Entries for April 25, 2007

Frederick Kagan, an American Enterprise Institute fellow and leading proponent of the "surge" of troops into Iraq, today released Phase II of the institute's "Plan for Success in Iraq." One of its more notable features is a bid to get everyday Americans more involved in the war effort.

The Bush administration, he says, has been "slow and timid" in pointing out ways in which Americans can support troops "and connect with the Iraqi people [the soldiers] are risking their lives to save."

To that end, Kagan suggests creating "a military craigslist-style" website where units or provincial reconstruction teams could "identify equipment and supplies that would help the Iraqi people."

To the list of things that might have legally stopped Virginia Tech gunman Seung Hui Cho from doing what he did--or at least raised another red flag--add this: SB939, a short-lived bill introduced in the Virginia state Senate in 2003 by Charles Colgan, a Prince William County Democrat.

As we reported here last week, Cho narrowly escaped being flagged on the list of people unable to legally purchase guns in Virginia, even though a special justice deemed him an "imminent danger to himself," because he was ordered to receive outpatient treatment instead of being involuntarily institutionalized. (Being a danger to oneself flunks a person from buying guns under the federal standard.)

Arkansas Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor, in a face-to-face meeting with Alberto Gonzales, directly told the embattled attorney general to resign, his communications director said today.

"The trust level has been diminished greatly," Michael Teague told News Desk.

As first reported here at News Desk, Gonzales called Pryor on Monday night to arrange a meeting, four days after he promised to do so at a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last Thursday.

Amid the carnage in Iraq in the past several days, including the deadliest single day for U.S. troops since the war began, both the United States and the Iraqi government have been confronted with troubling questions over the pageantry of mourning the fallen. In an uncharacteristically direct op-ed article, an Army sergeant stationed in Bagram took issue with the treatment given to the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre, including all flags being flown at half-staff at the president's directive, when the same national attention is not given to fallen U.S. troops.

After a 10-year dispute, the Department of Veterans Affairs has approved the use of the Wiccan pentacle--a pre-Christian religious icon--on official tombstones of veterans whose families choose it.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government is under fire from the U.N. for not being more forthcoming with civilian death toll statistics in the worsening humanitarian crisis in Iraq.

This morning's top stories:

• The House is scheduled for a final vote today on the Iraq spending bill, which would mandate a withdrawal of troops beginning this fall. The president has promised a veto.
• Lawmakers in Mexico City have voted to legalize abortion, setting the stage for a bitter court battle.
• A Canadian national detained at Guantanamo Bay has been formally charged with murder and other crimes.
• Inmates at an Indiana prison staged a two-hour riot yesterday, injuring several guards.
• Astronomers have discovered the first observed planet outside our solar system that appears to have temperatures and an atmosphere capable of hosting humanlike life.