You make Bush look good, popularity-wise.

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Make of this what you will. I’ll just report it as is: Human rights abuses in Iraq are as bad as they were under Saddam Hussein if not worse, former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has said. “People are doing the same as (in) Saddam’s time and worse,” Allawi said in an interview published in Britain on Sunday. “It is an appropriate comparison,” Allawi told The Observer newspaper. “People are remembering the days of Saddam. These were the precise reasons that...

I know a couple of private security guards in Iraq — truly honourable men doing incredibly difficult work — but this is extremely ugly and gives them all a bad name.

Needless to say, Aljazeera is not amused. I’ve got an update on this story here.

Kevin Drum on taking terrorism seriously: “The American public can hardly be expected to take terrorism seriously if it’s obvious that the Bush administration itself views al-Qaeda as primarily a political opportunity rather than a real problem. Sooner or later, we’re going to pay the price for this feckless and irresponsible approach.” I think America’s paying it already. ********** See Dahlia Lithwick’s piece on Jose Padilla at Slate. On the Padilla case, also...

That’s what Senator Joe Biden, ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, asked in an op-ed piece at in The Washington Post yesterday: “Over the next six months, we must forge a sustainable political compromise between Iraqi factions, strengthen the Iraqi government and bolster reconstruction efforts, and accelerate the training of Iraqi forces.” The problem is, there are just so many shoulds. Is Bush up to the task? Or will he continue to play politics? I suspect...

Republicans went nuts after John Murtha called for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, and I myself do not favour immediate withdrawal, but it already looks as though the Pentagon is preparing for withdrawal: Even as debate over the Iraq war continues to rage, signs are emerging of a convergence of opinion on how the Bush administration might begin to exit the conflict. In a departure from previous statements, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said this week that the training of Iraqi soldiers...

So Bill Richardson was not drafted by the Kansas City A’s. If this is a time for confessions of self-aggrandizement, I have my own here. What about yours?

My new co-blogger Justin Gardner wrote about this amazing story — it’s unbelievable, yet makes perfect sense — the other day (see link below), but I also have some thoughts on the alleged “plan” to bomb Aljazeera’s headquarters in Qatar (including some reaction from around the blogosphere). Oh, and let me second Justin’s recommendation: Control Room is an excellent documentary. Rent it or buy the DVD (if you can). And make sure to take the time to watch the...

(Note: This post originally appeared at The Reaction — see here. Needless to say, the use of WP by U.S. forces in Iraq is a touchy subject, and I’ve been attacked for even bringing it up. Plus, there are numerous components to the debate: Is it a chemical weapon? Should it have been used? Etc. There has been a good deal of tension in the blogosphere — see the links below. This is my attempt to sort out the issue and to clarify my own views. I am, as always, interested to know your...

Last week, Rep. Jean Schmidt of Ohio called Rep. Jack Murtha of Pennsylvania, the decorated war veteran who recently called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, a coward. Needless to say, her ad hominem didn’t go over well. From The Washington Post: Rep. Jean Schmidt flung the word “coward” at a decorated war veteran from Pennsylvania last week, but the Ohio Republican’s comments landed with a splat in her own Cincinnati district, where some supporters are backing...

From The Washington Post: Barring any major surprises in Iraq, the Pentagon tentatively plans to reduce the number of U.S. forces there early next year by as many as three combat brigades, from 18 now, but to keep at least one brigade “on call” in Kuwait in case more troops are needed quickly, several senior military officers said. Pentagon authorities also have set a series of “decision points” during 2006 to consider further force cuts that, under a “moderately optimistic”...

I wonder why there hasn’t been more discussion of Ariel Sharon’s incredible decision to leave the Likud Party and form a new centrist party. A day-after update is here. A case can be made that Sharon should have won the Nobel Peace Prize this year. He certainly was more deserving than ElBaradei and the IAEA. And, for what it’s worth, he was my pick. But this latest move could permanently restructure Israeli politics, with centrist consensus replacing the current model of alternating...

Starring Tom “Hammer” DeLay, Jack Abramoff, and a cast of corruption. From The New York Times: “Michael Scanlon, former aide to a powerful congressman and onetime partner of a wealthy lobbyist, pleaded guilty today to a federal conspiracy charge as part of a deal in which he agreed to cooperate with an investigation into possible wrongdoing by some lawmakers.” Coming soon to a courtroom — or a TV set — near you. Some blogospheric reaction to this story is here. Previous...

Over at The Washington Note, Steve Clemons asks the all-important question: “Who is Patrick Fitzgerald’s ‘Deep Throat’ source?” Stephen Hadley? John Bellinger? Richard Armitage? Someone else entirely? (I’ve previously written about Hadley and Armitage.) The mystery continues…

So America’s moral responsibility may not matter much anymore. The Iraqis are looking for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal: For the first time, Iraq’s political factions on Monday collectively called for a timetable for withdrawal of foreign forces, in a moment of consensus that comes as the Bush administration battles pressure at home to commit itself to a pullout schedule. The announcement, made at the conclusion of a reconciliation conference here backed by the Arab League, was a public...

Here’s an overlooked but rather serious story from recent days: A French diplomat has admitted to accepting “oil allocations” from Saddam — that is, for participating in the oil-for-food scandal — that is, for feeding Saddam’s tyranny. Wonderful, eh?

I wrote mostly about U.S. politics and culture, as many of you know, but here are a couple of stories from The Canada Desk: 1) Shania Twain has been awarded the Order of Canada, this country’s highest civilian honour — see here. In all, 43 Canadians received the honour… Governor General Michaelle Jean, Queen Elizabeth’s representative and our de facto head of state, described the recipients as “pioneers, trail blazers, builders, [and] visionaries”. I’m not...

Andrew Sullivan responds to this excellent piece by John Burns in The New York Times. To quote Andrew: “One thing I wish were more insisted upon. It’s not just that we have no interest in seeing Iraq degenerate into a brutal civil and possibly regional war. By removing Saddam, we created this vacuum. We own it. We have a moral responsibility to see this through.” (OxBlog responds.) I sympathize with those who are calling for U.S. forces to be withdrawn, from Cindy Sheehan to Jack...

From the BBC: “The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) [a leading research firm] ranked 20 countries on 15 indicators of political and civil liberty.” The results are interesting, if predictable: Israel’s at the top, Libya’s at the bottom. And Bush’s Saudi pals are third last. I’ve also got the list here.

It’s like no one’s even paying attention to him anymore. And — with North Korea and China to deal with, two very different but two very serious problems, an emerging nuclear state and an emerging superpower with enormous military and economic might — he’s stuck in his own Iraqi quagmire, unable to provide the statesmanship necessary to lead the international community and provide real solutions to these real problems. Sure, he may say the right things, he may address...

The story seems to have lost some of its steam, but here’s an update of the latest developments and reaction from around the blogosphere. Key point: Arianna Huffington has 15 questions for Bobby W. (Answers would be nice.) And I have one of my own: How does it feel to be on the other end of the questioning, Mr. Woodward?

An addendum to my post from yesterday evening and to Joe’s great round-ups (see links below): At AMERICAblog, John Aravosis reveals that the Pentagon (White House?) is already swift-boating Murtha. Not that we could honestly have expected anything else. This is how they deal with their opponents, with those who dare to question them. Digby responds here. ********** As some of you may know, Vice President Cheney has recently rushed not only to the defence of torture but to the defence of the...

Is polygamy one of the causes of the rioting in France? Well, that’s the astonishing claim being made by some high-ranking French leaders and public figures, including Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.