“Thunderous explosions and dense black smoke swirled through the center of Baghdad Monday when at least two car bombs…tore through a crowded marketplace, setting off dozens of secondary explosions and killing at least 71 people.”
Maj. Gen. Jim Simmons, a deputy commanding general in Iraq said that insurgents had adopted new tactics and stepped up their efforts to shoot down American helicopters. Simmons acknowledged the unreported downing of a Black Hawk late last month, and revealed that enemy fire had hit at least 17 U.S. helicopters a month in Iraq.
The Washington Post noted that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has called on big soft money donors to bankroll his expected presidential campaign, despite the fact that he has personally campaigned against the use of “soft money.” McCain called the Post article the “worst hit job that has ever been done in my entire political career.”
Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, who commanded U.S. forces in Afghanistan for 21 months, said, “The intelligence has gone cold on Osama bin Laden.” He also said he expected a fresh offensive by the Taliban in the spring and an “increase in enemy activity.”
“A growing number of states are paying antiabortion activists to counsel women with unplanned pregnancies. At least eight states — including Florida, Missouri and Pennsylvania — use public funds to subsidize…programs explicitly designed to steer women away from abortion.”
“Three days of intense debate over the Iraq war begins in the House today, with Democrats planning to propose a narrowly worded rebuke of President Bush’s troop buildup and Republicans girding for broad defections on their side.”
As the defense phase of Scooter Libby’s perjury trial begins, Vice President Cheney “is expected to make a historic appearance on the witness stand,” where he “may be forced to describe in uncomfortable detail how he directed the counteroffensive” against Joe Wilson.
“Two senior officials at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who opposed many questionable management and spending decisions by the agency’s former director are being moved to lower-ranking positions effective Thursday.”
U.S. Army units in Iraq and Afghanistan lack more than 4,000 of the latest advanced Humvee armor kits, designed to reduce U.S. troop deaths from roadside bombs that are now inflicting 70 percent of the American casualties in Iraq. The Army has is giving priority to troops in Baghdad, but the upgrade is not scheduled to be completed until this summer.
And finally: “The scars may have gone away but our memories haven’t: Yes it was one year ago yesterday that Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot his lawyer, Harry Whittington.” Even in Tasmania, where Cheney is scheduled to go fly-fishing this month, one resident wrote the newspaper, “PLEASE assure us that Dick Cheney is coming to Tasmania to fish and not to shoot.”
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