George Bush, Space Cowboy

But I think Stolberg is reading a bit too much into Bush's statement. For one, Bush doesn't have much time left in which to change his mind. For another, he seemed to be saying that, as long as the overall program is working -- which it is -- then he isn't going to change anything.

Indeed, if he were really looking for evidence that the program could work better without the heavy focus on abstinence, he would have to go no further than reports from the Institute of Medicine or the Government Accountability Office.

Reuters reports on the announcement by Ghana's President John Kufuor that he is christening a highway under construction the "George Bush Motorway." The road is being finished with the help of U.S. money.

Tabassum Zakaria and Deborah Charles write for Reuters: "President George W. Bush promised U.S. support for Liberia in its recovery from a crippling civil war as he visited the close U.S. ally on the last stop of a five-nation tour of Africa on Thursday.

"The U.S. leader and his wife Laura received an enthusiastic welcome from Liberians led by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-trained economist who took office in 2006 as Africa's first elected female leader."

Casualty Watch

Peter Baker blogs for washingtonpost.com: "Good thing everyone's about to head home because the casualties keep mounting. In addition to Deborah Charles's hand, a number of people on the trip have suffered from dehydration or other maladies. At one point, White House press secretary Dana Perino was given fluids through an intravenous tube.

"But the latest victim was Jon Ward of the Washington Times, who somehow ran through a plate-glass window at the Liberian executive mansion trying to keep up with the president. Colleagues say he's got some cuts on his right hand but is in surprisingly good shape considering. And in a display of heroic dedication, he even got out his pool report to other journalists despite his accident."

After relating the toasts Bush and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf offered before their lunch, "Ward then concluded with this: 'And I just ran through a window.'"

Pakistan Watch

Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel write for McClatchy Newspapers: "The Bush administration is pressing the opposition leaders who defeated Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to allow the former general to retain his position, a move that Western diplomats and U.S. officials say could trigger the very turmoil the United States seeks to avoid.

"U.S. officials, from President Bush on down, said this week that they think Musharraf, a longtime U.S. ally, should continue to play a role, despite his party's rout in parliamentary elections Monday and his unpopularity in the volatile, nuclear-armed nation.

"The U.S. is urging the Pakistani political leaders who won the elections to form a new government quickly and not press to reinstate the judges whom Musharraf ousted last year, Western diplomats and U.S. officials said Wednesday. If reinstated, the jurists likely would try to remove Musharraf from office.

"Bush's policy of hanging on to Musharraf has caused friction between the White House and the State Department, with some career diplomats and other specialists arguing that the administration is trying to buck the political tides in Pakistan, U.S. officials said."