Morning copy 8/11/2005

Iraq

Christian Science Monitor reports this is the worst summer, in terms of basic utilities, of the past three summers of the war. Further, the issue has become highly politicized including riots and protests, LINK. Moqtada al-Sadr will stage a protest, as an effort to solidify his base.

The mayor of Baghdad remains in hiding, after his ouster on Monday. An armed group with the governor of Baghdad, the city is a municipality and a province, appear to be behind the ouster, and possibly the radical Shiite group SCIRI, SCIRI's website. Story at LA Times. The mayor's own words:

"This is terror! It's a lot worse than Saddam's time — the governor of Baghdad penetrates the municipality with more than 120 armed men with him, I don't know to whom they belong!" he screamed. "The governor went into my office and sat behind my table."

With four days left before the consitution's deadline, Shiites demand an autonomous federal state, something certain to raise Sunni ire, Reuters/Boston.com LINK.

Marine Major Paul Hackett was on Hardball last night, hosted by the able and comparatively calm David Gregory. Hackett was a vocal critic of Bush's Iraqi policies in his failed (but oh-so-close) run for Ohio's 2nd congressional district. To paraphrase the Major: Iraq is now a nation-building operation, with a misused military painting schools, meanwhile the nation has disolved into a civil war. We ought to leave as efficiently as possible.

Cindy Sheehan's protest at the Peace House in Crawford, Texas, fuels a simmering anti-war movement, LA Times LINK. Sheehan's protest enters the blogosphere, Washington Post LINK.

America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the champion of freedom everywhere, but the vindicator only of her own.
- John Quincy Adams

July Army recruiting meets its goal, GlobalSecurity.org LINK.

The Rolling Stones go all 1968, though they never went 1968 in 1968 as Jeff Greenfield noted, on the NeoCons, Slate LINK.

Iran

Britain, which maintains an embassy in Iran, protested the smuggling of arms into Iraq, Guardian LINK. An Iraqi official says the stories of Iran weapons are overblown, GlobalSecurity.org LINK.

A British, German and French draft resolution stating: "outstanding issues relating to Iran's nuclear programme have yet to be resolved and ... the Agency is not yet in a position to conclude that there are no undeclared activities in Iran." Reuters LINK.

Roberts nomination

Senate Judiciary Chair Arlen Specter backs the White House position on restricting access to so-called priviledged memos, NY Times LINK.

Furor over the Pro-Choice group's convoluted attack on John Roberts, NY Times LINK.

Salon's article on why big business "<3's" (they did it, sorta...) Roberts, LINK, Excerpt:

Both Engler and Bush realized that the judges who pleased business -- by limiting legal damages, restricting government regulations, and protecting private-property rights -- did not always match up with the interests of the GOP's socially conservative base, which cared about issues like abortion, the death penalty and school prayer. “There is a point [at which] social conservatives aren't always judicial conservatives," Engler said Wednesday. "President Bush understands that." And like Engler, then-Gov. Bush played his hand well. Before leaving office, both governors had helped transform their state judiciaries by appointing a coterie of pro-business jurists with enough conservative credentials to placate social conservatives.

CIA leak case

Who asked Wilson to investigate uranium acquisition? The Washington Post details how complex and conflicted the question is, LINK.

The Rise, Fall and Outbursts of Bob Novak, Salon.com LINK.

More links

The Washington Post says the transportation bill, all $280 Billion of it, is a break with Bush's promises of curtailing pork. LINK, Excerpt:

But this is a significant shift from Bush's once-uncompromising stand on earmarks, which he said stymie experts in the federal agencies who otherwise could prioritize projects and fund only the most deserving. "Across the spectrum of transportation programs, congressional earmarks undercut the [Transportation] Department's ability to fund projects that have successfully proved their merits," the White House's glossy 2003 budget proposal declared, in one of several passages decrying such spending.

The Alibaba.com/Yahoo! link-up, Xinhua LINK.

An unprecidented thaw, which may or may not have happened, shows Global Warming's increasing problem, Guardian LINK.

The NY Times Ed Page on the Federal Election Commission, and clean up operations lead by Senator McCain, LINK.

The Washington Post's Ed Page calls for an international fund to prevent famine like Niger's crisis, LINK.

Oil reaches $65.23 in Asian markets today, Forbes LINK.