ThinkFast: August 28, 2007

In what officials call “the largest ring of fraud and kickbacks uncovered in” Iraq yet, federal agents are investigating “the purchase and delivery of billions of dollars of weapons, supplies and other mat©riel to Iraqi and American forces.” One investigation involves a senior American officer who worked closely with Gen. David Petraeus in training and equipping Iraqi forces in 2004 and 2005.

Karl Rove was one of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s few defenders at the White House, notes the New York Times. “He was being protected, in large measure by Karl,” said a Republican close to the White House. When Rove left, it “further exposed that the only thing that was standing with him was the president of the United States.”

Michael Moore’s documentary SiCKO has helped start a national discussion on health care reform. A new poll finds that 43 percent of respondents familiar with the movie “said they were more likely to think [there] is a need for health care reform.” Another “45 percent said they discussed the U.S. health system with friends, co-workers, or family as a result of the movie.”

In an editorial, The Idaho Statesman writes that “Sen. Craig owes Idahoans an explanation.” “This is a painful time made worse by the fact that Craig so far has been less than forthcoming. … [V]oters now deserve the full story from their senior senator.” The paper has a longer profile of Craig here.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) suggested CIA leak investigator Patrick Fitzgerald and former Deputy Attorney General James Comey as possible replacements for Alberto Gonzales. Durbin acknowledged Fitzgerald would be a ”long shot” for the job.

28 percent: Americans who approve of President Bush’s handling of Iraq according to the latest Harris Interactive poll. That number is down slightly from 30 percent in May. “61% of those surveyed said Mr. Bush had been too eager to go to war in Iraq.”

“The U.S. military said Monday it regretted any offense it may have caused by giving out a soccer ball with the word Allah written on it as part of a public relations exercise in Afghanistan.”

Yesterday, the National Association of Realtors announced that home sales “fell in July to their slowest pace in five years. The glut of homes for sale is at a 16-year high.” The housing market likely won’t recover “until early next year.”

And finally: Yesterday, speaking at Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park, First Lady Laura Bush revealed that Henry Hager proposed to Jenna Bush in Maine’s Acadia National Park. Mrs. Bush added, “So the national parks have been a very important part of our family life, as well.” (See the Bush administration’s record on national parks HERE.)

What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.