Bush's Olympic Hurdle

"The study by the nonpartisan Rand Corp. also contends that the administration committed a fundamental error in portraying the conflict with al-Qaeda as a 'war on terrorism.' The phrase falsely suggests that there can be a battlefield solution to terrorism, and symbolically conveys warrior status on terrorists, it said.

"'Terrorists should be perceived and described as criminals, not holy warriors,' authors Seth Jones and Martin Libicki write in ' How Terrorist Groups End: Lessons for Countering al-Qaeda,' a 200-page volume released yesterday. . . .

"The authors call for a strategy that includes a greater reliance on law enforcement and intelligence agencies in disrupting the group's networks and in arresting its leaders. They say that when military forces are needed, the emphasis should be on local troops, which understand the terrain and culture and tend to have greater legitimacy.

"In Muslim countries in particular, there should be a 'light U.S. military footprint or none at all,' the report contends.

"'The U.S. military can play a critical role in building indigenous capacity,' it said, 'but should generally resist being drawn into combat operations in Muslim societies, since its presence is likely to increase terrorist recruitment.'"

An excerpt from the report: "A key part of [a successful] strategy should include ending the notion of a war on terrorism and replacing it with such concepts as counterterrorism, which most governments with significant terrorist threats use. The British government, among others, has already taken this step and abjured the phrase war on terror. The phrase raises public expectations -- both in the United States and elsewhere -- that there is a battlefield solution to the problem of terrorism. It also encourages others abroad to respond by conducting a jihad (or holy war) against the United States and elevates them to the status of holy warriors. . . .

"Our analysis suggests that there is no battlefield solution to terrorism. Military force usually has the opposite effect from what is intended: It is often overused, alienates the local population by its heavy-handed nature, and provides a window of opportunity for terrorist-group recruitment."

Iran Watch

Paul Richter and Julian E. Barnes write in the Los Angeles Times: "Bush administration officials reassured Israel's defense minister this week that the United States has not abandoned all possibility of a military attack on Iran, despite widespread Israeli concern that Washington has begun softening its position toward Tehran.

"In meetings Monday and Tuesday, administration officials told Defense Minister Ehud Barak that the option of attacking Iran over its nuclear program remains on the table, though U.S. officials are primarily seeking a diplomatic solution.

"At the same time, U.S. officials acknowledged that there is a rare divergence in the U.S. and Israeli approaches, with Israelis emphasizing the possibility of a military response out of concern that Tehran may soon have the know-how for building a nuclear bomb."

Iraq Watch

Gina Chon writes for the Wall Street Journal: "The Bush administration's embrace of a flexible timeline for pulling U.S. troops from Iraq has accelerated negotiations between Washington and Baghdad over a long-term security pact, officials from both sides said.

"The optimism marks a turnaround from just a month ago, when big differences seemed to have deadlocked talks over the terms of a continued American military presence in the country. In June, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the talks were at a 'dead end,' dimming hopes of reaching a deal by July 31 -- a goal the Bush administration has pushed hard to meet."

Afghanistan Watch

Jonathan Landay blogs for McClatchy Newspapers: "As the Bush administration and its NATO allies struggle to contain the worst violence in Afghanistan since 2001, a U.S. Institute for Peace report suggests that a key reason for the Taliban comeback is popular anger over civilian casualties caused by a staggering surge in the foreign forces' use of air power.

"Consider the numbers: the amount of munitions dropped or fired by U.S. and other NATO aircraft in Afghanistan has climbed from an average of 5,000 pounds per month in 2005 to some 80,000 pounds the following year to an average of 168,000 pounds in December 2007, according to the report entitled ' Killing Friends, Making Enemies.'"

Housing Watch

Dan Eggen writes for The Washington Post: "President Bush this morning signed into law the most sweeping housing legislation in decades, aimed at calming rocky financial markets and giving mortgage relief to up to 400,000 homeowners.

"In an unannounced White House ceremony attended by senior administration aides shortly after 7 a.m., Bush gave his imprimatur to a law he had long vowed to veto because of objections to some aspects of the legislation."

AIDS Watch

Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson writes in his Washington Post opinion column: "The bipartisan expansion of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) -- along with the President's Malaria Initiative -- is significant in a number of ways. . . .

"[I]t is the congressional affirmation of a major legacy of George W. Bush -- a grand, aggressive international compassion that dwarfs the Peace Corps and is unequaled since the Marshall Plan. . . .

"Bush has more than quadrupled aid to sub-Saharan Africa. Americans are only dimly aware of this fact. Men and women in the remotest African villages are better informed. Historians will find it undeniable."

John Lauerman writes for Bloomberg: "President George W. Bush, whose international program has given $15 billion to combat AIDS in poor countries, is ignoring the growing epidemic in U.S. blacks, an advocacy group says.

"More than 500,000 U.S. blacks carry HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, according to the report today from the Black AIDS Institute, based in Los Angeles. Seven of 15 poor countries served by Bush's $15-billion international treatment and prevention program have fewer infected people, the group said. . . .

"While Bush requires that countries have a national AIDS plan to get funds for HIV treatment, the U.S. has no plan of its own, [Phill Wilson, the institute's chief executive officer,] said.

"'The lack of a comprehensive AIDS strategy is devastating,' Wilson said in a telephone interview yesterday."

Karl Rove Watch

Laurie Kellman writes for the Associated Press: "A House panel Wednesday voted to cite former top White House aide Karl Rove for contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena to answer questions about the dismissals of several federal prosecutors as its Senate counterpart explored punishments for an array of alleged past and present Bush administration misdeeds.

"Voting along party lines, the House Judiciary Committee said that Rove had broke the law by failing to appear at a July 10 hearing on allegations of White House influence over the Justice Department, including whether Rove encouraged prosecutions against Democrats such as former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman. . . .

"Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, had urged the panel in a Tuesday letter not to cite his client, calling it a 'gratuitously punitive' action that would serve no purpose because the question of executive privilege is already pending in two other cases in federal court."

The Associated Press reported earlier: "Bush administration critics hand-delivered a petition to a Democratic lawmaker Tuesday containing more than 127,000 signatures calling for former White House adviser Karl Rove to be held in contempt of Congress and jailed."

Oversight Watch

Laurie Kellman writes for the Associated Press: "Across Capitol Hill, Democratic-led committees are considering punishments for past and present Bush administration officials for a range of alleged misdeeds. . . .

"But three months out from Election Day, a lame-duck Congress conducting oversight of a lame-duck White House produces mostly talk. There's little time and less willingness to spend the remaining five weeks of the congressional session doing more than holding televised hearings to try to convince voters that President Bush has abused the powers of his office."

Bush in Ohio

Mark Naymik and Stephen Koff write for the Cleveland Plain Dealer: "In Cleveland to raise money for Republican congressional candidates, Bush made a stop at Lincoln Electric, which designs and manufactures welding equipment, including products used to assemble gas pipelines and wind towers. . . .

"He used the bulk of the 25-minute speech. . . to call on Congress to support oil exploration off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. . . .

"Near the end of his speech, Bush said that he would take questions, joking that after 7½ years in office, 'I've figured out how to dodge them.' Several workers raised their hands - but Bush never did take their questions."

Ben Feller writes for the Associated Press: "It wasn't clear if Bush simply didn't see them, or if that after seeing the shy response, he simply barreled ahead with Plan B -- telling stories. He's always got some in his pocket.

"He chose one of his favorites, the famous rainbow tale.

"It happened in Bucharest, Romania, in 2002, when Bush was addressing thousands of people. A steady rain that day gave way to a soaring rainbow."

Julie Mason blogs for the Houston Chronicle: "It seemed his mind was elsewhere for most of it -- at least, he sounded like he was speaking at times extemporaneously, which always produces the inscrutable text."

My favorite example was Bush on conservation: "You're making the choices about whether you want to drive a little extra more or not drive extra more."

Albatross Watch

John Dickerson, writing for Slate, asks what John McCain should do with Bush at the upcoming Republican National Convention:"Conventions are usually a place to finesse a candidate's liabilities. And yet McCain has to give kryptonite a prime-time speaking spot. When I asked GOP veterans whether there was any way to minimize the damage for McCain, their first reaction was to laugh. Since the convention starts on a Monday, one member of the McCain campaign joked that Bush could speak on Sunday night. Another veteran Republican suggested putting up an onstage dunking booth for the president. McCain could break tradition by arriving at the convention early in the week so he can take a few throws at the target."

McClellan Watch

Johanna Neuman blogs for the Los Angeles Times about how "Scott McClellan, the former Bush press secretary whose kiss-and-tell book banished him from any friendly GOP circles, is embroiled in a snit with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly for suggesting that the conservative broadcaster was a shill for the White House."

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Late Night Humor

Stephen Colbert last night discussed the recently released 2002 Justice Department memo that said an interrogator cannot be prosecuted for torture when he has an honest belief that his actions will not result in severe pain and suffering. (See my Friday column, How to Get Away With Torture.)

Said Colbert: "This memo protects [interrogators] by saying torture is all in the eye of the beholder. . . . See, it ends torture by helping people believe they've never done it."

And Colbert had some advice for interrogators: "Do not worry if it's unreasonable to honestly believe you're not inflicting severe pain. Because the Bush Administration memo says, quote, your 'honest belief need not be reasonable.'

"Now, if you still think you're torturing, well, truth is, enhanced interrogation is not a job for everyone. Luckily, there are plenty of people willing to save America by honestly believing the unreasonable. And some of them will be looking for jobs come January 20th."

Cartoon Watch

Dwane Powell on Mukasey's obstruction; Lee Judge on good Americans; Ann Telnaes, Scott Stantis, Jimmy Margulies and Victor Harville on the deficit; Pat Oliphant, Jeff Danziger and Tony Auth on the Bush legacy.