The Pariah President

"[B]ecause of the administration's hubristic insistence on forcing its successor to operate within the framework of its war, so much of what it wanted will be reversed by the very Iraqis who never asked for a U.S. occupation in the first place."

The Boston Globe editorial board sees Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's close ties to Iran as being a major factor in his government's lack of enthusiasm for an agreement: "The Iraq policy of the next American president will have to be rooted in a realization that Bush has opened Iraq to Iranian influence. The soundest way to counter that influence is to cease being an occupying power as quickly as possible and to strengthen ties with Iraqi factions that truly want a pluralist, independent future."

The San Francisco Chronicle editorial board writes: "An agreement reached between a lame-duck President Bush and Iraqi leaders is the wrong way to go. . . .

"A better way would be winning an extension from the United Nations with the proviso that the issue would take top priority for the next president. In two weeks, Americans will be selecting Bush's successor. For the sake of a smooth transition, Bush should be prepared to consult with the president-elect who will be inheriting this mess."

Gitmo Watch

Peter Finn writes in The Washington Post: "The government has temporarily dismissed charges against five detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Pentagon's Office of Military Commissions announced yesterday. All the cases had been handled by a military prosecutor who quit last month, citing 'ethical qualms' about what he said was his office's failure to turn over potentially exculpatory evidence to the defense.

"The five defendants were also linked in various charge sheets to Zayn al-Abidin Muhammed Hussein, better known by the nom de guerre Abu Zubaida, an alleged al-Qaeda leader who was subjected to waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques while in CIA custody, U.S. officials have acknowledged. . . .

"All five men will continue to be held as 'enemy combatants,' a status that the government argues allows it to hold detainees regardless of whether they face trial.

"Defense lawyers and some legal observers seized on the dismissals as evidence that the military tribunals at Guantanamo are simply unable to proceed with cases tainted by allegations of torture. 'The implosion of these five prosecutions painfully underscores how the Bush administration's torture and detention policies have failed to render justice in any sense of the word,' Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU, said in a statement. 'Any evidence of potential wrongdoing is forever poisoned from being used in real courts when it is obtained through torture, waterboarding or rendition.'"

William Glaberson writes in the New York Times that the five dismissals "came in the same week that administration lawyers changed course in another highly publicized terrorism case, abandoning efforts to prove that six other Guantánamo detainees took part in a 2001 plan to bomb the United States Embassy in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The moves appeared to be fresh indications of a long pattern of the administration's making sharp changes in its legal strategy as it encounters resistance to its detention policies."

Subpoena Watch

A little late for the tough talk, isn't it?

Laurie Kellman writes for the Associated Press: "Senate Democrats on Tuesday subpoenaed Attorney General Michael Mukasey for testimony and documents about the Justice Department's legal advice to the White House on detention and interrogation policies since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., complained to Mukasey that after five years of efforts to glean the information, the committee still has seen only a fraction of the documents it is seeking.

"'There is no legitimate argument for withholding the requested materials from this committee,' Leahy wrote in a letter to Mukasey that accompanied the subpoena.

"The Justice Department blasted the subpoena as a partisan move. . . .

"The subpoena compels Mukasey to appear before Leahy's panel on Nov. 18 and bring with him documents from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel concerning the legality of White House policies toward military detainees."

'This administration's stonewalling leaves this Committee without basic facts that are essential to carrying out its oversight responsibilities,' Leahy wrote to Mukasey.

John Stanton writes for Roll Call (subscription required): "Leahy, ranking member Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and other House and Senate lawmakers have engaged in a largely fruitless showdown with the administration for more than five years regarding documents related to the policy."

So Last Minute

Dina Cappiello writes for the Associated Press: "Rushing to ease endangered species rules before President Bush leaves office, Interior Department officials are attempting to review 200,000 comments from the public in just 32 hours, according to an e-mail obtained by The Associated Press.

"The Fish and Wildlife Service has called a team of 15 people to Washington this week to pore through letters and online comments about a proposal to exclude greenhouse gases and the advice of federal biologists from decisions about whether dams, power plants and other federal projects could harm species. That would be the biggest change in endangered species rules since 1986. . .

"House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., whose own letter opposing the changes is among the thousands that will be processed, called the 32-hour deadline a 'last-ditch attempt to undermine the long-standing integrity of the Endangered Species program.'

"At that rate, according to a committee aide's calculation, 6,250 comments would have to be reviewed every hour. That means that each member of the team would be reviewing at least seven comments each minute.

"It usually takes months to review public comments on a proposed rule, and by law the government must respond before a rule becomes final.

"'It would seem very difficult for them in four days to respond to so many thoughtful comments in an effective way,' said Eric Biber, an assistant professor at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. Along with other law professors across the country, Biber sent in 70 pages of comment."

International Aid Watch

Dan Eggen and Anthony Faiola write in The Washington Post: "President Bush, who has made international aid a cornerstone of his foreign policy, warned yesterday against cutting U.S. assistance to impoverished nations in the midst of the financial turmoil sweeping Wall Street and Main Street, arguing that doing so would undermine America's economy, national security and moral authority.

"'During times of economic crisis, some may be tempted to turn inward -- focusing on our problems here at home, while ignoring our interests around the world,' Bush said at a White House summit on international development in Washington. 'This would be a serious mistake. America is committed, and America must stay committed, to international development for reasons that remain true regardless of the ebb and flow of the markets.'

"The remarks came amid fears that the financial crisis could further harm developing nations already whipsawed by surging food and energy prices over the past two years."

Bush spoke for an unusually long time -- 36 minutes -- and was particularly animated and passionate on the topic.

Global Summit Scheduled

The White House this morning announced a date for its previously planned emergency summit of leaders from the world's top economies to map out a response to the global financial crisis. It'll be on November 15, in Washington. Still unclear: the role of the president-elect.

Karl Rove Watch

Terry McSweeney reports for KGO-TV in San Francisco (with video): "There was major political theater involving President Bush's former chief of staff Karl Rove. A protestor tried to arrest Rove for treason Tuesday morning while he was speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association Convention, continuing in San Francisco. . . .

"A protestor tried to smack handcuffs on Karl Rove, but Rove slapped back, and the woman was taken off stage. . . .

"There were three protests during a very lively back and forth between former senate majority leader George Mitchell and Karl Rove. Rove blamed the Democrats for everything wrong with the economy."

And there was this exchange: "'Yesterday, John Kerry, your nominee of your party in 2004, stands up and said if John McCain was asked the question of whether he wears boxers or briefs his answer would be Depends. I think that is pretty much under the table and pretty nasty,' said Rove.

"'I have to say I feel like Dorothy in the land of Oz - hearing you lecture about negative campaigning,' said Mitchell."

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Cartoon Watch

Jimmy Margulies and Lee Judge on socialism, and Kevin Siers on the real election fraud.