Monday Edition - July 24, 2006

• Iraq Body Count

• No letup as bombs kill 66 in Iraq Chicago Tribune

• Blair, Iraq PM discuss troop exit CNN

• Maliki insists Iraq will not slide into civil war Reuters.uk

• Iraq ready to restart northern oil pipeline MSNBC 

• Hussein collapses in jail cell Chicago Tribune

• Condoleezza Rice won't meet with Syrian backers Jerusalem Post, Israel 

• Wesley Clark Backs Israeli Actions In Mideast Conflict cbs4denver.com, CO

• Report raps Pentagon for equipment sales AP

• Pakistan in large-scale nuclear expansion Reuters

• At least 417 people have been reported killed in Lebanon and ... Lexington Herald Leader, KY 

• Israel Signals It May Accept Foreign Forces on Border New York Times

• Rice Makes Surprise Visit To Beirut CBS News
   

Baghdead - Grant Gerver

"The president has been so absent on diplomacy when it comes to issues affecting the Middle East. We're going to have a lot of ground to make up (in 2008) because of it." -- Sen.  John Kerry

 

On This Day: In 1974, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that President Nixon had to turn over subpoenaed White House tape recordings to the Watergate special prosecutor.

"It's like after Katrina, when the secretary of homeland security was saying all those people weren't really stranded when we were all watching it on TV," said Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.). "I still hear about that. We can't look like we won't face reality."

Criminal violations and ethical offenses leaving ugly stain on Gov. Jeb Bush's tenure

So much for the most ethical administration in Florida history.

That's what Gov. Jeb Bush promised when he took office in 1999.

What has he delivered almost eight years later, as he nears the end of his tenure?

A disturbing roster of appointees in high positions forced to leave office after ethical or criminal violations, along with a legacy of fraud made easy by policies to privatize state services with little oversight. Here's just a partial list of infamy in office under Bush

"The Globe reports that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il raises money by selling fake Viagra pills. What it is about this guy? None of his missiles seem to launch." --Jay Leno

A Tomahawk missile fell off a truck and onto a New York highway on Friday, but the weapon did not have a warhead and posed no danger, police said.

The cargo came loose when the truck carrying it collided with another truck on a motorway in the Bronx.

"It was a military-type missile but it was inert. There was no danger and no one was harmed," a police spokesman said.

(Photo/NYPD)

Peace.