Talking Iraq Headline Blues

There appears to be no good news coming out of Iraq. My latest web surfing came up with these stories:

• HAGEL: IRAQ GROWING MORE LIKE VIETNAM
  (CNN) — Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska on Thursday said the United States is “getting more and more bogged down” in Iraq and stood by his comments that the White House is disconnected from reality and losing the war....GOP Senator Chuck Hagel also did not back away from comments he made in June to U.S. News and World Report that “the White House is completely disconnected from reality” and “the reality is that we’re losing in Iraq.“....On another Iraq-related issue, Hagel said Bush made the wrong decision by not meeting again with Cindy Sheehan.“I think the wise course of action, the compassionate course of action, the better course of action would have been to immediately invite her in to the ranch. It should have been done when this whole thing started. Listen to her.”
  
  
• BUSH’S NUMBERS IN FREEFALL
  A new survey at surveyusa.com shows that Bush’s approval ratings are in the thirties in many blue states. Nixon’s numbers got that low just before Watergate. He resigned to avoid impeachment....His approval is only 43% even here in Tennessee. The national average based on population is 41%.
  
  
• DUNCAN IS DOVE-ISH
  “There is just no enthusiasm for this war,” said Representative John J. Duncan Jr., a Tennessee Republican who opposes the war. “Nobody is happy about it. It certainly is not going to help Republican candidates, I can tell you that much.”
  
  
• “DEAD WRONG” ON CNN TOMORROW NIGHT
  Also from CNN, a special airing Sunday includes an interview with Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, aide to Colin Powell, who says his involvement in the former secretary of state’s presentation to the United Nations on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction was “the lowest point” in his life....Wilkerson is one of several insiders interviewed for the CNN Presents documentary “Dead Wrong — Inside an Intelligence Meltdown.” The program, which airs Sunday at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET, pieces together the events leading up to the mistaken WMD intelligence that was presented to the public. A presidential commission that investigated the pre-war WMD intelligence found much of it to be “dead wrong.”
  
  
• 3 SUNNIS PROMOTING VOTE SLAIN IN IRAQ
  BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Masked gunmen killed three Sunni Arabs in front of horrified witnesses outside a mosque in Mosul on Friday, after grabbing them as they hung posters urging fellow Sunnis to vote in a referendum on the new constitution.
  
  
• COMBAT STRESS UNIT RETURNS TO IRAQ
  By Denise Lavoie / Associated Press
  BOSTON — Members of the 883rd Medical Company treat the kinds of wounds that can’t be seen but are sometimes just as damaging as physical injuries. The “combat stress control” unit, which heads to Iraq on Friday for a second deployment, offers counseling and advice to soldiers who may be suffering from anxiety, depression, insomnia and a host of other psychological problems associated with combat.
  
  
• GAS PRICES HIT RECORD HIGH FOR TENTH STRAIGHT DAY
  By John W. Schoen / MSNBC
  With just a few weeks left in the summer driving season, consumers are wondering just what it will take to put the brake on gas prices. For the last ten days in a row, pump prices set new records. And with inventories of gas at a new five-year low, refiners are having trouble keeping up with demand.
  
  
• LETTERS FROM MOMS POUR INTO CRAWFORD
  Craford update from bloggers
  “We definitely deserve some foot massages tonight! This afternoon, over 100 of us marched three miles from Camp Casey to the gate of President Bush’s ranch in 90 degree heat, all to deliver hundreds of letters written by women to Laura Bush. Our marching group ranged from infants to octogenarians, and was led by some really gutsy moms.”