Congress Erupts in Partisan Fight Over Iraq War (NYT)

The House and the Senate engaged in angry, intensely partisan debate on Thursday over the war in Iraq, as Republicans sought to rally support for the Bush administration's policies and exploit Democratic divisions in an election year shadowed by unease over the war.

U.S. Portrayal Helps Flesh Out Zarqawi's Heir (NYT)

American military officers on Thursday put a face on the new chief of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, releasing a photograph and details of the man they say succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi after he was killed in an airstrike last week.

The State of Iraq: An Update (NYT Op-Ed)

After his surprise trip to Baghdad this week, President Bush struck a hopeful tone. "I do think we'll be able to measure progress," he declared at a news conference on Wednesday. "You can measure progress in capacity of Iraqi units ... in megawatts of electricity delivered ... in oil sold on the market .... There's ways to determine whether or not this government's plans are succeeding."

We agree. Unfortunately, according to our latest tally of metrics (compiled from a variety of government and news media sources), Iraq has a long way to go. To be successful, the new Iraqi government will have to do things that its predecessors and the United States have generally failed to accomplish.

Maliki Aide Who Discussed Amnesty Leaves Job (WaPo)

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office on Thursday accepted the resignation of an aide who had told a reporter that Maliki was considering a limited amnesty that would likely include guerrillas who had attacked U.S. troops, the aide said.

Prayers in the Military: Oh, Lord, help Congress to stop its meddling (WaPo Op-Ed)

THE MILITARY has been making a good-faith effort in recent months to write rules on religious activities that preserve both the rights of free expression among service members and the separation of church and state. It's unfortunate, therefore, that the House of Representatives, responding to pressure from evangelical Christian groups, has unnecessarily inserted itself into this debate, with a provision in the recent defense authorization bill aimed at ensuring that evangelical chaplains can pray in Jesus's name at public ceremonies. The Senate is debating a version that wisely leaves out the House provision and lets the military services continue to work out this complex issue the right way -- without congressional interference.

The contrasting views on the future of Iraq are well summed up by the following:

Seize the Day:"Our objective in Iraq is victory", by Paul Bremer in the WSJ:

George Bush made his trip to Baghdad, he told the new prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, "to look you in the eye." Yet his surprise visit established more than a first-hand connection. It signposted the dramatic events of the past week, which bode well both for Iraq's future and for the broader war on terrorism. As he stood in the hall of one of Saddam's former palaces--quite literally in the eye of the storm--Mr. Bush implored the Iraqis to "seize the moment." There are now emerging indications that they are doing just that

and these two political cartoons:

I don't know, which view will turn out to be more accurate. While I hope for the former, experience suggests that the latter is more likely. In any case, though, the Republicans are, per force, betting big that the American people will decide that Bremer is closer to the truth:

Bush Sees Progress in Iraq (WaPo)

President Bush said yesterday that the United States is making steady progress in Iraq toward its goal of standing up a government that can sustain and protect the country, but he emphasized that the ultimate success of the U.S.-led venture lies in the hands of Iraqis.

The Republican Party's Iraq Offensive (LAT)

The Iraq war is the most immediate foreign policy problem besetting the Bush administration. But as a political issue, the White House and top Republican strategists have concluded that the war is a clear winner.

GOP Measure Forces House Debate on War (WaPo)

Nearly four years after it authorized the use of force in Iraq, the House today will embark on its first extended debate on the war, with Republican leaders daring Democrats to vote against a nonbinding resolution to hold firm on Iraq and the war on terrorism.

In the wake of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death and President Bush's surprise trip to Baghdad, Republican leaders are moving quickly to capitalize on good news and trying to force Democrats on the defensive.

And, in other news:

Iraq Amnesty Plan May Cover Attacks On U.S. Military (WaPo)

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Wednesday proposed a limited amnesty to help end the Sunni Arab insurgency as part of a national reconciliation plan that Maliki said would be released within days. The plan is likely to include pardons for those who had attacked only U.S. troops, a top adviser said. [Emphasis supplied].

Jihadist or Victim: Ex-Detainee Makes a Case (NYT)

When President Bush ordered Moazzam Begg's release last year from the Guantánamo prison camp, United States officials say, he did so over objections from the Pentagon, the C.I.A. and the F.B.I. — all of which warned that Mr. Begg could still be a dangerous terrorist.

But American officials may not have imagined the sort of adversary Mr. Begg would become in the war of perception that is now a primary front in the American-led campaign against terrorism.

Palestinians Mount Violent Protest Over Lack of Paychecks (NYT)

Palestinian civil servants stormed the parliament building in the West Bank on Wednesday demanding back pay and chanting "We are hungry!"

Fistfights broke out as protesters hurled plastic water bottles at legislators from Hamas, the militant group that controls parliament, forcing the speaker to flee the building.

It was the second violent protest this week at parliament, in Ramallah, and underscored growing pressure on the Hamas government on several fronts.

Judge Rules That U.S. Has Broad Powers to Detain Noncitizens Indefinitely (NYT)

A federal judge in Brooklyn ruled yesterday that the government has wide latitude under immigration law to detain noncitizens on the basis of religion, race or national origin, and to hold them indefinitely without explanation. . . . But the judge, . . .[also]allowed the lawsuit to continue on other claims, mostly that the conditions of confinement were abusive and unconstitutional . . . [and] require[d] top federal officials, including former Attorney General John Ashcroft and Robert S. Mueller III, the F.B.I. director, to answer to those accusations under oath.

U.S.-Led Forces in Afghanistan Poised for New Strike on Taliban (LAT)

The U.S. military said more than 11,000 Afghan, American, British and Canadian troops would begin Operation Mountain Thrust against Taliban fighters today in the four southern provinces where the insurgents are strongest: Zabol, Kandahar, Helmand and Oruzgan.

With Bush out of the country for his surprise visit to Iraq, it was a slow news day (apart from the trip itself, of course) :

In Baghdad, Bush Pledges Support to Iraqi Leader (WaPo)

President Bush told Iraq's prime minister and his cabinet Tuesday that "we'll keep our commitment" not to withdraw troops from the country until the new government is capable of defending itself.

During an unannounced visit to Baghdad aimed at buttressing the newly formed government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Bush pledged his support for the country's new leader and declared that "the fate of the Iraqi people is in their hands, and our job is to help them succeed."

Security Crackdown Begins in Baghdad (Lat)

American and Iraqi troops launched a large-scale security sweep in Baghdad this morning after a surprise 5 1/2 -hour visit to the Iraqi capital by President Bush on Tuesday.

Police and troops began installing checkpoints throughout the city and enforcing new security measures, including a weapons ban, as part of a crackdown intended to stem the blood bath in the capital.

The editorials from the Washington Post and New York Times on Bush's trip provide an interesting contrast:

A Boost From Mr. Bush (WaPo)

Too Soon to Cheer in Baghdad (NYT)

When it comes to Iraq (and the Bush Administration in general) the NYT editorial page has become utterly incapable of seeing anything as While no friend of the Bushies, good, or even potentially hopeful, news. They see sunshine and think skin cancer. While no friend of the Bushies, the Post can still recognize that it is in our national interest to achieve a favorable outcome in Iraq and is willing to celebrate postive developments along those lines when they occur.

The emerging story that most concerns me is this one:

A civil war looms between Palestinian factions, threatening U.S. interests in Iraq (LAT Ed)

AS PRESIDENT BUSH WAS PREPARING to pay a surprise visit to Iraq, where he arrived Tuesday and where the news lately has broken his way, U.S. interests were taking a beating on another front in the Middle East. Unhappily for the president, the bad news from the West Bank and Gaza — the site of the proposed Palestinian state that he envisions existing alongside Israel — is also bad news for the U.S. mission in Iraq.

With Fatah fighting Hamas, in part at least, over the question of "two-state solution" using the 1967 borders, perhaps this is the death rattle of the "death to Israel" school of Palestinian foreign policy. If so, that is all to the good. But it seems equally likely that what we are witnessing in both Iraq and Palestine is the beginning of the end of civil order in the Middle East. Given the sectarian enmities that so plague that poor, benighted and in some sense ridiculous part of the world, the genie of civil/sectarian war will be hard to get back in the bottle once fully loosed.

And finally (in both senses):

Rove Will Not Be Charged In CIA Leak Case, Lawyer Says (WaPo)

Zarqawi Attack Put Jordan Hot on His Trail (LAT)

Shocked into action by violence on their own soil, Jordanian officials months ago began an intensive campaign of spying on insurgents in neighboring Iraq, a gambit that ultimately helped lead to the death of militant leader Abu Musab Zarqawi, Jordan's top spies said Monday.

Palestinian Infighting Hits West Bank (LAT)

Clashes between rival Palestinian factions spread to the West Bank on Monday as armed followers of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement ransacked and set fire to the offices of the Hamas-led government and briefly abducted a Hamas lawmaker.

Oil, Politics and Bloodshed Corrupt an Iraqi City (NYT)

Politics, once seen as a solution to the problems of a society broken by years of brutal single-party rule, has paralyzed the heart of Iraq's south.

This once-quiet city of riverside promenades [Basra] was among the most receptive to the American invasion. Now, three years later, it is being pulled apart by Shiite political parties that want to control the region and its biggest prize, oil. But in today's Iraq, politics and power flow from the guns of militias, and negotiating has been a bloody process.

Life During Wartime (NYT Ed)

Reading the Iraqi bloggers who have been posting for The Times has helped to fill one of the big gaps in Americans' view of the war in Iraq.

[Ed. Note: The Iraqi blogs are fairly interesting, but they, like much else from the Times, can only be accessed through the NYT's premium service "Times Select", which costs ~$50/year unless you have a subscription the the paper. So, the summary provided by this editorial will have to do as a glimpse into what they say. I think the Times has made a terrible mistake restricting access to so much of its content, but that is a story for another day. The Times like so much of the MSM (particualrly the print media) is struggling to find a way to make money in the face of ever declinibg subscription rates.]

And, in what might be called the "bottom" story of the day:

German Brothels Expect Nil From Soccer Fans (LAT)

There'll be a lot of naughty boys in town during the World Cup, but few, if any, will be handcuffed and spanked on the leopard-skin rug of Karolina Leppert, a dominatrix with a wall of whips and a shrewd instinct for market economics.

That reporting is a tough and dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it.

Lawyers Defend Marines in [Haditha] Raid (LAT)

Attorneys for Marines being investigated for possible war crimes in the deaths of 24 Iraqis in Haditha said Sunday that their clients did nothing wrong and were following the military's rules on how to combat armed insurgents hiding inside homes.

Details on Detainee Suicides Emerging (LAT)

With the U.S. detention camp for terrorism suspects under renewed scrutiny, a top U.S. general arrived here Sunday to review the investigation into the first three deaths at the 4 1/2 -year-old facility.

Commander Says U.S. Likely to Shrink Its Numbers in Iraq (LAT)

With the death of militant leader Abu Musab Zarqawi, the U.S. will seek to press its advantage against Al Qaeda in Iraq, even as it probably will draw down American forces in the months to come, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said Sunday.

Gen. George W. Casey's comments on Sunday news shows underscored tension in the military's position. The U.S. suddenly finds itself with a chance to build on its blow against Al Qaeda in Iraq while taking advantage of the stability offered by Iraq's new government to reduce the U.S. presence.

Rice's Offer to Iran Spurs Unease From Right (LAT)

While the Bush administration's offer to negotiate with Iran was winning praise from many quarters, conservative commentator Michael Ledeen sat down last week to write a column with a far different point of view.

Under the title "Is Bill Clinton Still President?" Ledeen compared President Bush's conditional offer to Iran to the Clinton administration's "appeasement" of North Korea in the 1990s.

Adviser Has President's Ear as She Keeps Eyes on Iraq (NYT)

At the end of each day, President Bush gets a three-to-four-page memo from the National Security Council staff about developments over the previous 24 hours in Iraq. The document, said to be written in the crisp, compelling style that the president prefers, can cover a range of issues — the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, new nominees for cabinet posts or the progress, or lack of it, in ending the three-year insurgency. The person responsible for the memo is someone who is largely unknown outside the administration, but who colleagues say is instrumental in shaping Mr. Bush's views: Meghan L. O'Sullivan, the 36-year-old deputy national security adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan, and the most senior official working on those nations full time at the White House.

Smoke of Iraq War 'Drifting Over Lebanon' (WaPo)

The war in Iraq has generated some of the most startling images in the Middle East today: a dictator's fall, elections in defiance of insurgent threats and carnage on a scale rarely witnessed. Less visibly, though, the war is building a profound legacy across the Arab world: fear and suspicion over Iraq's repercussions, a generation that casts the Bush administration's policy as an unquestioned war on Islam, and a subterranean reserve of men who, like Abu Haritha, declare that the fight against the United States in Iraq is a model for the future.

Karzai to Arm Afghan Tribesmen In Bid to Stem Taliban Attacks (WaPo)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that his government would give weapons to local tribesmen so they could help fight the biggest surge in Taliban violence in years. . . . Speaking to a group of tribal elders from eastern Afghanistan, Karzai said he did not want to form militias that could clash with rival tribes. . . Western diplomats briefed on the plan expressed concern that the effort could fuel factional fighting by arming forces loyal to warlords with long histories of factional disputes.

And finally,

A Time and a Place (NYT Op-Ed)

As a daughter of the fallen and a friend to families of today's casualties, I implore antiwar protesters to show some respect. March to the steps of Congress and the White House. Shout your protests at the president who drummed up this war. But grant some peace to the men and women trying to heal in our military hospitals, and the families grieving at funerals and memorials. Haven't we earned a moment of silence?

Guantanamo's First Suicides Pressure U.S. (LAT)

Three Middle Eastern detainees being held without charges at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay hanged themselves, military officials said Saturday, becoming the first captives to take their own lives at the prison and prompting new calls for an immediate shutdown.

Fear of Big Battle Panics Iraqi City (LAT)

Fears of an imminent offensive by the U.S. troops massed around the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi intensified Saturday, with residents pouring out of the city to escape what they describe as a mounting humanitarian crisis

Palestinian Vote on Statehood Plan Set for July (LAT)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday set a date of July 26 for a territorywide referendum on a statehood plan that would implicitly recognize Israel, a proposal bitterly opposed by the ruling Hamas movement.

In this paper, war heroes are MIA (LAT Op-Ed)

During the last two weeks, the Los Angeles Times has printed at least four front-page articles, and several others on inside pages, about a Marine squad accused of killing 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha and possibly falsifying reports about the incident. Some of the information reported by The Times was based on the military's own investigation. The Times' reports seemed fair, stressing the conditions of combat and confusion faced by our troops.

Iraq's Pentagon Papers (LAT Op-Ed)

Today, there must be, at the very least, hundreds of civilian and military officials in the Pentagon, CIA, State Department, National Security Agency and White House who have in their safes and computers comparable documentation of intense internal debates — so far carefully concealed from Congress and the public — about prospective or actual war crimes, reckless policies and domestic crimes: the Pentagon Papers of Iraq, Iran or the ongoing war on U.S. liberties. Some of those officials, I hope, will choose to accept the personal risks of revealing the truth — earlier than I did — before more lives are lost or a new war is launched.

Taliban Surges as U.S. Shifts Some Tasks to NATO (NYT)

A large springtime offensive by Taliban fighters has turned into the strongest show of force by the insurgents since American forces chased the Taliban from power in late 2001, and Afghan and foreign officials and local villagers blame a lack of United States-led coalition forces on the ground for the resurgence.

Terrorists Trained by Zarqawi Went Abroad, Jordan Says (NYT)

At the time of his death, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was still trying to transform his organization from one focused on the Iraqi insurgency into a global operation capable of striking far beyond Iraq's borders, intelligence experts here and in the West agree.

His recruiting efforts, according to high-ranking Jordanian security officials interviewed Saturday, were threefold: He sought volunteers to fight in Iraq and others to become suicide bombers there, but he also recruited about 300 who went to Iraq for terrorist training and sent them back to their home countries, where they await orders to carry out strikes.

U.S. Seeking New Strategy for Buttressing Iraq's Government (NYT)

President Bush's two-day strategy session starting Monday at Camp David is intended to revive highly tangible efforts to shore up Iraq's new government, from getting the electricity back on in Baghdad to purging the security forces of revenge-seeking militias, White House officials said. . . . One of the senior officials involved in the strategy session characterized it as a "last, best chance to get this right," an implicit acknowledgment that previous American-led efforts had gone astray.

Raids Target Zarqawi Group (LAT)

The United States conducted at least 56 raids against targets connected with Abu Musab Zarqawi's Al Qaeda in Iraq organization in the 48 hours after his death, seeking to capitalize on the killing by disrupting his network of fighters, military officials said.

Hamas Pledges Attacks on Israel (LAT)

The military wing of Hamas vowed Friday to resume attacks against Israel after Palestinian Authority officials blamed Israel for the deaths of at least 10 Palestinians, including seven civilians at a beach.

Compensation Payments Rising, Especially by Marines (NYT)

Almost half of the more than $19 million in compensation that the American military allocated last year to compensate for killing or injuring Iraqis and damaging property came from Marine-led units in Anbar Province, Defense Department records show.

Zarqawi Built Global Jihadist Network on Internet (NYT)

Over the last two years, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi established the Web as a powerful tool of the global jihad, mobilizing computer-savvy allies who inspired extremists in Iraq and beyond with lurid video clips of the bombings and beheadings his group carried out.

Death Could Shake Al-Qaeda In Iraq and Around the World (WaPo)

The death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi could mark a turning point for al-Qaeda and the global jihadist movement, according to terrorism analysts and intelligence officials.

Iraqi Leader Charts Nation's Priorities (WaPo)

As the dust settled Friday from the news that Iraq's most notorious insurgent leader had been killed and that its new government had finally been completed, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki outlined a plan to confront the country's deeper problems of rampant violence, economic stagnation and rapacious corruption.

Iraq's Attorneys Practicing in a State of Fear (WaPo)

"We are living in terror," Kamal Hamdoun, the head of Iraq's lawyers' union, said as he sat in a shadowy, cavernous office redolent of better days.

As usual, there was no electricity in Hamdoun's second-floor office in Baghdad's Mansour neighborhood. Sunlight slanted in through vertical blinds, shining on ornate chairs painted gold and a huge desk piled with legal folders. . . .

Such is the life of a lawyer in a nearly lawless society. Iraq's legal system, once one of the most secular in the Middle East, is a shambles. If a "Law and Order" spinoff were set in Baghdad, it would feature police who are afraid to investigate sectarian murders (or are complicit in them, many say), lawyers afraid to take either side of a case and risk the wrath of powerful militias or well-armed gangs, judges assassinated for the decisions they have handed down, and the occasional car bombing at the courthouse.