Thinkprogress has a report via the American Conservative that indicates that former Pentagon Official Douglas Feith (aka the Dumbest Fucking Guy on the Planet) was responsible for the forged Habbush letter falsely linking Iraq to 9-11.

From Phillip Giraldi at the AC:

An extremely reliable and well placed source in the intelligence community has informed me that Ron Suskind’s revelation that the White House ordered the preparation of a forged letter linking Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda and also to attempts made to obtain yellowcake uranium is correct but that a number of details are wrong.

Continued over flip...

McCain's new strategist draws on Barack Obama's supposed smear of Bill Clinton as a racist to attack Barack Obama's supposed smear of John McCain (The Original Maverick!) as a racist (seeing as it's not as though the McCain campaign actually created an ad warning that Barack Obama would put a scary picture of himself on the dollar bill or anything):

"Say whatever you want about Bill Clinton," Schmidt said, "but it's deeply unfair to suggest his criticism of Obama was race-based. President Clinton was a force for unity in this country on this subject. Every American should be proud of his record as both a governor and president. But we knew it was coming in our direction because they did it against a President of the United State of their own party."

This reminds me of one of the fun angles of a McCain-Romney ticket: The chance to make John McCain eat his words about Mitt Romney being a feckless French surrender monkey for using the word "timetable" once regarding Iraq.

Yeah, I'm asking to be shown PHYSICALLY, where are the leases located that have ALREADY been handed out that the oil and gas companies haven't bothered to begin drilling to illustrate the point that Drill Here! Drill Now! is a slogan attached to a land grab and not (in potential or practice) a panacea to bring down the price at the pump:

Nationally, only about a quarter of federal leased lands are being tapped for crude or natural gas.

Thom Hartmann sugggested on his show Thursday that it would be great political theater to illustrate in video a smattering of the lands RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW that are already open and leased and ready to be drilled.

He suggested compiling videos from across the country, people standing on land which is ALREADY leased and open for exploration who ask, 'if it's so important that US land and offshore areas be opened for exploration to oil and gas companies, why is it that they aren't using this land which is already leased and ready to explore for drilling?'

The Department of Defense announced two casualties: one in  Afghanistan and one in Iraq.  So far, Operation Enduring Freedom, has claimed 568 American lives.  According to the Iraq Casualty Count, there have been 4134 killed in Iraq.

There is a great new video hitting the internet that features a recent Veteran of the Iraq War.

This is a Left Anchor original video.

I posted a video yesterday as my first foray into the viral video market.  I spent today trying to become better at it, and I think I've got a hard hitting video that's worthy of being put into viral distribution.  It contrasts McCain's "Broken" ad with his actual words and actions, as well as demonstrates his ignorance on key issues facing the nation.

The economy is still tanking.  Big pillars of the banking industry, the dow jones industrials, the mainstreet retailers are all posting big losses and write downs.  If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck - it's a duck.  Economists will argue over whether it's a Recession.  But unemployment is up, markets are stagnant or down, inflation is up, we're more and more beholden to our debt service and foreign interests.   And, this economic state hasn't changed that much in about a year now.  

This Presidential election will be won on Economic issues.  

But that's OK. This isn't a new product.

August 1, 2008:

Citing Stability in Iraq, Bush Sees Troop Cuts
By STEVEN LEE MYERS and SABRINA TAVERNISE
Published: August 1, 2008

President George W. Bush on Thursday suggested the possibility of further troop reductions in Iraq as the security situation con­tinues to show marked improvement.

Mr Bush said July had been a "month of encouraging news", with violence declining to its lowest level since early 2004. He added that General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, had said that while progress was still "reversible" there was now a "degree of durability" to the security gains.

One year ago:

US may reduce forces in Iraq by spring

By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer
Fri Jun 22, 6:52 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The U.S. may be able to reduce combat forces in Iraq by next spring if Iraq's own security forces continue to grow and improve, a senior American commander said Friday. He denied reports the U.S. is arming Sunni insurgent groups to help in the fight against al-Qaida.

Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the top day-to-day commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, did not predict any reductions in U.S. forces but said such redeployments may be feasible by spring. There are currently 156,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Two years ago:

U.S. general in Iraq outlines troop cuts
Michael R. Gordon The New York Times

Published: June 25, 2006

WASHINGTON The top American commander in Iraq has drafted a plan that projects sharp reductions in the United States military presence there by the end of 2007, with the first cuts coming this September, American officials say.

[...]

American officials emphasized that any withdrawals would depend on continued progress, including the development of competent Iraqi security forces, a reduction in Sunni Arab hostility toward the new Iraqi government and the assumption that the insurgency will not expand beyond Iraq's six central provinces. Even so, the projected troop withdrawals in 2007 are more significant than many experts had expected.

Three years ago:

U.S. Signals Spring Start for Pullout
General Restates Position, Noting Contingencies, During Rumsfeld Visit to Baghdad

By Ann Scott Tyson and Ellen Knickmeyer
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, July 28, 2005; Page A18

BAGHDAD, July 27 -- The top U.S. military leader in Iraq said Wednesday there could be substantial withdrawals of some of the 135,000 U.S. troops in the country as early as next spring.

[...]

"If the political process continues to go positively, and if the development of the security forces continues to go as it is going, I do believe we'll still be able to take some fairly substantial reductions after these elections in the spring and summer," Casey said before meeting with Jafari.

Four years ago:

Building Iraqi Security Forces Must Continue, Sanchez Says
By John D. Banusiewicz
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2004 – The commander of coalition forces in Iraq said today that continuing to build Iraqi security forces is key to a successful transfer of sovereignty.

[...]

Handing over security to the Iraqi people will depend upon the coalition's ability to quickly stand up Iraqi security forces, especially the police, the army and the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps.

[...]

This involves building the security forces in small units and police stations to provide the law and order in the cities, he said, and also giving Iraq the external security capacity it will need over the next couple of years. "I think it's going to take us awhile," he said, "but we're committed to it, and we'll be here until that's done."

Sanchez said the 129,000 U.S. service members currently in Iraq are an adequate number, "and we'll manage their redeployment as the operational and tactical situation dictates."

Remember way back when -- about a year ago, in fact -- when a fresh-faced kid called "America" was looking forward to Magical September? That time when, if all was not yet right with Iraq, Congressional Republicans would finally part ways with Pretzeldent George W. Bush, and bring our troops home?

Well, it didn't happen then, and it's not happening now, either.

After weeks of late-night negotiations and under intense U.S. pressure, Iraqi lawmakers failed to pass a much-debated provincial elections law Wednesday before adjourning for the month.

The failure to pass the law, which would govern elections in provinces across the country, may push the elections into next year. If elections don't happen by the end of this year, it could be July before the balloting could be carried out, U.N. spokesman Said Arikat said.

Elections originally were scheduled for October of this year.

The latest move by parliament underscores the great divide between security and political progress in Iraq. While violence is at a record low, progress on the political front is lagging as sectarian blocs wrangle over each divisive issue to come before the parliament.

Parliament also has yet to pass a law to share oil revenue or to amend the constitution on such issues as the role of Islam and the nature of federalism in the government. With deep religious and ethnic divisions, members have opted to deal with such issues by putting them off.

Also not accomplished before parliament's adjournment: the Status of Forces Agreement.

So, how's that "surge" workin' out, in terms of, you know, getting us the #@*% out of there, already?

No elections.
No oil law.
No SOFA.

What'd they call those things, way back when? Benchmarks?

Incredibly, the Republicans not only never left the Pretzeldent's side, they went and nominated another of these nuts that continues to insist, in the face of these three stinging failures, that "the surge worked."

And that all we need is a hundred more years of such success.

(h/t: Democrats.com)

At the start of the year, there was a great, new, and powerful disturbance in the political force: Barack Obama. Out of nowhere this rookie with his ideas of change, hope and new politics swept through the establishment turning it upside down. His sudden rise caught the Right off guard and led to the defeat of the seemingly invincible Billary duo. As the first African-American nominee in US history, Barack Obama had everything on his side: an unpopular president, unpopular war, worsening economy, and a people eager to see something new in a tired country. Barack Obama has given this country a new sense of energy and whether or not he is the best candidate to solve every last problem, a better choice than the empty Republican option, John McCain. Now in the early days of August, it seems as though the Obama train has started to run on empty or so it may appear...

I didn't see this diaried yet, and I have yet to ever write a diary, so if I make mistakes, please forgive me.

U.S., Iraq Close to Pullout Terms

The AP is reporting that the United States and Iraq are close to a deal on timetable for withdrawal.  The article states that combat troops would be withdrawn by 2010, with remaining troops to be pulled out 3 years later.

The deal seems to be hinging on the U.S.'s request for legal immunity for U.S. troops.  

A timetable is part of a security agreement being negotiated by U.S. and Iraqi officials. Both sides stress the deal is not final and could fall apart over the issue of legal immunity for American troops.

Like many a good oppressed American Christian, retired Lt. Gen. William "my God was bigger than his" Boykin has now written of his unbearable persecution and suffering in a book. As expected, Boykin, in Never Surrender: A Soldier's Journey to the Crossraoads of Faith and Freedom, claims that the quotes from his evangelical pep rallies that caused him so much trouble were "ripped out of context" by the media. But, in explaining this alleged out of context quoting, Boykin himself resorts to ripping his own words out of context -- the only way he can make his backpedalling seem plausible.

I suppose most DK readers and diarists are tired of yet another story of Bush II's hypocrisy. The Emperor's current trip to China, and his humble kow tow before his Chinese Communist masters at the Olympics, points out the multifarious contradictions of American imperialism under Bush II.

There were several diaries written on Hiroshima yesterday, some condeming the attacks, some defending them as an ugly but necessary tactic to end the war. In particular, this diary offered a detailed and well sourced analysis of claims that Japan was on the verge of surrender.

The Bush administration made it a point to declare that the U.S. military's strategical progress in the Iraq and Afghanistan interventions, would not, could not, and should not, be judged in terms of body counts or other such statistics.

But it is perhaps in the interest of both the American and Iraqi people, as well as the two presidential candidates, to reflect on these numbers and to let the facts and the statistics speak for themselves.

When I finally stumbled upon Washington Journal a few years ago, I was happy to have something of substance to watch/listen to while I was getting ready for work.  While there are times that I have almost no interest in what’s being discussed, I still listen for the viewers who call in.  I often learn new things or something gets me curious enough to look deeper into an issue.  This morning was no different.

John McCain is proud of his campaign's sleazy efforts to cast Barack Obama as a Hollywood celebrity - aiming to turn Obama's ethusiastic support into a weakness and undercut Obama's authenticity and connection to America's Heartland.  Perhaps a response is in order.

While the Obama campaign's meme of McCain as Bush's third term is an effective one (and considerably more honest than McCain's approach), an even better idea would be to tie McCain to the guy even Bush teases about his approval ratings.  Dick Cheney is about as popular as mildew (18% of Americans give him thumbs up), and it's very plausible to build a link between McCain and Cheney in voters' minds.

As the Iraq Moratorium prepares for its 12th monthly observance on August 15 -- the Third Friday of the month, as always -- it's made some changes to get ready for its second year.

You'll find a new website, with a new address, www.IraqMoratorium.com, and even a new logo to go with the new look.

One thing that hasn't changed is the determination to end the senseless war and occupation of Iraq, by encouraging locally organized, grassroots actions to move more of the silent majority who say they oppose the war to do something to end it.