Senate Committee Seeks Audit of Iraq Oil Money
by James Glanz
Two senior members of the Senate Armed Services Committee have requested a full accounting of how Iraq is spending its soaring oil revenue, amid starkly conflicting estimates of how much the country has invested in rebuilding its broken infrastructure and providing basic services to its citizens. |
Ex-Defense Official Assails Colleagues Over Run-Up to War
by Thomas E. Ricks and Karen DeYoung
In the first insider account of Pentagon decision-making on Iraq, one of the key architects of the war blasts former secretary of state Colin Powell, the CIA, retired Gen. Tommy R. Franks and former Iraq occupation chief L. Paul Bremer for mishandling the run-up to the invasion and the subsequent occupation of the country. |
Mukasey's Racist Threats on Changing Crack Sentencing Fall on Deaf Ears - The attorney general's last-ditch attempt to preserve our federal crack cocaine sentencing guidelines was pure "War on Drugs" propaganda
by Liliana Segura
Look out: Michael Mukasey wants you to know that you're less safe today than you were last week -- and it's got nothing to do with FISA.The attorney general has been issuing dire warnings for months about the horrible things to befall society if Congress allows a change in federal sentencing guidelines that could lead to the early release of some 20,000 prisoners convicted for crack cocaine offenses. The sentencing revision was officially decided upon by the U.S. Sentencing Commission on Nov. 1; on Dec. 11 it voted to make the decision retrocative, meaning that federal prisoners already serving draconian sentences for crack cocaine convictions could also catch a break. The first wave of prisoners became eligible for release on Monday, March 3 -- but not before Mukasey made it his mission to stop it. |
Countrywide Said to Be Subject of Federal Criminal Inquiry
by Raymond Hernandez
The federal authorities have opened a criminal inquiry into Countrywide Financial for suspected securities fraud as part of the continuing fallout over the mortgage crisis, government officials with knowledge of the case said on Saturday.The Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are looking at whether officials at Countrywide, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, misrepresented its financial condition and the soundness of its loans in security filings, the officials said. |
Clinton's foreign policy record examined
by Nancy Benac
To hear Hillary Rodham Clinton tell it now, she had a lot more going on as first lady than she let on at the time.On the presidential campaign trail, Clinton frequently makes the pitch that she is uniquely qualified to pass the "commander in chief" test in large part because of her foreign policy and national security experience in Bill Clinton's White House. |
The Monster Mash
by Maureen Dowd
I was covered in barbecue sauce, somewhere over Texas, when Barack Obama loped down the aisle of the plane to chat with reporters.I felt guilty, because I had been covering his speeches urging parents to make their kids give up chips and Popeyes. I hadn’t yet come to grips with the notion of giving up Popeyes when Obama — slender, chewing Nicorette and perfectly groomed in his crisp white shirt — came upon me. I was splattered with so much red sauce it could have been a scene from “Saw IV.” Not only on my face and hands but all over the candidate’s picture in the U.S. News & World Report I was reading. |
Nobel winner: Hillary Clinton's 'silly' Irish peace claims
by Toby Harnden
Hillary Clinton had no direct role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland and is a "wee bit silly" for exaggerating the part she played, according to Lord Trimble of Lisnagarvey, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former First Minister of the province."I don’t know there was much she did apart from accompanying Bill [Clinton] going around," he said. Her recent statements about being deeply involved were merely "the sort of thing people put in their canvassing leaflets" during elections. "She visited when things were happening, saw what was going on, she can certainly say it was part of her experience. I don’t want to rain on the thing for her but being a cheerleader for something is slightly different from being a principal player." |
Local Obama supporter shocked to see herself in Hillary ad
by Elisa Hahn
The political ad that sparked nationwide controversy turns out to have a surprising local connection.One of the actors in the Hillary Clinton ad was shocked to see herself, especially because she's a fierce supporter of Barack Obama.The so-called "red-phone ad" was played all over the country and helped turn the tide for Hillary Clinton leading up to her big win in Ohio. The ad shows a sleeping child and asks voters who they would want to see answering a 3 a.m. emergency phone call to the White House. |
Iraq veteran says McCain policy is wrong
by Will Lester
Speaking on behalf of the Democratic Party, an Iraq combat veteran said Saturday that apparent GOP nominee John McCain should not win the presidential election because he would continue the war in Iraq.Roger Martinez, who served as an Army ranger in Afghanistan and Iraq, noted in the Democrats' weekly radio address that President Bush endorsed McCain this week. Bush said McCain "won't flinch in the face of danger" and McCain strongly supports the U.S. efforts in Iraq. Electing a leader who would continue Bush's policies in Iraq would be a mistake, Martinez said. |
Interview with Obama: Still Confident
by Jay Newton-Small
TIME's Jay Newton-Small interviewed Barack Obama on his campaign plane on Wednesday and spoke about Hillary Clinton, double-standards, talking tough and going negative.TIME: You said you'd like a better examination of Hillary Clinton's foreign policy experience. What exactly will you criticize in her foreign policy experience? |
Clinton praises McCain again, says he’s crossed ‘Commander in Chief threshold’
by The Carpetbagger Report
One of the benefits of having a prolonged Democratic primary race, after Republicans have already winnowed their field to John McCain, is that it’s a two-against-one dynamic — the GOP can’t direct all of its ire at one Dem, and there are two Dems to go after McCain at the same time. |
Democrats pick up Hastert's seat
by Josh Kraushaar
In a race that will likely send tremors throughout the House GOP leadership, Republicans lost former House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s seat Saturday in a hotly contested special election in exurban Chicago.Physicist Bill Foster, a Democrat running in his first political campaign, is heading to Congress after defeating Republican dairy owner Jim Oberweis in a result that was unthinkable just weeks ago. |
China stricter after Bjork's Tibet chant
by AP
China will be stricter on foreign performers after Icelandic singer Bjork shouted "Tibet! Tibet!" at the end of her concert in Shanghai this week, the government said Friday.A statement by China's Culture Ministry said Bjork's outburst "broke Chinese law and hurt Chinese people's feelings." |
