In today’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow argued that the “picture” in Iraq “constantly changes,” and that while the future looks bleak now, a year ago “Democrats and Republicans both coming back from the region saying, you know, we think things are going okay.” He added that no one anticipated the “eruption of sectarian violence.” Watch it:

The administration has repeatedly tried to claim that Feb. 2006 — when Sunni extremists blew up the Shiia Golden Mosque of Samarra — was the start of sectarian violence in Iraq. While sectarian warfare did skyrocket after that incident, the situation was not “going okay” before that point:

– “The numbers of car bombs, suicide car bombs and roadside bombs all doubled from 2004 to 2005.”

– In 2005, there were more U.S. casualties in Iraq (846) than there were in 2006 (821).

– On Feb. 27, 2005, Knight Ridder quoted then-Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim warning about sectarian violence, “It’s the beginning, and we could go down the slippery slope very quickly. … Both sides are sharpening their knives.”

– On Sept. 26, 2005, CBS News reported that “there is an undeclared civil war already underway in Iraq, between the Sunni minority who ruled this country under Saddam and the Shiite majority.”

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As TPMmuckraker notes, the Bush administration “has refused to release any part of the order issued yesterday by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court authorizing NSA surveillance within the United States, saying doing so would risk exposing operational details.” But in a letter to Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), the presiding judge notes that she has “no objection” to the material being made available to Congress; it is the Attorney General who refuses to share it.

Ward Connerly has led the right wing’s fight against diversity in schools, pushing ballot initiatives to ban affirmative action around the nation. Earlier in the week on PRI’s To The Point radio show, Connerly said that schools don’t need to be integrated because people can find other places to “get along with others.” He then offered the racetrack as an alternate venue, noting, “I love horseracing, and I– whenever I can find the time I will frequent the racetrack, and I find myself thrown in with people from all around the globe.” Listen here:

But Connerly is missing the point. The effects of diversity in schools can’t be replicated in casual settings such as the racetrack. A recent study by the Center for American Progress concluded:

– African Americans and Hispanics learn more in integrated schools. Minorities attending integrated schools also perform better in college attendance and employment.

– Minority students who are desegregated at a younger age, in elementary school, also seem to benefit more than those desegregated later in their school careers. Three-fourths of the studies where desegregation occurred in kindergarten showed achievement gains and the effect sizes were larger than in desegregation efforts aimed at older students.

– Racial integration is a rare case where an educational policy appears to improve educational equity at little financial cost.

Read full report HERE.

(HT: Julia)

Transcript: Read more

“A group of Methodist ministers from across the nation launched an online petition drive” today “urging Southern Methodist University to stop trying to land George W. Bush’s presidential library.” The petition, found here, says that “as United Methodists, we believe that the linking of his presidency with a university bearing the Methodist name is utterly inappropriate.”

It’s a great song. But not only is “America’s Mayor” obviously doomed as a candidate for the Republican nomination, I’m hugely puzzled as to why Stuart Rothenberg would even concede that “the former mayor might make a terrific general election candidate.” At this particular moment in history what’s the constituency for gay rights, small government, and more war? Does that sound like the sort of ideological package you’d want to bundle up in an individual who has no experience whatsoever with any federal issues other than racketeering? People still have generally warm and fuzzy feelings about Giuliani (heck, I have somewhat warm and fuzzy feelings about it) but if it came down to an actual campaign the realty that almost nobody actually wants someone with Giuliani-esque views to be president.

In announcing his escalation plan earlier this month, President Bush argued the additional U.S. forces were needed to help support Iraqi forces. Whether the escalation makes any difference to the security situation depends in part on the capability of the Iraqi forces.

According to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi forces have not been properly equipped to handle their missions. “In the interview yesterday, Maliki said many American and Iraqi lives would have been spared if the Iraqi forces were better equipped.” David Walker, head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), said the Pentagon is refusing to release data on the troop readiness levels of the Iraqi security forces. GovExec reports:

Comptroller General David M. Walker told audience members at a Government Executive breakfast Wednesday that Defense has not complied with repeated Government Accountability Office requests for evaluations of Iraqi troop preparedness, known as transitional readiness assessments. The Pentagon develops those evaluations for Iraqi and U.S. forces, Walker said, and has a statutory obligation to release them to GAO.

[...]

Walker said he expected to find some embarrassing information that would account for the battle over obtaining them. “You just can’t go by how many people you trained,” he said. “Of the people that you’ve trained, how many are left? To what extent do they have loyalty to the unified government of Iraq? To what extent are they properly equipped? To what extent do they have appropriate support?”

Before the Bush administration commits more U.S. troops to Iraq, Congress must know whether Iraqi forces are presently capable of taking on this difficult mission.

Carpetbagger has more.

“The Pentagon has drafted a manual for upcoming detainee trials that would allow suspected terrorists to be convicted on hearsay evidence and coerced testimony and imprisoned or put to death,” the AP reports. According to the manual, “a terror suspect’s defence lawyer cannot reveal classified evidence in the person’s defence until the government has a chance to review it.”