Bill Kristol, Highly Recommended

As The Post reported Saturday, the magazine is conducting its own investigation after conservative Web sites questioned the accusations by "Scott Thomas," who the New Republic says is a soldier in Iraq.

In a statement to the Weekly Standard, Maj. Kirk Luedeke, spokesman for Forward Operating Base Falcon, said he could "immediately refute the assertion that a mass graveyard of children's skeletons was found" in the area described by the diarist, who had said soldiers played with the skulls.

Luedeke also challenged the diarist's account that soldiers in a mess hall had mocked a woman whose face was severely scarred from an injury. "We have nobody matching that description here at FOB Falcon," and while she might have been a visitor, "you would think that someone with such visible wounds would stand out in memorable fashion."

The spokesman said he could not "decisively" dispute that a soldier used his Bradley Fighting Vehicle to run over dogs, but that "to be driving erratically so as to hit dogs or other things would be to put the entire vehicle's crew at risk and would be gross dereliction of duty."

New Republic Editor Franklin Foer says he has some corroboration of the incidents and that some of the criticism appears ideologically motivated.

Debating Olbermann

In a "special comment" earlier this month, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann called on President Bush to resign for commuting Scooter Libby's prison sentence, saying: "In that moment, Mr. Bush, you became merely the president of a rabid and irresponsible corner of the Republican Party. And this is too important a time, sir, to have a commander in chief who puts party over nation."

Now Olbermann has been picked to moderate a Democratic presidential debate, sponsored by the AFL-CIO, on Aug. 7. Which raises a legitimate question: Can a cable host who regularly bashes Bush be tough on the Democrats?

Olbermann says his work at the debate will resemble his co-anchoring role of past election events: fair. "I agree that the water carriers on the right have a perception problem," he says. "This is a non-issue from all sides. . . .

"I realize the far right understands that the pitchmen it turns to in lieu of newscasters could not be trusted to leave their commentary at home, and treat an actual news event as such, but fortunately I'm a journalist who does periodic commentary, and not a snake oil salesman pretending to be an analyst or newsman."