World-News

Boston Globe
by Charles A. Stevenson

08/22/07

The debate over whether and how to end the war in Iraq has been muddied by legal disputes over which branch of the federal government has the power to do what. Supporters of a strong presidency can point to court decisions upholding a broad reading of the commander in chief’s powers. Constitutional purists who believe in Congress’ supreme power to authorize war can quote the Framers and most early presidents in their own behalf. What has been largely ignored in this debate is what Congress has actually done in previous conflicts. In fact, there are many precedents for Congress to act to restrict presidential authority or capabilities to fight the war. The question is whether Congress can muster majorities to enact the necessary laws...

http://tinyurl.com/3xpvbg



The utter uselessness of the Petraeus report

The American Prospect
by Paul Waldman

08/22/07

Just a few weeks from now, the most eagerly anticipated premier of the year will finally be here, complete with fierce disagreement among the critics and relentless hype by the producers, cameras furiously clicking when the starring players emerge in public. That premier is the report coming in mid-September from U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and, more importantly, Gen. David Petraeus, commander of American forces there. If you’re expecting a surprise ending, you shouldn’t hold your breath. But it isn’t just the report itself that is utterly predictable. The script for what will come afterward is a sure thing, too...

http://tinyurl.com/2cgz6x


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ryan+Crocker
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Petraeus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Charles+A.+Stevenson
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Paul+Waldman

Democracy Now! Audio and Transcript.

Journalist Nir Rosen on How the U.S. Invasion of Iraq Has Led to Ethnic Cleansing, a Worsening Refugee Crisis and the Destabilization of the Middle East.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18238.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Nir+Rosen

By Peter Graff

Slowly but deliberately, U.S. forces are enlisting groups of armed men -- many probably former insurgents -- and paying cash, a strategy they say has dramatically reduced violence in some of Iraq's most dangerous areas in just weeks.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18233.htm

By Jonathan Steele

Nuri al-Maliki's outburst against US criticism is bad news for George Bush, whose political project for Iraq now looks more fragile than ever.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18232.htm



Bush insists he supports "good man" Maliki

On Tuesday, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, had called political progress in Iraq "extremely disappointing" and warned that U.S. support for Maliki's government was not a "blank check."

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N22445770.htm



Iraqi prime minister, on visit to Syria, lashes out at U.S. critics

Iraq's prime minister lashed out Wednesday at U.S. criticism, saying no one has the right to impose timetables on his elected government and that his country "can find friends elsewhere.''

http://wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=6967743&nav=menu31_3


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=al-Maliki
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ryan+Crocker
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jonathan+Steele

Justin Rood, of ABC News, reports: "The US government paid a wanted international criminal roughly $60 million to fly supplies into Iraq in support of the war effort, a new book alleges."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082207F.shtml

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNDubPTrnG0


Informant: Paul Jay



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Margolis

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/08/22/3326/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+Scheer

http://tinyurl.com/29so5z



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=withdrawal+Iraq

McClatchy Newspapers' Leila Fadel writes: "The pungent smell of the dead hangs low in this village, and not even the colorful headdresses the men have wrapped across their faces can keep it out. Nearly one week after four bombs blew apart this village, the dead are still being recovered, adding to the toll that already had made last Tuesday's bombings the deadliest terrorist attack since the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082107S.shtml

Why are there so few people complaining and voicing outrage?
http://www.thecatsdream.com/blog/2007/08/alice-in-wonderland-znet-and-art-of.htm


From Information Clearing House