The Wartime President/Judge/Jury/Executioner

Gonzales cautions judges on interfering - 29 Sep 2006 at 11:46am - WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who is defending President Bush's anti-terrorism tactics in multiple court battles, said Friday that federal judges should not substitute their personal views for the president's judgments in wartime.

Is Gonzales saying he thinks it would be acceptable for judges to substitute their personal views for the president's judgment outside of wartime? Even if judges agreed with that, how would they go about making such a substitution? Or is Gonzales suggesting that during time of war, there should be only one branch of government, the executive?

Bush: Dems have become obstructionists - 28 Sep 2006 at 3:56pm - BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- President Bush counterpunched at Democrats on Thursday, saying their criticism of the war in Iraq has turned their party into one of "cut-and-run" obstructionists.

At least he cannot say they're "cutting and running" from their duty of obstructionism.

Pakistan 'Selling' Innocents To U.S.? - 29 Sep 2006 at 9:30am - Amnesty International released a report saying Pakistani officials have turned over hundreds of people to the U.S. for detention as terror suspects, largely to reap reward money, and that the practice has led to the detentions of innocent people.

Commander: Iraq insurgents losing ground - 29 Sep 2006 at 3:10pm - WASHINGTON -- It is still possible to defeat the entrenched insurgency in Iraq's western Anbar province but probably not until U.S. troops leave, the American commander of forces in the provincial capital said Friday.

But, according to GWB, U.S. troops won't be leaving before the insurgency is defeated, as for them to do so would embolden the terrorists.

U.S. Congress restricts Bush on Iraq spending - 29 Sep 2006 15:17:22 GMT - WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress on Friday moved to block the Bush administration from building permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq or controlling the country's oil sector, as it approved $70 billion for funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Embattled Bush sticks to Iraq guns - 29 Sep 2006 at 1:40pm - WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush, under fire on many fronts over Iraq, has tied his Republicans' election-year fortunes to an unwavering defense of the unpopular war and sharp attacks on his critics.

I'm sure it must be done all the time, so why does this particular (over)use of the "war" metaphor in a story about war policy strike me as particularly surreal?

Zawahri calls Bush a failure - 29 Sep 2006 at 3:00pm - DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri called President Bush a "lying failure" for saying progress had been made in the war on terrorism, according to a video posted on the Internet on Friday.

Al-Zawahri must have been checking out advance copy from Woodward's book.