In the News: Jul-07

Iraq says may agree timetable for U.S. withdrawal - 7 Jul 2008 at 8:37am - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki raised the prospect on Monday of setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops as part of negotiations over a new security agreement with Washington.

"May agree"? AFP puts it this way:

Iraq demands pullout timetable in US defence pact talks - 7 Jul 2008 at 2:54pm - BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday he is negotiating a deal with Washington that will for the first time set a timetable for a withdrawal of foreign forces as part of a framework for a US troop presence into next year.

'No progress' on mass Guantanamo prisoner transfer - 7 Jul 2008 at 2:21pm - WASHINGTON -- U.S. and Yemen remain at odds over a proposal to release more than one-third of the detainees from Guantanamo Bay, officials said Monday, even as the Bush administration wrestles with the future of the military prison.

Joint Chiefs chairman: Security gains holding - 7 Jul 2008 at 11:54am - BAGHDAD -- Iraq appears on track to establishing sustainable security - a key step toward withdrawing U.S. troops - the top U.S. military officer said Monday after visiting the newly quiet Sadr City section of the capital.

Bush urges global unity against Zimbabwe elex 'sham' - 7 Jul 2008 at 8:54am - President Bush, who backs U.N. sanctions against Zimbabwe, urged the international community on Monday to come together on ways ...

Sham, yes -- but is GWB really the right person to be raising this issue?

U.S. holds navy exercise after Iran comments on Gulf - 7 Jul 2008 at 10:03am - DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy said on Monday it was carrying out an exercise in the Gulf, days after vowing that Iran will not be allowed to block the waterway which carries crude from the world's largest oil-exporting region.

Thought for the day:
"Always" and "never" are two words you should always remember never to use. -Wendell Johnson