In what is being portrayed as an escalation of tensions in the region, Iran test-fired several missiles yesterday. NBC Nightly News said "the most troubling aspect of the news...is the range of the missiles," which "can easily strike Israel. ... At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today's launch is proof of that threat." NBC added, "Regarding the timing of the exercise, US military and intelligence officials believe the launch was in response to Israeli military exercises last month." The Financial Times reports "some US officials described" those Israeli exercises "as target practice for an Iran strike."
The Christian Science Monitor reports "the upgrade in saber rattling on all sides from rhetoric to military exercises increases the possibility that a miscalculation from Iran, Israel, or the US could result in war, analysts say." The AP, however, says the launches "did not appear to mark a significant advance in Iran's missile capability -- similar ones have been tested previously." On the CBS Evening News, Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace dismissed the Iranian exercise, as well as Israel's maneuvers last month, as "a PR game each side [is] sending, flexing its muscles and showing the other side what it's capable of."
The Wall Street Journal reports in a front-page article that the "Iranian missiles mark the latest in a series of conflicting signals from Tehran to confound US officials." The New York Times reports some "saw the tests as essentially deterrent in nature. A senior American intelligence official said the missile tests, together with belligerent comments by Iranian officials, seemed part of a strategy to warn Iran's neighbors of Tehran's 'capacity to inflict pain.'" The Washington Post also reports that Administration officials "played down the possibility of military action against the Islamic republic and belittled Tehran's claims of progress on its nuclear program."
On MSNBC's Hardball, Andrea Mitchell of NBC said, "It seems to be an Iranian muscle flexing, but the really interesting thing is that we don't know how serious this is, how aggressive it is. In fact, it's been suggested by people as expert as the Richard Haass of the Council on Foreign Relations earlier today on MSNBC that this could be a hard-line sort of approach to warm up the possibility of diplomacy with the Europeans led by Javier Solano, the head of the European negotiating stance, with Iran. So this could be a good cop, bad cop routine." USA Today, Los Angeles Times, AFP and Washington Times among other media outlets, also report the story.
Iran Tests-Fires More Missiles. AFP reports this morning that "Iran's military test-fired more missiles in the Gulf on Thursday, the website of state television reported, on the third day of war games that have added to tensions with the West. 'On the third day of Great Prophet maneuvers in the Persian Gulf the most significant events were the firing of shore-to-sea, surface-to-surface and sea-to-air missiles,' it said."
Rice: US Would Defend Israel. The AP reports "Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran on Thursday that the United States will not back down in the face of Iranian threats against Israel. ... 'We are sending a message to Iran that we will defend American interests and the interests of our allies,' Rice said at the close of a three-day Eastern European trip." Added Rice, "We take very very strongly our obligations to help our allies defend themselves and no one should be confused about that."
Iran-Inspired Attacks In Iraq Plummet The Wall Street Journal reports, "A top US general said attacks in Iraq involving Iranian-made rockets and mortars have fallen sharply, adding to uncertainty about Iran's intentions." Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, "the day-to-day commander of all US forces in Iraq, said he didn't know if the decrease was a goodwill gesture by Tehran or the result of efforts to destroy caches of Iranian weapons and kill the insurgents who have been using them."
McCain Warns Against "Second Holocaust" The CBS Evening News interviewed Sen. John McCain, "The Iranians are testing these missiles not because of action on the part of the Israelis, in my view. This is part of a calculated plan, developing nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them."
ABC World News also interviewed McCain, who reiterated his message, calling the tests "part of the overall effort on the part of the Iranians to acquire nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. I strongly feel that we must enact meaningful and powerful sanctions, joined by our European allies and others who consider this threat very seriously."
McCain told NBC Nightly News, "Hopefully, this event, it will serve as a catalyst that will finally gel all of the different factors that have been out there that will allow us then to act with our friends and allies in a most effective fashion and modify Iranian behavior, but we cannot allow a second Holocaust."
The Los Angeles Times notes that "at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania, McCain said the missile test appears to have been conducted by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. 'This is the same organization that I voted to condemn as a terrorist organization when an amendment was on the floor of the United States Senate." The Wall Street Journal reports "Obama's campaign said Sen. McCain didn't support a bill the Democratic lawmaker authored that would seek to block U.S. government investment in companies doing business in Iran's energy sector."
Obama Calls For "Direct Negotiations" ABC World News reported Sen. Barack Obama said in reaction to the missile tests, "The United States has to gather up others in the region, as well as internationally, to apply pressure on Iran. But it's very difficult for us to do so when we haven't shown a willingness to engage in the sort of direct negotiations with Iran that would give them carrots and sticks for a change in behavior." The CBS Evening News reported Obama "said what is needed is direct diplomacy and the threat of tougher sanctions to persuade Iran to drop its nuclear program."
In what media reports are casting as a major win for President Bush, the Senate yesterday passed the revisions to the FISA law long sought by the Administration. The AP calls the vote "a victory for the president," as the bill "contains the protection for telecommunications companies from lawsuits...he demanded and ends almost a year of political wrangling over the regulation of government eavesdropping." Another AP dispatch describes Democrats as "bowing to...Bush's demands," while AFP reports Democrats handed the President a "victory." After the vote, adds AFP, "Bush said the new law would help US intelligence agencies 'learn who the terrorists are talking to, what they're saying, and what they're planning.'" He added, "This legislation is critical to America's safety. It is long overdue." The Hill notes Bush also said "the bipartisan vote 'shows that even in an election year we can come together and get important pieces of legislation passed.'"
Under the headline "White House Scores Key Victory On Government Eavesdropping," the Christian Science Monitor reports, "'Lame duck' might not mean 'powerless' after all. With only six months left in office, the Bush administration has won a rare legislative victory on a contentious issue." NBC Nightly News said the "controversial new rules allowing the government to listen in on phone calls and read emails."
The CBS Evening News noted "Bush says the law will help track terrorist activity, but opponents say it threatens the privacy of US citizens." ABC World News said "one of the most controversial aspects of the bill will protect telecommunication companies from lawsuits, for giving the government the ability to listen in on Americans without a warrant." The President "has been pushing hard for this bill for months."
Obama Upsets His Supporters On FISA The AP reports, "Obama's vote in favor of anti-terrorist surveillance legislation on Wednesday marked an about-face on the issue that left him comfortably in the bipartisan middle, no matter the criticism from John McCain nor the discomfort among liberal Democrats."
The Wall Street Journal reports the McCain campaign "cast Sen. Obama's support for the measure as a 'flip-flop,'" but "the Obama campaign suggested Sen. Obama's position was consistent because he voted for the amendment to eliminate the immunity provision and said he plans to monitor and further adjust the measure if elected president."
The Washington Post reports Obama "had opposed the immunity provision in earlier versions of the wiretapping bill," whose "28 opponents included numerous prominent Democrats, including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.); Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.); Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (Ill.); and Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.)."
The Financial Times reports Obama's "switch appeared designed to neutralise Republican efforts to portray him as weak on national security," but "it sparked anger among many of his liberal supporters who say the bill conceded too much ground to the Bush administration and rode roughshod over civil liberties." The New York Times also says "the issue put" Obama "in a particularly precarious spot. After long opposing the idea of immunity for the phone companies in the wiretapping operation, he voted for the plan on Wednesday."
The Washington Post notes "Iraqi leaders this week pressed for a firm timetable for the departure of US troops as part of a long-term security agreement the two countries are negotiating." Iraqi spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh "said in Baghdad on Wednesday that a US pullout could be completed in several years."
US Faces Newly "Confident" Iraq In a news analysis, the New York Times reports, "The Bush administration's quest for a deal with Iraq that would formally authorize an unlimited American troop presence there well beyond President Bush's tenure appears to be unraveling. The irony is that it may be a victim of the administration's successes in the war" as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki "and his senior aides are now openly demanding a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops, at least on paper."
Iraqi Police, Army Said To Be Ready By Mid 2009 The Washington Post reports, "Iraq's army and police will be fully manned and operational by mid-2009, possibly as early as April, the top US general in charge of building Iraqi security forces said yesterday, signaling the prospect that Iraqi forces could assume primary combat responsibilities in the country while US troops shift to a supporting role."
Pakistan Now Top Destination For Jihadists The New York Times reports, "American military and intelligence officials say there has been an increase in recent months in the number of foreign fighters who have traveled to Pakistan's tribal areas to join with militants there." That "flow may reflect a change that is making Pakistan, not Iraq, the preferred destination for some Sunni extremists from the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia who are seeking to take up arms against the West, these officials say."
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The Rev. Jesse Jackson, apparently not realizing he was speaking on an open mike, was harshly critical of Sen. Barack Obama during an appearance on Fox News over the weeks. Fox News' O'Reilly Factor reported, "While speaking to Reed Tuckson from the United Health Care group, Reverend Jackson had some negative comments for Senator Obama's support for faith-based charities. Here is a part of what Jackson said." Jackson said, "See, Barack been, um, talking down to black people on this faith-based. I want to cut his n***s out. ... Barack, he's talking down to black people."
NBC Nightly News called it "an embarrassing moment" and adds that Jackson "has apologized for very crude remarks." ABC World News reported, "The elder Jackson made an unguarded, indiscreet and rather vulgar comment, about Barack Obama, which Jackson thought was not being recorded. It was." The Los Angeles Times reports that before the clip aired on O'Reilly, Jackson "gave an interview to rival network CNN expressing regret for his comments, which he said he made as part of a discussion about Obama's calls for more personal responsibility during appearances before black churches." Jackson said, "I said it can come off as speaking down to black people. And then I said something I felt regret for -- it was crude."
The Politico adds that since Fox "was the only one with the video, the network benefited from an afternoon of Drudge Report headlines, reporters guessing exactly what was said, and rival television personalities who breathlessly hyped the incident." Bloggers and "talking heads immediately started throwing out the knee-jerk conventional wisdom that in a general election distance from Jackson might not be such a bad thing."
Sen. Barack Obama's decision to support an intelligence bill he had vowed to veto, his decision to "refine" his position on Iraq, his rejection of public financing, and other recent alterations of positions are prompting a round of negative news coverage. For example, on its front page this morning, the Washington Post says one factor in Obama's "success has been his ability to confound both left and right. But while that may be a measure of a skillful politician determined to win a general election, it has left unanswered important questions about his core principles and his presidential priorities."
The Los Angeles Times says that as Obama "moves to broaden his appeal beyond loyal Democrats, a chorus of anger and disappointment has arisen from the left," but cautions that so far, "those voices are a distinct minority because the party has a more pressing concern: winning in November."
The Politico reports that "some activists in the abortion rights community" think Obama "appeared to be turning soft" on abortion because he, "in an interview with a Christian magazine, seemed to reject a mental health exception to the ban on late-term abortions."
In his Roll Call column, Morton Kondracke says it is "customary for presidential candidates to move to the center for the general election after they've pandered to their party's base in the primaries - but the Illinois Democrat has claimed not to be your customary candidate, but someone who was going to usher in a new politics." Obama has "eloquently promised 'change we can believe in,' but lately he's changing his tune on so many issues it's becoming a legitimate question: Can voters really believe in him?"
The AP reports Sen. John McCain said the "system for funding Social Security is 'a disgrace' because it forces young workers to pay into a program that is unlikely to benefit them in its current form." In comments that were made Monday but only now getting picked up by the media McCain said, "Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in America today. And that's a disgrace. It's an absolute disgrace, and it's got to be fixed." The AP adds some Democrats "criticized the remarks because McCain basically was describing how Social Security has always worked." The Washington Post reports under the headline "McCain Gets a Third-Rail Shock" that Democratic criticism, emanating from left-leaning blogs and the DNC, is now driving attention to the comments.
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The Columbus Dispatch reports that Sen. John McCain made another swing through Ohio yesterday, where he "trumpeted patriotism and low taxes" during a town hall meeting. The Dayton Daily News reports that McCain also hammered Sen. Barack Obama for opposing his energy plans, saying, "For a guy whose official seal carried the motto, 'Yes, we can,' Sen. Obama's agenda sure has a whole lot of 'No, we can't.'" The AP reports that it was McCain's fifth trip to Ohio in four months, with another planned for next week.
Fox News's "Special Report with Brit Hume" reported the AFL-CIO is going on the air today with an ad "featuring a Vietnam combat veteran criticizing Senator McCain's stance on the Iraq war and other veterans' issues. In the ad, Navy veteran Jim Wasser says that while he respects McCain's war record, he has problems with McCain's record in the Senate." The AP notes that Wasser, "an electrician from Illinois, served with John Kerry aboard Navy Swift Boats in Vietnam and helped" Kerry 'rebut attacks on his war record during the 2004 presidential campaign." The Washington Post says, "The ads will run on stations in Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin for the next three weeks. ... The AFL-CIO would not disclose the amount being spent on the buy, only that it is a 'significant targeted buy.'"
The AP reports it was "was all part of a careful arrangement:" Barack Obama would get assistance raising campaign cash from Hillary Clinton, and in return he would aid her in retiring about $10 million of her campaign debt. But Obama "momentarily forgot his part of the deal at a major New York fundraiser Wednesday night." The New York Times reports after he "finished a 30-minute address to about 1,000 donors in a ballroom at the Grand Hyatt New York," Obama "returned to the microphone and said that giving money to Mrs. Clinton was one of the best ways to ensure that the Democratic Party would be unified in the fall campaign." In a story headlined "HILLARY IN NEAR MISS AT FE$T," the New York Post says the "lapse fanned the flames of recent tension over whether Team Obama is doing enough to dig Clinton out from her approximate $22 million hole."
Bloomberg News reports that Obama and Clinton today "plan to have breakfast at a women's event at the New York Hilton, where tickets range from $250 to $2,300 and the hosts were asked to raise as much as $23,000 apiece. A private reception to raise money to help retire Clinton's campaign debt was scrapped because Senate votes kept Obama in Washington longer than expected, spokeswoman Jen Psaki said."
Obama Up 2 In Gallup Tracking The latest daily presidential tracking poll from Gallup shows Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain 46%-44% for the second day in a row. McCain has narrowed Obama's lead in recent days; he trailed by as many as 6 points last week.
Obama Up 4 In Democracy Corps Poll A Democracy Corps (D) poll of 2000 likely voters taken June 22-25 shows Obama leading McCain 49%-45%.
McCain Closing On Obama in New Jersey A Rasmussen Reports automated poll of 500 likely New Jersey voters taken July 7 shows Obama leading McCain 44%-39% in New Jersey. A similar poll taken June 4 showed Obama leading McCain 48%-39%.
Two Polls Show McCain Up In Missouri A Rasmussen Reports automated poll of 500 likely Missouri voters taken July 7 shows McCain leading Obama 47%-42%. In the June survey, Obama edged McCain 43%-42%, although McCain had held leads of varying sizes in earlier surveys in the state this year.
A Public Policy Polling (D) survey of 723 likely Missouri voters taken July 2-5 shows McCain leading Obama 47%-44%.
McCain Up Big In Alabama An Alabama Education Association /Capital Survey Research Center poll of 536 likely Alabama voters taken on several days between June 25 and July 1 shows McCain leading Obama 49%-36%.
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Jay Leno: "Jesse Jackson now apologizing to Barack Obama for some extremely crude comments he made about Obama after an interview on Fox News. Yeah, apparently Jackson didn't know the microphone was on, and he said some nasty stuff, yeah. So yet another reverend Obama has to distance himself from. The guy has the worst luck with preachers of anybody I know!"
Jay Leno: "The African-American cable network TV One is coming under fire for its plans to cover the Democratic convention but not the Republican convention. And, believe me, black Republicans are very upset, both of them."
Jay Leno: "Osama bin Laden's teenage son...has released a poem calling for the destruction of America and the killing of all its allies. Imagine a kid writing something like that. Here's my question. Where are the parents?"
Conan O'Brien: "Yesterday at the G8 summit, President Bush met with the prime minister of India. Yeah. There was an awkward moment when Bush told the prime minister, 'I think I've been in your taxi.'"
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