Okay, I’ve finally heard some of things that Bud Day said on the conference call, and McCain better get rid of this guy or he has no right getting upset about what Clark said.
In any event, Bud Day still claims that the Swift Boaters were okay because they were just pointing out “the truth.”
“The [...]

This is an interesting catch by TPM, especially in light of Wes Clark’s major gaffe over the weekend.
Seems as if the McCain camp has recently rolled out a new surrogate by the name of Bud Day…the same Bud Day who was in the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth commercials.
So the question now…why employ this guy? [...]

As well he should. This was extremely bad form by Wes Clark, especially after 2004.
From CNN:
“As he’s said many times before, Senator Obama honors and respects Senator McCain’s service, and of course he rejects yesterday’s statement by General Clark,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement.
Here’s what McCain said…
“I know that General Clark is [...]

There are a lot of legitimate ways Barack Obama supporters can criticize John McCain. But one of the worst lines of attack I can think of is to go after McCain’s military service. And yet, we have Obama surrogates like Wesley Clark belittling McCain’s heroism and major liberal blogger John Aravosis making this ridiculous statement:
“Honestly, [...]

As opposed to misinterpreting what McCain said about gas prices…this one is crystal clear…
“I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.”
As Ambinder notes, this one belongs in “The Better Left Unsaid Department…“

It’s just speculation right now, but his foreign policy advisors seem to think it’d be a good fit…
In defiance of traditional party labels, Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, may ask the defence secretary of President George W Bush to stay on if he wins the White House. [...]
Richard Danzig, an adviser to Obama on [...]

“It’s the state of America now that is the most gripping source of anxiety for Americans, not Al Qaeda or Iraq. Anyone who thinks they are going to win this election playing the Iraq or the terrorism card — one way or another — is, in my view, seriously deluded. Things have changed.”
- Thomas Friedman, [...]

Given our lack of attention to this region, is it much of a surprise that the former regime is getting stronger?
A new Pentagon report says the Taliban has regrouped after its initial fall from power in Afghanistan. The new report offers a rather dim view of progress in the nearly 7-year-old war, declaring that the [...]

As hinted at yesterday, it’s happening and this decision will no doubt have far reaching consequences…
The announcement came after North Korea handed over a long-awaited accounting of its nuclear work to Chinese officials on Thursday, fulfilling a key step in the denuclearization process.
Bush called the declaration a positive step along a long road to get [...]

And considering we have about 26,000 troops in Afghanistan, the overall percentage proves that Afghanistan has been a much, much deadlier place for quite some time.
Not surprisingly, I found this news in a story about an attack by the Taliban that freed hundreds of inmates from an Afghan prison:
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - U.S. and NATO troops [...]

I’m sure many in the Bush administration are probably remembering that old saying, “Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true.” Because while we freed the Iraqis from Saddam’s control and helped them get elections going, guess what they’re doing with this newfound influence?
From Washington Post:
BAGHDAD, June 13 — The Bush administration’s Iraq [...]

I think yes. McCain thinks no.
First, his side…

Now, mine…
Once again it appears that McCain is trying to reframe the goal of the surge by saying it’s a success because fewer troops are getting killed. And while he’s correct that casualty rates are dropping, our men and women are still dying at an average of 1 [...]

How did the BBC find out what happened to untold billions in Iraq, but we somehow haven’t yet?

I’ll be checking this out later tonight, so I’ll have more thoughts then.

Apparently, the BBC has been able to find where some of it went…
The search for the missing billions also led the programme to a house in Acton in West London where Hazem Shalaan lived until he was appointed to the new Iraqi government as minister of defence in 2004.
He and his associates siphoned an estimated [...]

The top civilian and military leaders of the U.S. Air Force were forced out today as part of repercussions for last year’s incident involving an B-52 flying over several U.S. states while armed with nuclear weapons.
Several other lapses in nuclear security also led to the ousters.
Apparently, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates believes in accountability [...]

What are Americans thinking when it comes to our foreign policy strategy for the future?
Pubilc Agenda, a non-partisan research company, has the numbers [pdf] and they’re consistent with what we’ve been seeing for the past couple years as we’ve seen more terrorists pop up and no discernible political progress being made in Iraq.

Why so unpopular?
First, [...]

This is very good news, but what about the billions we continue to spend over there with no discernible gain? Remember, lowered troop deaths doesn’t mean political progress, it just means there’s more security and fewer families devastated stateside.
From Reuters:
U.S. troop deaths in Iraq fell to their lowest level last month since the 2003 invasion [...]

First this…

Obviously this is a really bad call on McCain’s part, especially since the Joint Chiefs have recently said, very explicitly, that members of the military should not be involved with these political campaigns…
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has written an unusual open letter to all those in uniform, warning [...]

75-22. McCain didn’t vote, but stressed in recent weeks he was against it because it gave TOO much money to GIs.
From Craig Newmark’s blog:
Overwhelming GI Bill Victory in the Senate
World War II-Style GI Bill Passed as Part of War Supplemental
NEW YORK - Today, by an overwhelming 75-22 margin, the Senate passed the “Post-9/11 GI Bill” [...]

He apparently thinks diplomacy with Iran is the best option, and as the following suggests, he’s right in line with Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
From Wash Post:
Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, President Bush’s nominee to lead U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, supports continued U.S. engagement with international and regional partners to find [...]