The Daily Muck

At least someone is supporting Rep. Doolittle (R-CA). He has received $32,000 in contributions to his legal campaign from other lawmakers, with a third of the cash coming from Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Hatch has also provided support for Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) despite the fact that Stevens faces a looming FBI corruption probe. (Sacbee.com)

Abdallah Higazy, a student at Brooklyn Polytech, was once known as the “mysterious” Egyptian man who fled a hotel room near the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, leaving behind a Koran, an Egyptian passport, and an aviation radio that prosecutors said could have allowed him to communicate with the hijacked airliners. We now know that the radio belonged to a pilot who had previously used the hotel room, that a hotel security guard made false statements about Higazy to the FBI, and that Higazy says his false confession that the radio was his came after an FBI agent threatened to have his family in Egypt tortured. Higazy’s case is now in federal court. (New York Times)

Despite spending over $100 billion to rebuild Iraq, reconstruction of essential services like water and electricity is still flagging behind American benchmarks (sorry, we don’t use the “b” word anymore). The Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction reported yesterday that much spending has not produced anything useful, such as American efforts to reinforce a dam outside Mosul. Which is kind of important, given that the Army Corp of Engineers labeled the Mosul Dam the “most dangerous dam in the world” last year. (NY Times, AFP)

The “abstinence-earmark capital of the country” is how The Politico describes Pennsylvania, thanks to the efforts of Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA). He set aside another $1 million this year, bringing his abstinence funding up to eight million. Specter is the only member of Congress to provide earmarks for this type of program. (Politico)

Contempt citations for Harriet Miers and friends were approved back on July 25th, but finally there are signs that Congress is willing to vote on the issue. However, the GOP leadership is working hard to make sure the vote never makes it to the floor; they are targeting conservative Dems who might be willing to avoid the political spectacle. Of course, Dems aren’t helping themselves much when the GOP quite easily gets its hands on the whip letter that Dems sent out to test the waters. (Politico)

Ray Hunt, the CEO of Hunt Oil, recently signed a controversial drilling exploration agreement with Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government that undermines an Iraqi oil revenue sharing plan in more ways than one. The territory to be explored covers Jebel Semroot, but Jebel Semroot isn’t in Kurdish territory. “If Hunt Oil drills in these rocks, the company will be helping the Kurds absorb lands in Nineveh province that were historically Kurdish but are still claimed by Iraq’s Arab Sunnis.” (Seattle Times)

How many times can this be said about Iraq: it’s not just about decreasing violence, it’s what you do if that happens. By that standard, the GAO is less than thrilled that the U.S. has not taken advantage of the recent drop in violence. Not only have the Iraqis still failed to make meaningful steps towards reconciliation, but according to yesterday’s report, U.S. efforts to help with reconciliation “lack strategies with clear purpose, scope, roles and performance measures.” (McClatchy)