Bush Moves To Push Petraeus From Spotlight

The Skinny: White House Wants U.S. General To Testify Privately On Success Of Troop Surge

(CBS)  The Skinny is Keach Hagey's take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.

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After months of asking Americans to suspend judgment on the troop surge until hearing a progress report from Gen. David Petraeus next month, the White House proposed keeping the general's report behind closed doors, the Washington Post reports.

White House officials suggested to Congress that they limit Petraeus' and Ambassador Ryan Crocker's appearance to a private congressional briefing, with the secretaries of state and defense delivering the official report to Congress.

Nice try, said Congress.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden (D-Del.) told the White House that Bush's plan was "unacceptable." The legislation demanding the report requires that Petraeus and Crocker "will be made available to testify in open and closed sessions before relevant committees of the Congress" before the delivery of the report. "Several Republicans have hinted that their support will depend on a credible presentation by Petraeus," the Post reports.

For their part, Petreaus and Crocker "appeared to be puzzled" by Bush's proposal. They have "said repeatedly that they plan to testify after delivering private assessments to Bush."

Power Sharing In Pakistan?

Worried about its wobbling buddy Gen. Pervez Musharraf's ability to hold onto power amid a deepening political crisis in Pakistan, the Bush administration has been "quietly prodding" him to share power with longtime rival Benazir Bhutto, the New York Times reports.

Musharraf, who clearly knows on which side his bread is buttered, met secretly with Bhutto -- the daughter of an assasinated prime minister who was elected to follow in his footsteps in 1996 -- in Abu Dhabi on July 27.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also "did discuss the idea of a power-sharing agreement" during the 2 a.m. phone call she placed to Musharraf last week warning him that declaring emergency powers would be a really dumb idea.

American officials say a first step to the deal could be a decision by Musharraf to allow open parliamentary elections next month, since Bhutto's party seems poised to win the largest share of the vote.

But there are many "ifs" in the equation, not least of which that members of both leaders' parties view power-share as a sell-out.

"We want to avoid a situation where we are seen as bailing out an unpopular military dictatorship," Bhutto told the Times.

It might be a little late for that much spin.

Si, Seniors! Retirees Make A Run For The Border

Hey Congress, you might want to hold off a minute on that wall. USA Today reports that a steadily growing number of Americans are moving across the border to nursing homes in Mexico, "where the sun is bright and the living is cheap."

Take the case of Richard Slater. For $550 a month, less than on tenth the going rate in his hometown of Las Vegas, he lives in his own cottage in a retirement community, "surrounded by purple bougainvilla and pomegranate trees," get 24-hour nursing care and three meals a day. He has satellite television, so he doesn't miss American news or programs, and has American neighbors. When he wants to go downtown, a cab ride is $3.

Sounds pleasant enough, if you like Mexican food. But here's the kicker: "For another $140 a year, he gets full medical coverage from the Mexican government, including all his medicine and insulin for diabetes."

It's enough to make you lightheaded and short of breath, no matter how old you are.



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[lostcountry1]

if pelosi would crawl out from under the table in the white house, and push for impeachment george worthless bush would be distracted and not so focused on betraying the american people once again. i thought rove was leaving? apparently he is leaving the universal'' screw americans'' playbook for his master. i say cindy sheehan for president. we need a president with some balls.

[j4401]

I think many of us need to realize and understand the following to gain insight on the truth.

The Real Reason We''re In Iraq: An influential group of conservatives convinced President George W. Bush that it was in America''s best interests to conquer Iraq as a first step toward dominating the oil-producing nations in the Middle East. There was no "exit plan" because we never intended to exit. The plan was, and is, to build military bases in Iraq and stay there forever. Our leaders also see Iraq as a place to make money. So Bush & Co. have set up their friends to cash in on the rebuilding of Iraq.

[toldyouso21]

Frankly, there is not one Iraqi life that is more valuable than one of our soldiers over there, and I think we need to get out of there while we can. If it all goes down the tubes, it''''s Bush''''s fault. All Bush is doing is trying to wait until he is out of office so he doesn''''t look like the complete chump he is.
Posted by aldewitt at 01:20 PM : Aug 16, 2007


I disagree with your post. This is our war. We brought the war, bombings and carnage to these people--NOT the other way around. All lives are of the same value--but if the onus in placed on any group--then it is on us for volunteering the Iraqis to live and die under the mayhem and horror our acts created.

remember, lies or not, our war was voluntary and had nothing to do with 9/11, that was just the carrot dangled to get our stupid Azz to lurch into the mess. Why are their lives less valuable? At least, when the smoke clears, we can never exonerate ourselves for starting all of this in the first place. Due to that, no matter how we spin it, the blood for this war is on our not so heroic American hands.

[toldyouso21]

The biggest negative to impeaching Bush and Cheney is that we can only do it one time. The way I see it, we should treat it like a 4th of July thing, for rememberance and a cautionary tale and repeat the impeachment symbolically for at least 40 generations.

[toldyouso21]

Did anyone at anytime in Bush''s life share with him that if a person insists on only saying a doing things behind closed doors, and if they eschew accountability by refusing to testify under oath, shredding papers and erasing emails... if they use methods like discrediting naysayers by outing agents and trying to strongarm sick people to get support for then illegal wire tapping....Well did anyone at anytime let Bush know that such tactics are only used by the dishonorable, liars and tricksters?

That such a group would have ZERO credibility. It is bad enough to say that the puppet regime in Iraq can take vacations while our soldiers die so they can get their act together, it is far worse to keep pushing a deadline, making excuses and then saying it needs to be a secret.

sorry George. We already KNOW there is a surge and we know some of the stuff that has been going on, we just need Patreus under OATH to underline the success or the not so good picture--recognizing that if he fudges or sugarcoats for his boss, he may face more than a loss of his Iraqi-Bagdhad project.

[marcodele]

briannorwood: Very well stated. He reminds me of when Judge Judy knocks on her wooden desk and says "He''s like this - he''s never going to get it." I think the arrogance comes from a life of never having to be accountable for anything or to anyone. He probably believes what he is told to say most of the time.

[briannorwood]

Every time I think the arrogance and incompetence of this President couldn''t get any worse, it does.

The fact that this idiot would even float the idea that Petraeus would not present the report that he was supposedly writing (which now it appears will be left to the spin machine) to congress shows how disconnected he is with the country.

I guess its a good thing that at least God talks to him.

[mudrose-2009]

Did anyone really believe Bush was ever going to allow such a report to be so public? A report we all know is not going to favor Bush and his war.
Posted by jjp735i

Just like Rick when asked "Why did you come to Casablanca?" "For the waters", he said. Chuckle, "I was misinformed". So are you and so is the author of this article. But when it comes to CBS''s integrity to report honestly - well that''s *** right moot.

[jjp735i]

Did anyone really believe Bush was ever going to allow such a report to be so public? A report we all know is not going to favor Bush and his war.

[formrusmcsgt]

Bush also like to push any disenters from the spotlight as well. Remember the couple who were arrested for wearing anti-Bush T-shirts?

ACLU: Settlement in anti-Bush T-shirt case

Federal government to pay $80,000 to Texas couple arrested at rally


Updated: 6:03 p.m. PT Aug 16, 2007
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A couple arrested at a rally after refusing to cover T-shirts that bore anti-President Bush slogans settled their lawsuit against the federal government for $80,000, the American Civil Liberties Union announced Thursday.

Nicole and Jeffery Rank of Corpus Christi, Texas, were handcuffed and removed from the July 4, 2004, rally at the state Capitol, where Bush gave a speech. A judge dismissed trespassing charges against them, and an order closing the case was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Charleston.

%u201CThis settlement is a real victory not only for our clients but for the First Amendment,%u201D said Andrew Schneider, executive director of the ACLU of West Virginia. %u201CAs a result of the Ranks%u2019 courageous stand, public officials will think twice before they eject peaceful protesters from public events for exercising their right to dissent.%u201D

The ACLU said in a statement that a presidential advance manual makes it clear that the government tries to exclude dissenters from the president%u2019s appearances. %u201CAs a last resort,%u201D the manual says, %u201Csecurity should remove the demonstrators from the event.%u201D