Entries for August 2007

It seems as if everybody is getting into the act when it comes to assessing the situation in Iraq, adding to the confusion of many voters and members of Congress who are looking for something definitive about how the war is going. Instead, nearly every day another report is issued or leaked—and the appropriate course of action remains muddled, according to public opinion analysts of both parties.

The latest addition to the growing stack of literature on the state of the "surge" of U.S. troops is yesterday's story in the Washington Post of a Government Accountability Office draft report. The report, to be finalized next week, finds that Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress.

Just two weeks before Gen. David Petraeus delivers his much-anticipated report on the "surge" and progress in Iraq, Democrats are considering a game plan that will cede military issues to the administration and instead focus on the political failures in the troubled Middle East nation.

The Mitt Romney presidential campaign announced yesterday morning that it will hold a contest for supporters to create their own television ads for the former Massachusetts governor, promising to use the winning video as an official campaign advertisement. The announcement trumpeted the contest as the first time amateur videographers have been able to contribute to official campaign material.

Looking ahead toward the 2008 election, the AFL-CIO is launching a new drive coinciding with Labor Day weekend to push for universal healthcare coverage.

Ten million of its members and 3 million of its retirees are holding rallies and press conferences, lobbying lawmakers, and going door to door to speak with voters about the importance of securing healthcare for all Americans. The AFL-CIO isn't backing specific universal healthcare legislation at this point, but it will hold a rally next week on Capitol Hill urging President Bush not to veto the reauthorization of State Children's Health Insurance Program, which allows states to provide coverage for the uninsured.

One might think the New York City mayor who led the Big Apple through the worst terrorist attack in history would be warmly received at this year's 9/11 memorial service.

Not so, say several outspoken 9/11 family groups, who view presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani's appearance as a way for him to capitalize politically on the day of mourning.

A report says that Virginia Tech did not properly care for the mentally disturbed Seung Hui Cho and could have saved lives by alerting students and faculty after the 23-year-old killed his first two victims the morning of April 16. Cho waited about two hours after shooting those students in a dormitory before he gunned down 31 other people, including himself, in an engineering classroom building.  U.S. News reported on students' return to the university for the start of a fresh school year last week.

A number of GOP lawmakers are now urging Sen. Larry Craig to step down after the Idaho lawmaker became embroiled this week in a Minneapolis airport bathroom sex scandal. A number of Republican senators, including presidential hopeful John McCain,  recommended that Craig give up his seat as his actions were unbecoming of the Republican Party. Craig already said that he would step down as the senior Republican on the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee and from his position on two subcommittees.

As the September 15 deadline approaches for the Bush administration to address the success of the "surge," officials at the Government Accountability Office are reporting that the Iraqi government has failed to meet the majority of its political and military goals. At least 13 of the 18 benchmarks set haven't been met, a GAO report will say.

The Bush administration will conduct two days of talks this weekend in Geneva, Switzerland, with North Korean officials as part of a six-nation process aimed at eliminating North Korea's nuclear activities in exchange for economic and political benefits.