Tuesday edition - July 11, 2006

Junk Scientists

• A look at U.S. military deaths in Iraq AP

• Iraq Body Count

• Gunmen ambush bus in Baghdad, kill 10: police Washington Post 

• Iraq attacks claim 22 killed, 53 injured (Roundup) Monsters and Critics.com, UK

• Gunmen in Baghdad kidnap Iraqi diplomat AP

• Insurgent Group Posts Video of 2 Mutilated US Soldiers New York Times

• Iraq jolted by burst of sectarian violence Chicago Tribune

• Rice: Iraq Gov't Can Prevail Over Violence Guardian Unlimited, UK

• House GOP leader vows Iraq victory Chicago Tribune,

• FACTBOX-Developments in Iraq on July 11 Reuters AlertNet, UK 

• Iraq says to ask UN to end US immunity Reuters

• Iraqis turn to fake IDs for safety AP

• Saddam trial adjourned to resolve boycott AP

• Japan turns up volume in protests against N. Korea Chicago Tribune

President Bush attended a Washington Nationals game Saturday along with wife Laura and several cabinet members. The opening ceremony set the tone. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales walked down to the field and threw out the First Amendment. -- Argus Hamilton

"We've got a good friendship with the Putins. We're comfortable around them," Bush said in an interview in the White House on Monday with reporters from Russia, Germany, Italy and Japan. The White House released a transcript of the session on Tuesday.

While he noted that "there are problems that are surfacing" in the U.S.-Russian relationship, Bush's words were far milder than those of Vice President Dick Cheney. In a speech in Lithuania in May, Cheney accused the Putin government of backsliding from democracy and exerting more state control over the economy, particularly the energy industry.
 

Naturally, the common people don't want war, but they can always be brought to
the bidding of the leaders. Tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the
pacifists for lack of patriotism and endangering the country. It works the same
in every country.- Herman Goering, Hitler's Reichsmarschall at the Nuremberg trials

The Bush administration said Tuesday that all detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in U.S. military custody everywhere are entitled to protections under the Geneva Conventions.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said the policy, outlined in a new Defense Department memo, reflects the recent 5-3 Supreme Court decision blocking military tribunals set up by President Bush. That decision struck down the tribunals because they did not obey international law and had not been authorized by Congress.