-Laura Rozen reports on a big political shakeup in Baghdad here, thanks to Congressional pressure. "The changes will be in 'the structure, nature and direction of the Iraqi state,' a senior American official in Baghdad was quoted by AP as saying."
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-We're losing soldiers to suicide now. In greater numbers than in the past. ""Army soldiers committed suicide last year at the highest rate in 26 years, and more than a quarter did so while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new military report."
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-Petraeus may well win the day with his September report. "Gen. David Petraeus appears to command considerable respect from the average American, a new Gallup poll reveals, boosting the chances that his much-publicized September report on the 'surge' will be treated as credible by most."
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-Gotcha! Another slimy, opportunistic Republican. A Senator. Richard Shelby. With a connection to the Siegelman case in Alabama. Which in turn seems to have a strong connection to Karl Rove. And all of this emerges from scrutiny and periodic reports thanks to Scott Horton of Harper's.
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-Republicans, however, don't want to scrutinize themselves, preferring to find ways to keep an eye on everyone else. Sure, but our government isn't allowed to spy on us with satellites. Or is it? "A new office within the Department of Homeland Security, called the National Applications Office, will now be the conduit for all domestic requests for spy satellite information. It will be up to the intelligence agencies themselves -- the Pentagon's National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, for example -- to determine which requests they can honor." And they won't spy on us. Right? "Many imagery satellites are in low-Earth orbit, passing over the United States periodically on their way to covering foreign targets. They can easily be directed to photograph U.S. locations as they pass overhead." Ta-da.
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