Upbeat Bush hints at more troops for Iraq
THE US President, George Bush, has given his strongest indication yet that he intends to continue with plans to increase troop numbers in Iraq after the September 15 report to Congress, when he delivered an upbeat assessment of military progress and a more positive view of the political outlook. He also warned that pulling out of Iraq would harm US interests in the Middle East for decades and expose America to the threat of increased terrorism and a nuclear arms race in the region by allowing al-Qaeda-backed Sunni extremists to flourish and Shiite extremism in Iran to spread.
Suspected chemical weapons found at U.N. office
U.N. archivists for UNMOVIC, the U.N. chemical weapons agency, unexpectedly turned up samples of material from an Iraqi chemical weapons plant in old files on Friday, U.N. officials said. The samples were in weapons inspectors’ files dating back to the 1990s, but the substance is not believed to pose any immediate danger, the officials said.
US lawmakers’ plane under fire in Iraq
A military cargo plane carrying three senators and a House member was forced to take evasive maneuvers and dispatch flares to avoid ground fire after taking off from Baghdad on Thursday night.
White House Preparing Strategy To ‘Water Down’ Pessimistic Reports From Iraq
According to unnamed officials familiar with the White House’s strategy regarding the GAO report, “the administration is preparing a case to play down the findings, arguing that Congress ordered the GAO to use unfair, ‘all or nothing’ standards when compiling the document.”
Conservative Media Study Finds Bias Where None Exists
Debunking a new Media Research Center study purporting that “since Democrats outnumbered Republicans in campaign segments on the morning shows of ABC, CBS and NBC, the three major networks are ‘actively promoting the Democrats’ liberal agenda.’” While former FAIR intern Volsky knows that “conservatives may tout the report as evidence of the media’s liberal bias” anyway, he finds that “its conclusion falls apart under scrutiny.”
Buchanan, Scarborough claimed that a military strike against Iran would be popular, but polls suggest otherwise
On MSNBC, Pat Buchanan claimed that a U.S. attack on Iran is “comin[g]” and went on to assert that a military strike against Iran would be “a very popular initial move.” Joe Scarborough agreed, stating that “a military strike against Iran initially would be extraordinarily popular with the American people.” But polling data show that most Americans say they would oppose an attack on Iran.
GOP no-shows prompt cancellation of debate
Univisión’s Republican presidential debate has been called off after only one contender agreed to participate, though the network hopes to reschedule. The debate for Democrats is still on for Sept. 9.