● While Petraeus Testifies, U.S. Iraq Personnel Take Cover. Washington Dispatch: The general says progress is underway in Iraq. Meanwhile, in the increasingly bombarded Green Zone, embassy officials have been told to avoid going outdoors.
● ABC reporter can quote just one McCain supporter in Iraq: 'Might as well keep it going'
● Six Years Later.... General Petraeus To Ask For More Time, Money, Longer Troop Commitments
● During his questioning of Gen. Petraeus and Amb. Crocker, Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) said that, because of the Iraq war, “we’re at a point where we’re really strained and stressed out.” “I hate to agree with Sen. Feingold,” he added, “but I think Osama bin Laden is sitting back right now looking at this thing [and saying] in effect, ‘We’re kinda bankrupting this country.’
● Petraeus's Ponzi Scheme. Iraq And Reality: The Nation lists 5 important realities to keep in mind during Petraeus' testimony:
1. The situation in Iraq is getting worse
2. The Bush administration has no learning curve
3. The "success" of the surge was always an expensive illusion, essentially a Ponzi scheme, for which payment will someday come due
4. A second hidden surge, not likely to be discussed in the hearings this week, is now under way
5. A reasonably undertaken but speedy total withdrawal from Iraq is the only way out of this morass
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
● Book: McCain lunged at congressman; Spokeswoman calls book 'trash journalism'
● Once again, McCain confuses Sunnis with Shiites
● McCain seems confused about al Qaeda again, suggests it’s a ’sect of Shi’ites.’
● Book: "Family Values Party" McCain temper boiled over in '92 tirade, called wife a 'cunt' (...at least he didn't call her a "gook")
● New Book: McCain Once Physically Attacked Fellow Congressman
● Senator Straight Talk Won't Go on the Record with Project Vote Smart. Washington Dispatch: With no response from John McCain on its survey of issue positions after nine months, the voter-education nonprofit is poised to boot the Arizona senator off its board.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other news:
● Bill Clinton's Ties To Colombia Trade Deal Stronger Than Even Penn's
● No Big Deal! Clinton campaign chair photographed holding Obama signs
● His Legacy Tarnished, Greenspan Goes on Defensive
● CBS to outsource "news" to CNN
● Obama calls for talks with Iran over Iraq
● Vice chair of 9/11 panel: We have no record of Mukasey's 'warning'
● Documents prove FBI has national eavesdropping program that tracks IMs, emails and cell phones
● Ahmadinejad: US used September 11 as 'pretext' for invasions
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Democracy NOW! news has actual debate about Petraus's testimony, with several experts!
Democracy NOW! DISH channels 9410 & 9415, DirecTV channel 275:
As Petraeus Urges Delay of Troop Withdrawal, a Debate on Iraq and Iran’s Role in the War
The top US military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, has recommended a suspension of troop withdrawals from Iraq after July. His recommendation would leave just under 140,000 American troops in Iraq well into the fall, more troops deployed in Iraq than before the so-called “surge.” Petraeus testified before two Senate committees on Tuesday alongside Ambassador Ryan Crocker. We play highlights of the hearing and host a debate with Arun Gupta of The Indypendent, Eli Lake of the New York Sun and Gareth Porter of Inter Press Service.
Guests:
Arun Gupta, an editor of The Indypendent, a bimonthly newspaper based in New York. He is currently writing a book on the Iraq War and the decline of American empire to be published by Haymarket Press. His most recent article is titled “How Bush Won Iraq and Lost the World”
Eli Lake, a senior reporter for the New York Sun.
Gareth Porter, an investigative historian and journalist specializing in US national security policy. He writes regularly on Iran for the Inter Press Service. His most recent article is titled “Petraeus Testimony to Defend False ‘Proxy War’ Line”
DN! transcript or DN! video
