World-News

Salon
by Sidney Blumenthal

07/19/07

One of the more memorable and revealing statements explaining the nature of the Bush administration buildup to the invasion of Iraq was offered in September 2002 by then White House chief of staff Andrew Card. ‘From a marketing point of view,’ he said, ‘you don’t introduce new products in August.’ Five years later, a period longer than the Civil War and World War II, the administration is preparing to present its case for continuing the surge in Iraq. But rather than waiting for September, when Gen. David Petraeus is scheduled to deliver his report, the administration has moved up the marketing to July. The familiar props are rolled out, like the well-worn and peeling painted backdrop for a production of a traveling Victorian theatrical troupe, and members of the audience are expected to watch with rapt fascination, as though they had never seen this show before. The negative response to the preview does not alter the same old script...

http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2007/07/19/bush_iraq/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Petraeus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Sidney+Blumenthal

Tim Shipman of the Telegraph UK reports: "Bush was facing increasingly blunt criticism of his Iraq policy last night as a US intelligence report suggested that the war has made al Qaeda attacks on American soil more likely. Senator George Voinovich, a close ally of Mr. Bush, revealed that he warned Karl Rove - the president's chief political adviser - last week that Mr. Bush must devise a new plan for Iraq or he would vote with Democrats on Capitol Hill to withdraw troops."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/071907K.shtml


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Voinovich
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Karl+Rove
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Iraq+withdrawl

Chattanooga Times Free Press

07/18/07

Senate Republicans torpedoed legislation Wednesday to force the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq, bowing to President Bush’s adamant refusal to consider any change in war strategy before September. The 52-47 vote fell far short of the 60 needed to advance the legislation and marked the final act in an all-night session that Democrats engineered to dramatize their opposition to the war...

http://tinyurl.com/2syqmb


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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

USA Today

07/18/07

Over the past year, Iraqis heard several audio recordings by a mysterious terrorist leader named Omar al-Baghdadi singing the praises of the organization al-Qaeda in Iraq and urging his followers to attack U.S. troops. The whole thing was a sham, the U.S. military said Wednesday. Al-Baghdadi was actually a fictional character dreamed up by al-Qaeda in Iraq to bolster its local credibility because the group is largely run by non-Iraqis. The voice heard in the recordings belonged to an Iraqi actor, the military said...

http://tinyurl.com/3a7tho


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Video

He's been dubbed 'the MP for Baghdad' and is a hero to the anti-war movement. But have George Galloway's actions provoked a smear campaign to destroy him?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WjtZxAVYPtQ


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=George+Galloway

The 52-47 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to cut off debate under Senate rules.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19797695/


From Information Clearing House



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

Conservatives Block Vote on Ending The War

by Bill Scher
http://ga3.org/ct/8120pgF1hmJn/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Trent+Lott
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bill+Scher

"We need to recognize," writes Peter Galbraith for Tomdispatch.com, "that Iraq no longer exists as a unified country. In the parts where we can accomplish nothing, we should withdraw. But there are still three missions that may be achievable - disrupting al Qaeda, preserving Kurdistan's democracy, and limiting Iran's increasing domination. These can all be served by a modest U.S. presence in Kurdistan."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/071807F.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Peter+Galbraith

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/18/2600/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Iraq+oil
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Big+Oil

Anne Flaherty reports for the Associated Press, "Senate Democrats staged an all-night debate on the Iraq war in a dramatic attempt to wear down Republicans who refuse to vote to begin to bring troops home by fall."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/071807J.shtml