Morning copy, 8/1/2005

Apologize, Bush...

HUGE!!!1 Column, with a capital "C", from Salon.com. Watch the Visa commercial, get a free pass. Do it, do it, do it...

The column written by Doug Bandow, a Reaganite Republican. LINK.

Did you do it yet?

How bout now?

What about this excerpt:

His grievous failures dramatically overshadow those of his political adversaries.

President Bush took the United States into war based on a falsehood. His appointees talked about mushroom clouds, Iraq's stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons, and unmanned aerial vehicles that could hit America.

Bandow's bonafides lead to a Doonsebury reference, LINK to that cartoon, which "links" to the Op-Ed piece against Bush's re-election, Salon.com LINK to that piece.

The "about the writer" from Salon.com:

Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a member of the Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy. A former visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, he served as a special assistant to President Reagan.

Major stories of the day...

Saudi King Fahd passed away. The King was no longer the functioning head of Saudi policy since his stroke. Oil prices set to rise, but perhaps because of production problems at BP moreso than the succession of a new Saudi King. An important story nonetheless. "Maddening contradictions," and a prominent Nemesis in Osama bin Laden, Washington Post's obituary LINK. Saudi officials are quick to reassure the markets of a steady transition and no changes in oil policy, CNN.com LINK. Long-term worries remain, BBC News LINK.

Sudanese VP, and former rebel leader, killed in weather related helicopter crash. Violence and riots result. CNN.com LINK.

Second best column of the day...

The puzzle, wrapped in an enigma and coated in strangeness, that is Senator Rick Santorum in today's Philly Inquirer, LINK.:

WHAT IN THE WORLD is Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum doing?

Is the GOP stalwart aiming to win the presidency in 2008?

Or is he somehow trying, with his outspoken remarks, to lose the closely contested race for his Senate seat in 2006.

And is he trying to do both at the same time?

John Roberts

Democrats to press Roberts on his thoughts about Supreme Court precedents, Bloomberg.com LINK.

Soak all of this in:

A Charter Member of Reagan Vanguard
Court Nominee Was Part of Legal Team Seeking to Shift Course on Civil Rights Laws

By R. Jeffrey Smith, Amy Goldstein and Jo Becker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, August 1, 2005; Page A01

In the early 1980s, a young intellectual lawyer named John G. Roberts Jr. was part of the vanguard of a conservative political revolution in civil rights, advocating new legal theories and helping enforce the Reagan administration's effort to curtail the use of courts to remedy racial and sexual discrimination.

Washington Post LINK, to continue that article.

John Bolton

Senator Chris Dodd urges Bush not to appoint John Bolton in a recess appointment to the U.N., saying he is "damaged goods". CNN.com LINK.

Breaking news right before 9 a.m. is that Bolton will get a recess appointment (CNN reports).

Bolton or no Bolton, the U.N. is messed up. Could someone please tell me why a billion Indians Do Not have a seat on the Security Council?

Iraq

How the Iraqi assembly members deal with violence in their daily lives, Boston.com LINK. Some expect delays on the Iraqi constitution, despite official promises to make the deadline by August 15th, LA Times LINK. Oil wealth partly leads to the divide in the Constitution, LA Times LINK.

Big story:

One CIA analyst has filed a suit saying "his dismissal [from the Agency] was punishment for his reports questioning the agency's assumptions on a series of weapons-related matters." NY Times LINK.

Here's what his lawyer has said:

"In both cases, officials brought unwelcome information on W.M.D. in the period prior to the Iraq invasion, and retribution followed," said Mr. Krieger, referring to weapons of mass destruction.

Another big story in Iraq:

Tensions between civilian contractors, often very well payed, and the US Military continue. The economics lede the USA Today story:

The better pay from private companies has led troops to sign on with contractors when their service ends and has aggravated tensions between military and civilian workers in Iraq.

Contractors provide many battalions worth of force-power in Iraq, and this is an issue that has not been evaluated sufficiently. If Iraq remains unstable, or even gets worse, it will require much more money to continue using these contractors, such as Haliburton.

Sheik Horn

One American soldier's rise to political prominence in rural Iraq. Washington Times/AP LINK.

More Iraq: What's in a name?

Growing push to stop using "war" for the global, uh, war on terrorism, Military.com/AP LINK.

When Kerry mentioned fighting more like police, more toward diminishing risks over a long period of time, do you remember how Cheney and the administration scoffed at that remark?

London

Risk remains high, as police fear additional cells. Numerous arrests in a fast paced investigation, AFP LINK.

Tony Blair to step down at the next election, Guardian LINK.

We sit and watch...

Hunger in Africa, with millions at risk, Guardian.com LINK. Christian Science Monitor LINK.