There’s been a lot of discussion of this “first blush” State Department ‘report’ about the Blackwater incident in Baghdad that largely absolves Blackwater of culpability. But look at the details of the Post piece and you’ll see that “first blush” — the State Department’s wording — is something of an understatement. As the Post puts it, “the report, by the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, details the events as described by Blackwater guards …”
So this isn’t a preliminary or initial report in any sense I’d recognize. It’s a debrief taken the day of the incident from the guys who actually did the shooting.
I’m not sure how much it tells us that they largely absolve themselves of culpability.
A couple of interesting Gallup poll items today:
–Hillary Clinton leads the other Democratic candidates in every major Dem subcategory.
–Rudy Giuliani continues to lead all Republican candidates among conservative and religious voters despite his moderate views on gun-control, gay-rights and abortion.
Minneapolis airport restroom to get new stall dividers!
From the AP:
The Minneapolis airport has more than 80 restrooms, but only two are being targeted for the new dividers, including the one now known for Craig’s arrest. . . .
Both restrooms, in the busy Northstar Crossing shopping area, had a reputation on some Web sites as good places for bathroom liaisons. Hogan said airport officials had been checking the Web sites and found the activity had dropped off since Craig’s arrest.
One person arrested over the summer told police he had four sexual encounters in three hours, and it was only on his fifth approach that someone objected, Hogan said.
The new stall dividers will fall to just 2 to 3 inches above the floor, instead of leaving as much as a foot of open space as they do now. The airport expects to spend $25,000; installing them in every restroom there would cost about $1 million, Hogan said.
Late Update: Or as TPM Reader PO puts it: Larry Craig: a uniter on the dividers.
GOPers up for re-election have come up with what they think may be a way to thread the Iraq needle: call now for a withdrawal of U.S. troops–but don’t begin the withdrawal until after President Bush leaves office. Brilliant!
Those trying to weasel on the issue are Sens. George Voinovich (R-OH), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), and Norm Coleman (R-MN), all of whom are up for re-election in 2008 except for Voinovich.
Will “Stop Her Now” try to do to Hillary Clinton what Swift Boat Veterans For Truth did to John Kerry?
San Francisco columnist Mark Morford takes us on the Great American Hypocrisy Tour, with stops at Ted Haggard’s former church, Larry Craig’s bathroom stall, and other noteworthy destinations. But not the Capital Yacht Club in DC?
Newt to launch pledge drive: if I were to run for President, how much would you contribute to my campaign?
The US military command in Iraq says a key al Qaida operative was killed in Iraq today. “Abu Osama al-Tunisi was one of the most senior leaders … the emir of foreign terrorists in Iraq and part of the inner leadership circle”, says Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson.
Not surprisingly, as ThinkProgress reports, al-Tunisi also apparently died last year.
From Peter Stone at National Journal (sub. req’d):
The Justice Department has asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland to handle one aspect of the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling probe — ex-Abramoff colleague Kevin Ring’s lobbying of Justice officials.
According to lawyers familiar with the case, U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein has recently sought documents and information relating to Ring’s lobbying of members of former Attorney General John Ashcroft’s staff. They include David Ayres, Ashcroft’s former chief of staff, and Robert Coughlin II, who worked on Justice’s legislative affairs team and later became deputy chief of staff in the Criminal Division (which oversees the Abramoff investigation). Coughlin, who recused himself from the probe of his friend Ring, resigned abruptly from Justice in early April, citing personal reasons. Later that month, Ring announced that he was leaving his law firm of Barnes & Thornburg.