Those Who Refuse To Cooperate Will Not Receive Fruit Cup

U.S. may stay in Iraq to '09 - 24 Jul 2007 at 8:43am - A revised U.S. military plan envisions establishing security at the local level in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq by summer 2008, leading one year later to security conditions nationwide that Iraqi forces are capable of sustaining, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

Is the release of this informtion not somehow aiding "the enemy"?

Specter suggests special prosecutor - 24 Jul 2007 at 10:27am - WASHINGTON -- A powerful Senate Republican on Tuesday told Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to consider appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the firings of federal prosecutors.

Planners set 2008 goal for Iraq security - 24 Jul 2007 at 11:24am - BAGHDAD -- A revised U.S. military plan envisions establishing security at the local level in Baghdad and elsewhere by next summer, it likely would take another year to get Iraqi forces ready to enforce any newfound stability, U.S. officials said Tuesday.... Stephen Biddle, who was a member of a group that advised Petraeus last spring on development of the strategy, said in a recent interview that he saw little chance of success if the U.S. military continued to try to establish security, unconditionally, across all of Baghdad. A better approach, Biddle said, is to use U.S. military power more selectively in a "carrot-and-stick" approach that rewards insurgent groups that choose to accept offers of a cease-fire. They would not be forcibly disarmed; they would choose to stop fighting. Those who refuse to cooperate would be dealt with militarily. Even that more nuanced approach, in Biddle's estimation, stands only about a 10-in-1[sic] chance of succeeding.

"Those who refuse to cooperate"? How about doing whatever it takes to encourage cooperation? But in any case, will Petraeus take Biddle's advice into consideration?

Bush warns anew of terror threat - 24 Jul 2007 at 12:48pm - CHARLESTON, S.C. -- President Bush sought Tuesday to strengthen the connection between the terrorist network al-Qaida and the unceasing Iraq war, prodding people to remember the threat of attack at home. By stressing al-Qaida's burgeoning operation in Iraq, Bush again aimed to frame the war in the public's mind as a matter of protecting the United States. Yet the war itself has turned into a valuable recruiting tool for al-Qaida, senior intelligence officials concede.

US and Iran still at loggerheads on Iraq - 24 Jul 2007 at 1:08pm - BAGHDAD (AFP) - The United States on Tuesday accused Iran of stepping up its alleged support of armed groups in Iraq in the two months since the arch foes' began talks aimed at finding a way to quell the fighting.

Again, as if the U.S. weren't responsible for any violence in Iraq.

Senators challenge White House briefings - 24 Jul 2007 at 2:38pm - WASHINGTON -- Political briefings given by Bush White House aides to high-ranking diplomats "were probably inappropriate," the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Tuesday. The comments by Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., were in contrast to White House assertions that the private briefings were not unusual or improper. Starting in 2001, White House political aides gave at least a half-dozen briefings to top diplomats about key congressional and gubernatorial races and Bush's re-election goals, according to documents obtained by the Senate committee. In a January 2007 session, senior Bush adviser Karl Rove briefed six ambassadors about Democratic incumbents targeted for defeat in 2008. Another political briefing occurred after the 2002 elections at the Peace Corps headquarters, the documents said. The diplomats were Bush appointees, several of whom had contributed heavily to the campaigns of Bush and other Republicans. Administration officials said Tuesday there was nothing surprising or inappropriate about the briefings.

Thought for the day:
"Laws alone can not secure freedom of expression; in order that every man present his views without penalty there must be spirit of tolerance in the entire population." -Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)