On Thursday, the administration is planning to make public parts of a new national intelligence assessment that expresses deep doubts that the Maliki government can overcome sectarian differences. The assessment reportedly says “there’s been little political progress to date, and it’s very gloomy on the chances for political progress in the future.”
The administration argued in court papers this week that the White House Office of Administration is “not subject to the Freedom of Information Act” as part of its effort to refuse the release of internal documents about a large number of e-mails missing from White House servers.” The White House website, however, claims that the office is subject to FOIA.
Executive branch officials “are routinely accepting trips from companies and trade associations with a stake in their agencies’ decisions.” A USA Today investigation found more than 100 trips between April 2006 and March 2007 that “would be out of bounds for members of Congress under the recently passed ethics bill,” yet are allowed for executive officials.
Baghdad’s electricty problems, where residents are struggling with only a few hours of power a day, are being made worse by increasing control of local switching stations by armed militias across Iraq, who “often refuse to share electricity generated locally with Baghdad and other power-starved areas,” said the Iraqi electricity minister yesterday.
The Bush administration “plans to screen thousands of people who work with charities and nonprofit organizations that receive U.S. Agency for International Development funds to ensure they are not connected with individuals or groups associated with terrorism.” But the government “does not intend to tell groups deemed unacceptable why they are rejected.”
Reacting to Bush’s comparison of the Vietnam and Iraq wars, Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Le Dung said, “The war leaves consequences that are still visible today, and so are our memories.” He added that the Vietnamese fought for “a righteous cause” during the U.S. war but preferred to focus on the present.
The Western Climate Initiative, which includes the governments of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington and the provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba, “announced a regional goal Wednesday to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by…15% over 2005 levels within 13 years.”
Teamsters boss James Hoffa is urging more than 170 of the union’s pension funds to “shed all shares they own in companies doing business in Iran.” The Teamsters’ pension funds amount to approximately $110 billion. The Teamsters is the first union to pursue Iran divestment at the national level.
And finally: Tonight after his show, Stephen Colbert will auction on eBay a cast that “helped mend his broken left wrist.” The cast is signed by Michael Bloomberg, Bill O’Reilly, and Tony Snow, among others. Proceeds will benefit the Yellow Ribbon Fund, “a charity that assists injured service members and their families.” “If I had known that it would give me the opportunity to help our wounded veterans, I would have shattered my triquetrum a long time ago,” Colbert said in a statement.
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