President Bush sets off for a “very quick” trip through Europe tomorrow. Ahead of his departure, the Financial Times reports that a new poll indicates Europeans identify the U.S. as the greatest threat to global stability (36 percent). Iran and China come in second and third.
According to a Pentagon spokesman, three remaining U.S. reporters were banned from Guantanamo Bay last week because reporters had threatened to sue if the Americans were allowed to stay. According to one of those reporters, the Pentagon lied.
Despite his promises to push for lobbying reform, some House conservatives still doubt House Majority Leader John Boehner’s (R-OH) commitment: “With this leadership, we never will get rid of earmarks.”
The Washington Post obtained a “sensitive” cable from the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice outlining the “the daily-worsening conditions for those who live outside the heavily guarded international zone: harassment, threats and the employees’ constant fears that their neighbors will discover they work for the U.S. government.”
In an effort to crack down on employers who hire undocumented workers, the “Homeland Security Department also is seeking access to Social Security Administration records of workers whose numbers and names don’t match — access that has long been blocked by privacy concerns.” Read more
