"President Bush committed an impeachable offence by ordering the CIA to manufacture a false pretence for the Iraq war in the form of a backdated, handwritten document linking Saddam Hussein and al Qa'eda, an explosive new book claims," MSNBC reported. "The charge is made in 'The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism' by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind, released [on Tuesday]. "Suskind says he spoke on the record with US intelligence officials who stated that Bush was informed unequivocally in January 2003 that Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction. Nonetheless, his book relates, Bush decided to invade Iraq three months later - with the forged letter from the head of Iraqi intelligence to Saddam bolstering the US rationale to go into war." Meanwhile, The Times said: "A secret deal between Britain and the notorious al Mahdi militia prevented British Forces from coming to the aid of their US and Iraqi allies for nearly a week during the battle for Basra this year... "Four thousand British troops - including elements of the SAS and an entire mechanised brigade - watched from the sidelines for six days because of an 'accommodation' with the Iranian-backed group, according to American and Iraqi officers who took part in the assault. "US Marines and soldiers had to be rushed in to fill the void, fighting bitter street battles and facing mortar fire, rockets and roadside bombs with their Iraqi counterparts." In a commentary for The Times, Michael Evans wrote: "General David Petraeus, the US Commander of the multinational force in Iraq, made it clear after the withdrawal of the 500 British troops from Basra palace last September that he had given his blessing to the pullout. Hinting at the deal with the militia, he acknowledged the wisdom of the British approach to counter-insurgency - that 'you reconcile with your enemies, not with your friends'. "However, the accommodation with the militia meant that even the SAS was unable to operate inside Basra for fear of breaching the deal. Despite the diplomatic tact shown by General Petraeus, US commanders lower down the chain of command became disillusioned with the way that the British were operating in the south." In a new development, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr intends to disarm his Mahdi Army militia and turn it into a non-violent social services organisation. "The transformation would represent a significant turnabout for a group that, as recently as earlier this year, was seen as one of the most destabilising anti-American forces in Iraq. For much of the past several years, the Mahdi Army, headed by Mr Sadr, a Shiite cleric, controlled sizeable chunks of Baghdad and other cities. Its brand of pro-Shiite activism had the side effect of pitting Iraqis against each other, helping to stir worries of civil war. "Recently, however, the group has been hit by a largely successful Iraqi military crackdown against militia members operating as criminal gangs. At the same time, Mr Sadr's popular support is dwindling: Residents who once viewed the Mahdi Army as champions of the poor became alienated by what they saw as its thuggish behaviour. "A new brochure, obtained by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by Mr Sadr's chief spokesman, Sheikh Salah al Obeidi, states that the Mahdi Army will now be guided by Shiite spirituality instead of anti-American militancy. The group will focus on education, religion and social justice, according to the brochure, which is aimed at Mr Sadr's followers. The brochure also states that it 'is not allowed to use arms at all'."
"Americans want their next president to invest in new energy sources and won't penalise a candidate who says they need to change their habits to conserve, according to the latest USA Today/Gallup Poll. "The poll, taken last Friday through Sunday, found wide support for many proposals advanced by Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, their parties' presumptive nominees. Obama's ideas had broader support, and he was viewed as better able to handle energy issues. But 21 per cent said neither candidate would do a good job. "Energy and gas prices top the list this year when voters are asked what's extremely important to them in choosing a candidate." The Los Angeles Times reported: "Obama said in a speech on Monday that he would abandon his past position and support tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to quickly cut prices at the gasoline pump. "His campaign later released a statement saying that the 'doubling of oil prices in the past year is a crisis for millions of Americans.' "Obama's reversal on tapping the national stockpile of crude oil comes just days after he said, for the first time, that he would agree to some offshore drilling as part of a broader energy-policy compromise with Republicans, including John McCain, who has supported additional drilling. "Those shifts by Obama are indicative of the pressure that politicians of both parties - but especially Democrats - are under to develop specific, short-term energy proposals in the face of rising costs. Against that backdrop, politicians risk looking insensitive if they tout only solutions that could take years to hit the pump, such as Obama's plan to develop hybrid cars that can travel 150 miles on a gallon of gasoline." CBS News noted that the McCain campaign has eagerly embraced the energy issue: "Republicans believe that the McCain campaign, which has been criticised for being overly reactive in its battle with Obama, has finally found an issue on which it can successfully go on the offensive. "'This is the first time the Republicans have felt upbeat and optimistic about a major issue in a long time,' said the Republican strategist Scott Reed. 'McCain has framed the issue well, with solutions and a sharp contrast to Obama, and in Congress, Republicans seem to be rallying around this issue. They feel Democrats have boxed themselves in a corner.' "'I think it's one of the best issues they have,' said GOP strategist Ed Rollins, who ran Mike Huckabee's campaign. 'So much in the McCain campaign has been small and sort of nitpicky, and this is a substantive issue that shows that he has strength and some vision, which I think is very, very important.' "
"A day after two men attacked a military police unit in the country's far northwest, killing 16 and wounding 16 others, the Chinese authorities sought to portray the ambush as an act of terrorism and said the men were members of an outlawed organisation they contend has links to al Qa'eda," The New York Times reported. "The men, Muslims belonging to China's ethnic Uighur minority, attacked the brigade early Monday morning as the officers lined up for callisthenics outside their barracks in central Kashgar. The attackers rammed the police with a dump truck and then lobbed homemade grenades. The authorities said the two arrested men had spent a month planning the attack as part of an effort by home-grown Islamic terrorists to disrupt the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing. " 'We can see clearly that these forces are trying to wage a psychological and violent battle against the Olympics,' Shi Dagang, the Communist Party secretary of Kashgar, said at a news conference on Tuesday. 'They want to turn the year 2008 into a year of mourning for China.' "Days before the start of the opening ceremonies, the attack rattled security officials in Beijing, who have long warned that the greatest threat to the Games comes from members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a group that the authorities have blamed for a recent string of attacks in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Some Western analysts have cast doubt on whether the group is strong enough to pose a serious threat." McClatchy Newspapers said: "As tens of thousands of foreign journalists arrive to test China's pledges to respect media freedom during the Olympic Games, the nation Tuesday offered apologies for the beatings police gave two Japanese journalists covering a deadly assault by Muslim separatists. "Paramilitary police kicked and beat the two journalists, throwing one to the ground and putting boots to his head and body, and damaging his photo gear. "In a separate incident, police entered the hotel room of an Agence France Presse photographer and forced him to delete photos of the attack scene, the French agency said." In The New York Times, Jere Longman wrote: "the question looming as China prepares for the opening ceremonies is whether the committee made the right bet or took too lightly the possibility that protests or unforeseen events could divide rather than unite the nations whose athletes are gathering in Beijing. "Seven years ago, the prevailing attitude within the International Olympic Committee was that the world's most populous nation deserved to host the world's largest sporting event. China, after all, had acted with restraint after losing by two votes to Sydney, Australia, to host the 2000 Summer Games, even when the deciding votes turned out to have essentially been bought. "Speaking in 2001 about the political question, Francois Carrard, then the IOC's director general, said: 'We are totally aware there is one issue on the table, and that is human rights. Either you say because of some serious human rights issues, we close the door, deliver a vote that is regarded as a sanction and hope things evolve better. The other way is to bet on openness. We are taking the bet that we will see many changes.' " Edward Wong reported in The New York Times: "Until recently, the sight of a Japanese warship steaming toward Chinese shores or of a Chinese aircraft swooping low over Taiwan would have provoked alarm across Asia. "But when Japan's navy made its first Chinese port call since World War II and a Chinese charter plane ferried mainland tourists to neighbouring Taiwan this summer, they were symbols not of China's dangerous rivalries, but of the diplomacy that President Hu Jintao has used to defuse them. "After two years of intensive and often secretive overtures, Taiwan and Japan, two neighbours long viewed as the most likely to face a military threat from a rising China have been drawn closer into its orbit. "Improved relations have not only reduced the chances of a flare-up that could disrupt China's turn as an Olympic host, but also helped showcase China's frequent claims to be a new kind of global power that intends to rise on the world stage without engaging in military conflict."
