The No. 2 U.S. general in Iraq said Thursday that it would be at least November before he could fully assess whether the U.S. military strategy in Iraq is working… In a separate session, [Ambassador Ryan] Crocker told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that political benchmarks set by President Bush for the Iraqi government were not necessarily the best way to measure progress…He acknowledged that the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was having “significant difficulties” achieving goals of political reconciliation among Iraq’s rival factions. [Link]
Seventy House members, nearly all liberal Democrats, vowed today that they would not support any more funding for Iraq military operations unless tied to a complete withdrawal of combat troops. [Link]
A committee directed by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and President Bush to accelerate the transfer of security responsibility to Iraq’s army and police has warned that Iraq is lagging in a number of categories. The quarterly report, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, says the Finance Ministry is blocking the Iraqi military from spending $660 million to build a logistical network; that militias are an obstacle to handing over to Iraqis responsibility for security in three mainly Shiite Muslim provinces; and that competition among rival security organizations has prevented the country from settling on a national security structure. [Link]
Iraq is a nation gripped by fear and struggling to meet security and political goals by September, US officials cautioned from Baghdad yesterday, dashing hopes in Congress that the country will show more signs of stability this summer. [Link]
A bill filled with money for job training, health and education faces a veto from President Bush, who complains that Democratic add-ons have made it too expensive. Some of the president’s fellow Republicans, worried about re-election, say it’s actually too skimpy. The bill, containing $152 billion for social programs including special education, community health centers, Head Start and health research, easily passed the House on Thursday by a 276-140 vote. [Link]
Disgraced former U.S. Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham lied to fellow lawmakers on a House ethics panel to disguise kickbacks from a defense contractor, according to a summary of an interview between the congressman and federal investigators. Cunningham said he asked the House Ethics Committee in 2001 to review a sale of his yacht “Kelly C” to the defense contractor to avoid arousing suspicions when, in fact, there was no sale. He fabricated the transaction and lied to lawmakers about it to “cover his bases” and make $100,000 in kickbacks appear legitimate. [Link]
Bush administration officials unveiled a bold new assertion of executive authority yesterday in the dispute over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, saying that the Justice Department will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges initiated by Congress against White House officials once the president has invoked executive privilege. The position presents serious legal and political obstacles for congressional Democrats, who have begun laying the groundwork for contempt proceedings against current and former White House officials in order to pry loose information about the dismissals. [Link]
The Senate overwhelmingly approved a wide-ranging overhaul of student loan programs early today that would pay for more than $17 billion in grants and other student aid by slashing subsidies to lending companies… The measure would cut subsidies to lenders by about $18 billion over five years and boost student aid by $17.4 billion during that period, with the rest of the savings used to reduce the federal budget deficit. The biggest aid increase would raise the maximum annual Pell grant, the nation’s main aid program for low-income students, from $4,300 to $5,400 a year by 2012. [Link]
Democratic leaders in the House and Senate are slowing their drive to revamp the nation’s voting systems, aides said yesterday. Under pressure from state and local officials, as well as from lobbyists for the disabled, House leaders now advocate putting off the most sweeping changes until 2012, four years later than planned. [Link]
Defying a veto threat from President Bush, the Senate Finance Committee approved a major expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program on Thursday, with a majority of Republicans joining all Democrats on the panel in supporting the legislation. The vote, 17 to 4, sends the measure to the full Senate, which is expected to take it up within two weeks. [Link]
The wave of violence that has gripped Pakistan in recent days spread to new parts of the country and featured more ferocious tactics yesterday, with suicide bombers targeting a mosque, a police academy, and a convoy of Chinese engineers in attacks that killed more than 50 people. [Link]
Al Qaeda has strongholds throughout Pakistan, not just in the areas bordering Afghanistan that were emphasized in a terrorism assessment this week, according to U.S. intelligence officials and counter-terrorism experts who say Osama bin Laden’s network is more deeply entrenched than described… Several officials and outside experts interviewed since the document’s release this week say the situation is more problematic. These analysts said the Bush administration was blaming Al Qaeda’s resurgence too narrowly on an agreement that the Pakistani government struck in September with militant tribal leaders in the country’s northwest territories. [Link]
The chairman of the House oversight committee on Thursday accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency of refusing to acknowledge high levels of formaldehyde in trailers it provided to hurricane evacuees on the Gulf Coast. [Link]
Denmark said on Friday it secretly airlifted out of Iraq about 200 translators and other Iraqi employees of its troops in Iraq and their relatives this week and most were expected to seek asylum in the Nordic nation. Last month the Danish government reached a deal with the anti-immigrant Danish People’s Party (DPP) to offer visas to Iraqi interpreters who have aided Danish troops in Iraq out of concern they will be targeted by insurgents when the Danish contingent withdraws in August. [Link]
President Bush said Thursday that he had considered sending U.S. troops unilaterally to Darfur to stop the mass slaughter in that Sudanese region but decided against it in favor of a multinational response that he conceded has been “slow” and “tedious.” Bush did not explain why he rejected U.S. military action and pointed instead to economic sanctions that he has imposed against Sudanese leaders and companies, saying he was “trying to be consequential.” Aides said they believed it was the first time he had so explicitly disclosed that he contemplated U.S. military action. [Link]
