new ad attacking Hillary Clinton with Gen. Petraeus’ picture in it may have not been such a good idea.

Rudy’s new political ad attacking Hillary Clinton features multiple pictures of General Petraeus in uniform — but now the Pentagon says that the General “has not condoned” the use of his image in Rudy’s ad or any other political ads, adding that it was done “without his consent.”

Defense Department regulations prohibit uniformed personnel from appearing in political ads. And while these are stock photos, meaning that neither Petraeus nor the other military personnel actively moved to appear in Giuliani’s ad, their use in this ad makes the question of whether Petraeus or the Defense Department condone the use of images of him or other military uniformed personnel a fair one.

Greg Sargent has the scoop.

Giuliani’s Ad Is Swift-Boating

I find it hard to comprehend the level of debate over an ad almost rivals the debate over the war in Iraq. I’m not going to argue for or against the Petraeus ad, simply because I think it’s trivial when compared to other issues. (See update below.) On the other hand, based on the available evidence, it appears to me Rudy Giuliani is resorting to low-rent, sleazeball, Swift-Boating.

Here are the ads.

In the “Betray Us” ad, MoveOn accuses Gen. Petraeus of “cooking the books for the White House” and references statements Petraeus made in 2004 saying there was “tangible progress” in Iraq and that “Iraqi leaders are stepping forward.” The ad goes on to cite Petraeus as the “architect of the escalation of the troops in Iraq.” MoveOn cites recent “independent reports” as evidence the “surge strategy has failed,” and accuses Petraeus of not admitting “what everyone knows: Iraq is mired in an unwinnable civil war.”

MoveOn provides a plethora of links at its site that allegedly support their claims.

The MoveOn ad was published in the New York Times on September 10.

The Giuliani ad cites a September 12 excerpt from the New York Sun (no credibility problem there) as its basis for attacking Hillary Clinton.

Using blunter to language than any other Democrat in the last two days, Mrs. Clinton told General Petraeus that his progress report on Iraq required “[the] willing suspension of disbelief.”

The Giuliani ad declares “Hillary Clinton continued the character attack on General Petraeus and refused to denounce MoveOn.org’s ad.”

Whatever one’s position is on the MoveOn ad, Giuliani’s attack on Hillary Clinton provides no basis of fact, but instead, employs innuendo to tie Clinton to the ad.

Giuliani could spend his time and money more wisely by focusing on real issues instead of executing plays from the Karl Rove Mudslinging Policy and Procedures Manual.

Late Update: Here’s Hillary Clinton’s response to Giuliani’s ad.

Rudy Giuliani is dropping in the polls and is unable to defend his own support for George Bush’s failed war. Instead of distorting Senator Clinton’s record in the campaign’s first attack ad, the Mayor should tell voters why he thinks sticking with the Bush Iraq strategy makes sense. The country wants change and while Hillary Clinton is focused ending the war, Mayor Giuliani is playing politics.

Later Update: I believe there is an important issue related to the Petraeus ad that is not being included in the debate to my knowledge. General Petraeus should never have been in the position to be the target of a political ad, but George Bush did precisely that. Bush hid behind Petraeus and made Petraeus his foreign policy water boy. If Petraeus had not been doing George Bush’s job, there would have been no reason for him to enter the political fray.

When Gen. Petraeus answered Sen. Warner’s question, will victory in Iraq make America safer, his prompt answer “I don’t know,” was arguably a strong indication the general did not want to answer the question for obvious reasons. Sen. Warner’s skillful removal of the bark to elicit the answer was indeed appropriate given the circumstances and the circumstances are a direct consequence of the Bush-Cheney administration’s malpractice and misfeasance.

Furthermore, the extent of Mayor Giuliani’s hypocrisy is well demonstrated in this statement from his ad: “These times call for statesmanship, not politicians spewing venom.”

Today’s Lunch - Petraeus blowback and more

Today’s 10-in-3 episode features Petraeus blowback, Thompson amnesia, the old flames of Chris Dodd and HuffPo subtitles on drugs.

Click To Play

TPC Roundup - Troop Interruptus

HEADLINES

• Bush Orders Withdrawal in Speech Filled with “Misstatements”; War Critics Not Amused
• White House Issues Iraq Report
• Key Sunni Leader Assassinated in Anbar
• NJ Refuses to Obey Federal SCIHP Rules
• Russia Confirms New Prime Minister
• Giuliani Attacks Clinton over MoveOn Ad
• Stevens Alaska Scandal Deepens

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WASHINGTON

• “President Bush tried to turn a corner in the fractious debate over Iraq last night by ordering the first limited troop withdrawals since voters elected an antiwar Congress last year,” the Washington Post reports. “But the move did little to appease Democratic leaders, who dismissed it as a token gesture masking an open-ended commitment of U.S. troops.”
• When discussing the status of Iraq, President Bush frequently refers to the “facts on the ground,” however, the President had difficulty with facts in his speech last night. The Washington Post reports, “President Bush made a case for progress in Iraq by citing facts and statistics that at times contradicted recent government reports or his own words.
• “Congressional Democrats vowed Thursday to press for steeper troop reductions in Iraq than President Bush wants, but the top Senate Republican predicted they won’t have the votes to alter the White House proposal,” USA Today reports. “‘The president failed to provide either a plan to successfully end the war or a convincing rationale to continue it,’ said Sen. Jack Reed” of Rhode Island.
• “A new White House report on Iraq shows slim progress, moving just one more political and security goal into the satisfactory column: efforts to let former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party to rejoin the political process,” AP reports via the Las Vegas Sun. “The latest conclusions, to be released” today, “largely track a comparable poor assessment in July on 18 benchmarks.” TPM Muckracker highlights some of the contradictions.
• “Democrats, anti-war groups and liberal bloggers are pounding on House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) for saying U.S. military deaths in Iraq are ‘a small price’ to pay to stop al Qaeda from carrying out more terrorist attacks and stabilizing the Middle East,’” The Politico reports. “Boehner made the comments during a Wednesday interview by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.”
• John Kerry lashed out at House Minority Leader John Boehner in a post at the Huffington Post. “What a stunningly cavalier statement about the lives of the young men and women who serve our country.Whether you support or oppose the Bush escalation, no American should ever for even a moment think the cost of war is small.”
• “After nine months of noisy controversy over his troubled tenure, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales is leaving office quietly today with a low-key farewell address to Justice Department employees in Washington,” the Washington Post reports. “Gonzales, who has made only three public appearances since announcing his resignation on Aug. 27, is expected to dwell on his record in combating terrorism, child exploitation and other crimes rather than on the divisive issues that forced him from the job.”

IRAQ

• “A charismatic tribal leader who allied himself with the United States and rallied fractious Sunni groups against extremists who claim links to al-Qaeda was killed Thursday afternoon when a bomb exploded outside his house in Anbar province,” the Washington Post reports. “The efforts of Abdul Sattar Abu Risha became the centerpiece of the Bush administration’s campaign to prove its troop buildup in Iraq has been a success.”
• “An al-Qaida-linked insurgent group released a video Thursday showing the body of a U.S. pilot killed in Iraq last year, a photograph of his identification card and footage of his aircraft’s wreckage site, U.S. monitors said,” AP reports. “The video,” which “was first obtained by the IntelCenter monitoring group in suburban Washington,” shows “the ID card photograph of Air Force pilot Maj. Troy L. Gilbert, whose F-16CG crashed Nov. 27, 2006, some 20 miles northwest of Baghdad.”

NATION

• “Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine informed President Bush this week that New Jersey will not obey federal rules that would make it harder to enroll middle-income kids for a popular government-subsidized health insurance program,” the Washington Post reports. “His move escalated the growing confrontation between a number of states and the administration over the new rules imposed on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.”
• “A judge ordered a cash bond of $5 million for Norman Hsu, the shadowy Democratic fund-raiser, after Colorado authorities told the court here that Mr. Hsu might have been involved in another multimillion-dollar fraud investigation involving dozens of investors in Orange County, Calif.,” the New York Times reports. “The revelation that Mr. Hsu, a fugitive for 15 years in a California fraud case, might be implicated in another fraud investigation came after New York investors learned this week that $40 million they had invested with Mr. Hsu might be in jeopardy.”

INTERNATIONAL

• “Viktor Zubkov has been confirmed as Russia’s new prime minister and has pledged to wage a war on corruption,” BBC News reports. “The lower house of parliament voted 381 to 47 to approve his nomination, submitted by President Vladimir Putin in a surprise move on Wednesday.”
• “At least 15 soldiers from an elite commando unit were killed Thursday evening when a blast, apparently set off by a suicide bomber, tore through the dining hall of a military installation in northwestern Pakistan,” the New York Times reports. “At least 27 soldiers were wounded; six were in critical condition.”
• “NATO is ready to discuss bringing France back fully into the fold after signals from Paris it may reverse its decision 41 years ago to quit the alliance’s military structures,” Reuters reports. “President Nicolas Sarkozy set the tone with a keynote foreign-policy speech last month, insisting NATO was no rival to France’s ambition of a robust European Union defense capability.”

ELECTIONS 2008

• “Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani on Thursday accused Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton of participating in ”character assassination” for questioning Gen. David Petraeus about his assessment of progress in Iraq,” AP reports. “Campaigning in Georgia, Giuliani assailed Clinton for the second straight day and tried to link her to a newspaper ad from the liberal anti-war group MoveOn that was critical of Petraeus. The ad accused Petraeus of ‘cooking the books’ for the White House. ‘General Petraeus or General Betray Us?’ it asked, playing off his name.”
• Although a link cannot be provided, Giuliani placed an ad in the New York Times in response to MoveOn’s ad on Petraeus.

SCANDALS

• The scandal surrounding Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AL) and his son continues to heat up. “The former head of an oil field service company admitted Thursday in court that he bribed three Alaska legislators, including the son of a U.S. senator who is the target of a federal investigation,” the Washington Post reports. “Former VECO Corp. CEO Bill Allen, 70, testified Thursday in the federal corruption trial of former state House Speaker Pete Kott. Allen and a former company vice president, Rick Smith, have pleaded guilty to bribing lawmakers, and await sentencing.”

TPC Roundup - Iraq Week Continues

HEADLINES

• Democrats Revise Iraq Strategy
• Reid Will Block Olson Nomination
• Bush to Endorse Petraeus Plan for Iraq
• Iraq Oil Sharing Agreement Breaks Down
• U.S. To Hold Summit on Iran Nuclear Program
• Former VA Governor Warner To Run For Retiring Sen. Warner Seat

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TPC Roundup - Pig In a Poke
Disagreement between Petraeus and Fallon on Iraq
Summed up in 25 words or less

CONGRESS

• “Democratic leaders in Congress have decided to shift course and pursue modest bipartisan measures to alter U.S. military strategy in Iraq, hoping to use incremental changes instead of aggressive legislation to break the grip Republicans have held over the direction of war policy,” the Washington Post reports. “Standing against them will be President Bush, who intends to use a prime-time address tonight to try to ease concerns that his Iraq strategy will lead to an open-ended military commitment.”
• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday vowed to block any effort by President Bush to nominate former Solicitor General Ted Olson to become the next attorney general, while Democrats promised a protracted and politically bruising fight regardless of the nominee,” Roll Call (sub. req.) reports. “Ted Olson will not be confirmed by the Senate,” Reid said on Wednesday, adding, “I intend to do everything I can to prevent him from being confirmed as the next attorney general.” This may be a wise choice - see TPC related comment.
• “Former Virginia governor Mark R. Warner will announce today that he is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican John W. Warner, setting the stage for one of the most competitive races in the country next year, according to sources familiar with his decision,” the Washington Post reports. “Warner, 52, a self-described moderate Democrat, will make his announcement in an e-mail to supporters” today “but won’t formally begin his campaign until after the state legislative races in November, according to the sources, who spoke directly with Warner.”
• “Senator Barack Obama” on Wednesday “presented his most extensive plan yet for winding down the war in Iraq, proposing to withdraw all combat brigades by the end of next year while leaving behind an unspecified smaller force to strike at terrorists, train Iraqi soldiers and protect American interests,” the New York Times reports. “Speaking in Iowa, Mr. Obama combined an attack on both parties in Washington for having gotten the United States into the war with the outline of an approach for getting out that immediately drew criticism from the left of his party for being too timid and from Republicans as being irresponsible.”

WASHINGTON

• Today, President Bush “is expected to endorse plans for limited cuts in U.S. troop levels in Iraq but will offer little else to skeptical Americans looking for a change of course in the unpopular war,” Reuters reports. “Trying to rally public support in the face of growing Democratic opposition to his Iraq strategy, Bush will deliver a televised address after two days of congressional testimony by his top military and diplomatic officials in Baghdad.” See related TPC post.
• The Gate has a good analysis of the latest views on Iraq before Bush’s address. Brief excerpt:

“President Bush is expected to confirm tomorrow night that he will follow Gen. David Petraeus’ and Ambassador Ryan Crocker’s recommendations for the Iraq war. Get ready for a long, hard slog through this political season.

The dominant feeling on the Hill today is that after an agonizingly long five months of waiting for the Petraeus-Crocker report to arrive, nothing has changed with regard to a way out of Iraq. The “surge” strategy is working, lawmakers were told, but only in part. The missing link is national political reconciliation, and we still don’t know how to get there. In summary: Give us more time.”

• “The Bush administration said Wednesday that retreat in Iraq would cede power in the country to Iran, the U.S.-labeled ‘axis of evil’ nation that has become the boogeyman of the Middle East,” AP reports. “The troubled U.S. relationship with its chief Middle East adversary hung over this week’s watershed recommendations from President Bush’s top military commander in the Iraq war and the assessments of his top diplomat in the country.”

IRAQ

• “A carefully constructed compromise on a draft law governing Iraq’s rich oil fields, agreed to in February after months of arduous talks among Iraqi political groups, appears to have collapsed,” the New York Times reports. “The apparent breakdown comes just as Congress and the White House are struggling to find evidence that there is progress toward reconciliation and a functioning government here.” See TPC related post.
• “The Bush administration has begun mobilizing support for a third U.N. resolution that would impose tougher sanctions against Iran, as the top U.S. military and diplomatic officials in Baghdad said” on Wednesday “that one of the biggest and still unfolding surprises in Iraq has been the depth of Iran’s intervention,” the Washington Post reports. “Iran is increasingly the backdrop in discussions about the future of Iraq, evident in congressional testimony this week by Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker and in warnings from senior administration officials.”
• “If as expected President Bush cuts the number of U.S. combat brigades in Iraq by 25 percent by next summer, that will not necessarily mean less fighting for the troops who remain,” AP reports. “Their numbers may shrink, but their role will not. The Americans are likely to perform the same mission — leading the fight against the insurgency — at least through next year, in part because Iraq’s army is nowhere near being ready to take over that job.”
• “Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called testimony given by the U.S. top commander in Iraq and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq ‘realistic and objective,’” CNN reports. “‘In general, it is a positive report, and reflects a reality and looks forward, like we do, to a brighter future,’ al-Maliki told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in Iraq on Wednesday.”

INTERNATIONAL

• “The US is to host a meeting of major world powers to discuss plans for a new round of sanctions against Iran over its contentious nuclear programme,” BBC News reports. “The five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, will meet in Washington on 21 September. Iran denies accusations it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons and has recently renewed co-operation with the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.”
• “Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte, arriving Wednesday in Pakistan for two days of talks during a political crackdown and increased violence in the border areas, called for a peaceful democratic transition from military rule but pointedly did not criticize the deportation on Monday of an opposition leader,” the New York Times reports. “Mr. Negroponte was attending discussions with the Foreign Ministry on strategic relations between Pakistan and the United States, covering terrorism and general assistance, but he was here at a tense political moment.”
• “U.S. officials on Wednesday confirmed Israel launched air strikes against Syria last week and said they were to target weapons Israel believes were headed for the militant group Hezbollah,” Reuters reports. “One defense official dismissed speculation Israel had aimed for any nuclear-related target.”

SCANDALS

• “The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is poised to dive back into the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal in coming weeks, according to several sources who say Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) has issued letters to a range of Abramoff associates seeking information about his contacts with the White House,” Roll Call (sub. req.) reports. “The committee’s activity coincides with a number of Abramoff-related legal developments that are likely to keep the disgraced former lobbyist’s name in the news this fall.” Jack Abramoff related scandals have to be some of the worst in the history of Congress and possibly to a lesser degree in the White House, which TPC has covered for quite some time.

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

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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.”

Petraeus Backpedals on Victory Remark

Gen. David Petraeus backpedaled on his previous statement before the Senate Armed Services Committee that he did not know if victory in Iraq would make America safer. Questioned about his earlier remark, Petraeus told Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN):

Candidly, I have been so focused on Iraq, uh, that, uh, drawing all the way out, uh, was something that for a moment there, uh was a bit of a surprise…Having focused down and down and down, uh, that was something that, uh, that really, uh, at first glance that was something I’d let others above me answer.

Notice how Gen. Petraeus holds his head down most of the time he answers. Very uncharacteristic.

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A four-star general and Commander of the Coalition Forces in Iraq, and he gets confused over whether the war will make America safer, or would pass that to his chain of command to answer?

Petraeus: ‘I don’t know’ if victory in Iraq will make America safer

Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee today, General David Petraeus made what is