A story in tomorrow’s Washington Post reports that early in 2004, then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld became angry that the Pentagon was losing control over reconstruction efforts in Iraq. In return, he refused to provide military security for diplomats, forcing the State Department to rush to Blackwater:

The next year, as the United States prepared to return sovereignty to the Iraqis and the State Department began planning an embassy in Baghdad, Rumsfeld lost a bid to retain control over the full U.S. effort, including billions of dollars in reconstruction funds. A new executive order, signed in January 2004, gave State authority over all but military operations. Rumsfeld’s revenge, at least in the view of many State officials, was to withdraw all but minimal assistance for diplomatic security.

“It was the view of Donald Rumsfeld and [then-Deputy Defense Secretary] Paul Wolfowitz that this wasn’t their problem,” said a former senior State Department official. Meetings to negotiate an official memorandum of understanding between State and Defense during the spring of 2004 broke up in shouting matches over issues such as their respective levels of patriotism and whether the military would provide mortuary services for slain diplomats. [...]

State chose the most expedient solution: Take over the Pentagon’s personal security contract with Blackwater and extend it for a year.

Fifty-five percent of Americans believe that “the phenomenon of global warming has been proven,” and is largely caused by humans … Sixty-six percent of Americans believe the United States should do what it can to reduce global warming, even if other nations ignore it. This compares with 52 percent of respondents who believed that way in 2001.”

Mitt Romney just barely edges out Mike Huckabee in the “values voter” straw poll, but Huckabee actually trounced him among people who actually attended the conference rather than voted online.

If Huckabee had money, it seems to me he’d be a formidable contender. As things stand, he mostly seems like a potential spoiler who might step on the big headlines out of Iowa that Romney needs.

UPDATE: In a related development Pam Spalding notes this Dallas Morning News article in which Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, urges his congregation not to vote for Romney: “Even though he talks about Jesus as his Lord and savior, he is not a Christian. Mormonism is not Christianity. Mormonism is a cult.” The “cult” charge is patently unfair and seems to reflect bigotry, but the perspective that Mormonism is more of an offshoot of Christianity than a variety of it seems fairly well-supported to me. Generally, when you add a new holy book, you have a new religion.

Today, President Bush used highly choreographed photo-ops in Maryland in an effort to “burnish his conservation credentials.” He looked “slightly askance” with a screech owl on his hand, remarking, “Cute little fellow.” He also joked that he loves fishing, but “the Secret Service won’t let me go hunting” with Vice President Cheney anymore.

According to the League of Conservation Voters, the Bush administration “has arguably been the most anti-environmental in our nation’s history.” More on his FY2008 budget proposals here.

In her first interview since Bush administration officials outed her as a covert CIA agent, Valerie Plame Wilson reveals to CBS 60 Minutes that she was involved in preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon. In the interview to be aired this Sunday, CBS reports that she was “involved in one highly classified mission to deliver fake nuclear weapons blueprints to Tehran.” Watch it:

Plame’s role in Iran intelligence was first revealed by Raw Story’s Larisa Alexandrovna in Feb. 2006.

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