So much has happened over the month of August. If you were gone on vacation, you missed the beginning of the end of what has been a dreadful era in Washington. Today was. A few days ago, Attorney General . Earlier on Friday, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said that he would . His deputy Dana Perino will take over. John Warner, the elder statesman who recent has distanced himself from Bush's Iraq policy, will in 2008. All of these changes come in the midst of yet another sex scandal involving a closet Republican. Larry Craig, the Senator involved, .
This Labor Day weekend pretty much marks the beginning of the countdown to the end of this brand of leadership in Washington. Populism is back. In both presidential fields, the populist candidates are the rock stars -- Barack Obama and John Edwards on the Democratic side, and Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul on the Republican end. The establishment is crumbling in the wake of its own clumsiness, and quite frankly because they have failed to get anything done except for dragging up the national debt, supporting a failed foreign policy, and making us to respond to disasters.
We are approaching the end of the line. It will be important to evaluate the 2008 presidential, Senate, and House candidates closely, and pick populist leaders to run our government for years to come. Let's hope we learned our lesson.
Going ministry by ministry, the US Embassy in Iraq lays out the corruption that is going on in high levels of the Iraqi government. magazine obtained a copy, and reported on it this week. This is where our tax money is going:
The Ministry of Health, according to the report, "is a sore point;corruption is actually affecting its ability to deliver services andthreatens the support of the government." Investigations involving theMinistry of Oil have been manipulated, the study says, and the "CPI andthe [Inspector General of the ministry] are completely ill-equipped tohandle oil theft cases." There is no accurate accounting of oilproduction and transportation within the ministry, the report explains,because organized crime groups are stealing oil "for the benefit ofmilitias/insurgents, corrupt public officials and foreign buyers."
The list goes on: "Anticorruption cases concerning the Ministry ofEducation have been particularly ineffective….[T]he Ministry of WaterResources…is effectively out of the anticorruption fight with little tono apparent effort in trying to combat fraud….[T]he Ministry of Labor& Social Affairs is hostile to the prosecution of corruption cases.Militia support from [Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr] has effectively madecorruption in the Ministry of Transportation wholesale according toinvestigators and immune from prosecution." Several ministries,according to the study, are "so controlled by criminal gangs ormilitias" that it is impossible for corruption investigators "tooperate within [them] absent a tactical [security] force protecting theinvestigator."
The Ministry of the Interior, which has been a stronghold of Shiamilitias, stands out in the report. The study's authors say that"groups within MOI function similarly to a Racketeer Influenced andCorrupt Organization (RICO) in the classic sense. MOI is a 'legalenterprise' which has been co-opted by organized criminals who actthrough the 'legal enterprise' to commit crimes such as kidnapping,extortion, bribery, etc." This is like saying the mob is running thepolice department. The report notes, "currently 426 investigations arehung up awaiting responses for documents belonging to MOI whichroutinely are ignored." It cites an episode during which a CPI officerdiscovered two eyewitnesses to the October 2006 murder of Ameral-Hashima, the brother of the vice president, but the CPI investigatorwould not identify the eyewitnesses to the Minister of the Interior outof fear he and they would be assassinated. (It seemed that the killerswere linked to the Interior Ministry.) The report adds, "CPIinvestigators assigned to MOI investigations have unanimously expressedtheir fear of being assassinated should they aggressively pursue theirduties at MOI. Thus when the head of MOI intelligence recentlypersonally visited the Commissioner of CPI…to end investigations of[an] MOI contract, there was a clear sense of concern within theagency."
Over at the Defense Ministry, the report notes, there has been a"shocking lack of concern" about the apparent theft of $850 millionfrom the Iraqi military's procurement budget. "In some cases," thereport says, "American advisors working for US [Department of Defense]have interceded to remove [Iraqi] suspects from investigations orcustody." Of 455 corruption investigations at the Defense Ministry,only 15 have reached the trial stage. A mere four investigators areassigned to investigating corruption in the department. And at theMinistry of Trade, "criminal gangs" divide the spoils, with onehandling grain theft, another stealing transportation assets.
Four years into this misadventure, and this is the best we can do? And no, the answer is not to stay the course for another four years. When you mistakes, you learn from them -- let's learn from these mistakes by getting out.
It is certain that in the next much, which fittingly will be , the Administration will cling to the successes in Al Anbar Province. Of course, that is only one of 16 provinces in the war-torn country. Bush will certainly not, however, be able to dispute the disturbing situation that is currently unfolding in Southern Iraq. Basra is falling to rivaling Shiite gangs. To make matters worse, the Brits are pulling out.
The could soon rival the level that we've seen in Baghdad:
An all-out, Shiite-on-Shiite conflict could plunge the oil-rich andmainly Shiite south of Iraq into chaos that could rival — or evensurpass — the bloodshed across Baghdad and the center of the countryfor more than four years.
While Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army recently suspended operations in Baghdad, they continue to push for power down south. Here are the :
The major players in the power struggle in the south are the MahdiArmy militia loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and theSupreme Islamic Council of Iraq, the country's largest Shiite politicalparty and the patron of the Badr militia.
Security forces in theregion are known to be dominated by supporters of the Supreme Council,led by Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, whose family has been locked in along-running competition with al-Sadr's family over leadership ofIraq's Shiites.
The rivalries boiled over into deadly clashesMonday and Tuesday in the holy city of Karbala during a major Shiitereligious festival. Dozen of people were killed.
So in other words, you have political factions represented in parliament that are fighting amongst one another. It is the Iraqi equivalent of the DLC going to war with progressive bloggers. Al-Sadr and Abdul-Azis al-Hakim are both Shiites, but they have different agendas.
On top of that, two provincial governors down south have been in recent weeks. With the British leaving at the end of this year, the White House has yet to explain its strategy for keeping the south from falling. Don't expect anything new in Petraeus' testimony. Just expect a lot of questions from lawmakers.
Alberto Gonzales is not out of the woods just yet. The is investigating whether the former Attorney General in front of Congress in July. In other words, the career professionals inside the government might try to make an example out of him:
The disclosure, by Glenn A. Fine, the department’s inspectorgeneral, came in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee and was thefirst official confirmation that Mr. Gonzales was under investigationwithin the executive branch over the truthfulness of his testimony. Thecommittee’s chairman, Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, had requested the inquiry this month.
Forweeks, lawmakers from both parties have questioned whether Mr. Gonzalestold the truth in sworn statements to Congress on a number of issues,including his involvement in efforts to preserve the National Security Agency's program of wiretapping without warrants, as well as his role in last year’s dismissals of several United States Attorneys for what appeared to be political reasons.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) sent out a thanking the Inspector General for his efforts.
Maybe the real question worth asking is whether Gonzales resigned because he thought it might lessen the chances of him being investigated. Glenn Fine does not care. Gonzales tarnished the reputation of a department whose purpose is to oversee the enforcement of US law. A lot of career professionals who worked their entire lives to be part of that agency are angry. Gonzales will not get off easy. He will probably have to testify.
In the end, this is all about precedent. If we let this kind of behavior fly, future Administrations will engage in similar behavior and say, "Gonzales did it and there was no wrongdoing found, so this must be fine as well." A precedent needs to be set that , and is not only unacceptable, it is criminal.
As I post each morning, here are some of the political stories thatmight not be worthy of their own posts, but are nonetheless newsworthy:
(SOCIAL ISSUES) A ruled that Iowa's law banning gay marriage was unconstitutional.
(HOMEFRONT) 9/11 rescue workers are afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder.
(WAR) Army officials will investigate more than awarded in the last four years to see if there was any fraud.
(WAR) The Pentagon's inspector general is launching an investigation into the military's inability to account for . This investigation was launched following the news that Kurdish militants used US weapons to attack Turkey.
(WASHINGTON) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is opening the door to a possible with Republicans on a bill to end the war. "I'm not saying, 'Republicans, do what we want to do.' Just give mesomething that you think you would like to do, that accomplishes someor all of what I want to do," Reid said.
(CORRUPTION) In the interrogation video that was released on Thursday, Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) was by the police officer of lying to him: "I don't disrespect you but I'm disrespected right now, and I'm nottrying to act like I have all kinds of power or anything, but you'resitting here lying to a police officer."
(2008 RACE) On the Late Show with David Letterman, Hillary Clinton that Bill Clinton would be her vice presidential nominee if the constitution were different. "Believe me," she joked, "he looked into that."
(2008 RACE) Many 9/11 rescue workers are still upset that Republican presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani will attend the 9/11 memorial because it reeks of . According to the Washington Post, 'Groups called the 9/11 Firefighters & Families for Truth, WTCFamilies for Proper Burial, 9/11 Parents & Families of Firefighters& WTC Victims, and September 11th Advocates said Giuliani has"perpetuated his 'grand illusion' of hero rather than account for thefailures.'"
(POLL) If you look at the numbers on a , Bill Richardson is surging faster than any other Democratic candidate in Iowa.
If we left something out, it's because we either wrote about ityesterday or are scheduled to do so in an individual post later today. Otherwise, feel free to add any stories in the commentbox.
Today, police in Minnesota released this audio of the police interrogation following the arrest of Senator Larry Craig (R-ID), who for engaging in lewd behavior with an undercover cop in a men's bathroom. Craig, a person in , waited more than two months before telling his colleagues and American taxpayers about what happened. The interrogation here immediately became an argument:
Is this hard to believe? As explained yesterday in an exclusive report on CNN, police bust people all the time in public places for what they refer to as "cruising." Corporate executives, lawyers and all sorts of people have been caught:
David Schuster (in my opinion one of the better reporters out there) runs down GW's week from hell. Hurricane Katrina, Senator Craig, Alberto just to name a few of the contributing factors.
Hardball -David Shuster Takes a Look at a Bad Week for Bush
It may have been a rough one for Bush, but compared to what the people of New Orleans went through and many continue to go through, it was a walk in the park.
A report long-awaited by most analysts, due to its more objective nature than the , finds that the situation in Iraq continues to get a failing grade. A draft of a that will be released next week shows that 15 of the 18 benchmarks for success have not been met:
The strikingly negative GAO draft, which will be delivered to Congressin final form Tuesday, comes as the White House prepares to deliver itsown new benchmarks report the second week of September, along withcongressional testimony from the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. DavidPetraeus, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. They are expected to describesignificant security improvements.
The draft provides a harshassessment of the tactical effects of the current U.S.-ledcounteroffensive to secure Baghdad. "While the Baghdad security planwas intended to reduce sectarian violence, U.S. agencies differ onwhether such violence has been reduced," it states. While there havebeen fewer attacks against U.S. forces, it notes, the number of attacksagainst Iraqi civilians remains unchanged. It also finds that "thecapabilities of Iraqi security forces have not improved."
"Overall," the report concludes, "key legislation has not been passed,violence remains high, and it is unclear whether the Iraqi governmentwill spend $10 billion in reconstruction funds," as promised. While itmakes no policy recommendations, the draft suggests that futureadministration assessments "would be more useful" if they backed uptheir judgments with more details and "provided data on broadermeasures of violence from all relevant U.S. agencies."
A conducted last month by the White House found that 8 of the 18 benchmarks had been met. So what are the 18 benchmarks that the Administration set? is the list.
This comes on the heels of the news that Bush will ask Congress for at least more in war funding.
Here are what some of the liberal blogs are posting:
: (Via ) 'ManFaces Execution for Being in Car with Killer' - A 30-year old man, KennethFoster, is set to be executed today for a murder which he not only did notcommit, but which the authorities in Texas accept was carried out by another manin 1996. The trial judge, the prosecutor, and the jury that sentenced Mr Fosterto die admit that he did not murder the victim Michael LaHood. But, under acontroversial "law of parties", in Texas an associate of a perpetratorcan be found co-responsible in a capital case. The law imposes the death penaltyon anybody involved in a crime where a murder occurred.
The murder occurred as Foster was sitting in a car some 30 metres away withthree other passengers – but prosecutors said there was a conspiracy to committhe crime and therefore he deserved a death sentence. Since Foster's originaltrial, the other passengers – none of whom was tried under the law of parties– have testified that Foster had no idea a shooting was going to take place. ...
: 'How to Really Save New Orleans' - Any discussionof rebuilding New Orleans must take into account this alarming reality: NewOrleans is
"The city will be completely surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico just 90 yearsfrom now. ... That's the projection, because we are losing land on theMississippi Delta at a rate of 25 to 30 square miles per year. That's two acresper hour that are sinking below sea level," says [Tim] Kusky, [a professorof earth sciences at St. Louis University].
That process could only be slowed, in theory, by massive restoration ofwetlands.
The geological forces that, over the centuries, created the area we now knowas New Orleans were drastically changed in the 20th century by levees along theMississippi River. These levees diverted the silt, sediment and nutrients thatcreated the Mississippi Delta out into the continental shelf. Without the steadyflow of sediment, the Mississippi Delta - including New Orleans, the wetlandsand barrier islands - will likely disappear under water by the end of thiscentury.
It's with devastating effects: ...
: 'Homeland Security Expert Asks: What could we do with$456,278,478,000?' - It’s hard to get an accurate estimate because the[cost of occupying Iraq] mounts so rapidly every minute. Can’t help wonderinghow much farther along the [Gulf Coast] rebuilding would be, how much more couldbe spent to improve public education, insure the 43 million Americans withouthealth insurance, ad nauseum. Great legacy you’re leaving, George.
National Security budget priorities. Chart from
:'Prosecution: Siegleman Obstructing Justice From His Cell' - FormerAlabama Gov. Don Siegelman (D) has already been convicted of a crime, and he andhis co-defendant are in jail pending an appeal of their convictions. Butaccording to a prosecutor on the case, Siegelman's efforts at getting hisconviction overturned have crossed the line into obstruction of justice.
Speaking during a hearing for former Siegelman aideNick Bailey, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Feaga said Siegelman and Scrushy hadbeen doing things from behind bars to "manipulate events" - acts thatcould be considered a crime.
:'UPDATED: Carlson claimed that after incident in a publicbathroom, he assaulted the man who "bothered" him' - On the August28 edition of MSBNC Live, hosted by MSNBC general manager Dan Abrams,Tucker Carlson, host of MSNBC's Tucker, asserted, "Having sex in apublic men's room is outrageous. It's also really common. I've been bothered inmen's rooms." Carlson continued, "I've been bothered in GeorgetownPark," in Washington, D.C., "when I was in high school." WhenAbrams asked how Carlson responded to being "bothered," Carlsonasserted, "I went back with someone I knew and grabbed the guy by the --you know, and grabbed him, and ... hit him against the stall with his head,actually." ...With VIDEO
My Comment: I'd like to know Carlson's definition of"bothered", is it "coming on to you", or "grabbingyou" ? In my opinion, if you assault someone for "hitting" onyou, that's just "bashing"
: 'White House Preparing Strategy To 'Water Down' PessimisticReports From Iraq' - The Washington Post reports that a draft versionof the Government Accountability Office’s upcoming report on Iraq will delivera “strikingly negative†assessment of the situation in Iraq. The reportcontradicts the administration’s claim that sectarian violence is decreasing,stating that “the number of attacks against Iraqi civilians remainsunchanged.â€
The leaked draft version of the report was sent to the Post by an individualwho was concerned the White House may try to “water down†its conclusions.The concern comes on the heels of a report that Gen. David Petraeus“softened†the judgments of the recent National Intelligence Assessment onIraq and comments by Rep. Tom Davis that the White House would probably“tweak†the “Petraeus report.†The Post explains: ...
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