Think Progress

ADMINISTRATION -- PENTAGON REPORT CONFIRMS NO SADDAM LINK TO AL QAEDA: McClatchy reports that an "exhaustive" Pentagon-sponsored review of "more than 600,000 Iraqi documents" captured after the 2003 invasion "has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network." The full report, set to be released tomorrow, "was essentially completed last year and has been undergoing what one U.S. intelligence official described as a 'painful' declassification review." In September 2002, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that American intelligence had "bulletproof" evidence of links between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. Earlier that same week, then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice asserted that "there are some Al Qaeda personnel who found refuge in Baghdad." In fact, the Defense Department reported last April that interrogations of deposed Iraqi leaders showed that Hussein's government "did not cooperate" with al Qaeda. The Senate Intelligence Committee's September 2006 report revealed a 2005 CIA assessment declaring that prior to the war Saddam's government "did not have a relations, harbor, or turn a blind eye toward" al Qaeda leader Abu Musam al-Zarqawi and his associates.

ADMINISTRATION -- BUSH UNPOPULARITY PROVIDES FUNDRAISING CHALLENGES FOR PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY: Southern Methodist University in Dallas recently announced that the university will be home to the George W. Bush presidential library. Bush's "censored" library -- which will also house a partisan institute to "celebrate" Bush's presidency -- is reportedly set to cost over $200 million. But U.S. News reports that "Bush's friends are concerned that he will face serious problems raising" the money needed for the library because his "unpopularity will put a damper on donations" and "the sour economy will limit contributions even more." Moreover, U.S. News notes that "there is the matter of an endowment to keep the library going, which could cost an additional $50 million." Bush recently said that he has not been "focused" on fundraising for his library, but that he would "probably take some foreign money" to cover the library's costs. Indeed, in November 2006, the New York Daily News reported that Bush hoped to get roughly $250 million in "megadonations" from key allies in the Persian Gulf. 

IRAQ -- SHENON: ZELIKOW DESIGNED BUSH'S PRE-EMPTIVE WAR DOCTRINE IN 2002: In his new book, New York Times reporter Philip Shenon alleges that 9/11 Commission staff director Philip Zelikow had an obvious conflict of interest while serving on the panel. Zelikow allegedly scaled back criticisms of the White House and did not inform the Commission he helped Condoleezza Rice set up Bush's National Security Council in 2001. Zelikow also held periodic discussions with Karl Rove, which he ordered his secretary to keep off-the-record. He also helped "demote" Richard Clarke, a vocal critic of the administration's counterterrorism policies. This weekend on CSPAN's Book TV, Shenon bolstered the case that Zelikow was inextricably tied to the administration. Shenon said Zelikow authored the September 2002 National Security Strategy (NSS), which outlined the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive war and helped make the case for the invasion of Iraq. Zelikow's White House ties were so pronounced that former senator Bob Kerrey threated to Kean, "It's either him or me. Zelikow goes, or I go." In the interview, Shenon concluded that Zelikow's authorship of the pre-emptive strategy "appeared to pose yet another conflict of interest for Zelikow."

The Justice Department announced guidelines Monday to prevent "conflict-of-interest accusations" that followed its steering of a major private contract to John Ashcroft. U.S. attorneys now will require "approval from senior officials” at the Justice Department for such agreements.

House Democrats "are readying a proposal that would reject" immunity for telecom companies that participated in the administration's warrantless wiretapping program after 9/11. Instead, "the tentative proposal would give the federal courts special authorization to hear classified evidence and decide whether the phone companies should be held liable."

"Struggling to save their homes from foreclosure," increasing numbers of  "Americans are raiding their 401(k) retirement accounts to pay their bills -- and getting slammed with taxes and penalties in the process."

"Iraqis are avidly watching the 2008 U.S. election race, searching for signs of policy change under a new president and prospects for U.S. troop withdrawals from their country." "I do not care if the president is a man or a woman, what really matters is the change of American policy towards Iraq," said Muhenad Sahib, a university professor from Basra.

Iraqis state that during the era of Saddam Hussein, "they had one of the highest proportion of female drivers in the Middle East." NPR notes, however, that the "U.S. invasion of Iraq changed all that, between bad traffic, aggressive convoys, and radical insurgents." Fewer women now drive and “lament a loss of mobility and freedom."

House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) questioned Blackwater's classification of its workers as “independent contractors" rather than employees yesterday. The designation has given Blackwater "$144 million in contracts set aside for small businesses and to avoid paying as much as $50 million in withholding taxes under State Department contracts."

"Unions at the Environmental Protection Agency have pulled out of a long-standing partnership with management," saying Administrator Stephen Johnson "and other top managers have ignored the advice of unionized workers and the agency's own principles of scientific integrity."

Congress will put aside politics this week to mark the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq. "Thursday's congressional 'remembrance' ceremony will recognize the 'five years of service' and sacrifices made by troops and families affected by the war, according to a letter" signed by leaders in both parties. The ceremony was suggested by Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) office.

In Iraq, two bomb attacks killed eight U.S. soldiers yesterday as well as an Iraqi interpreter. Four soldiers and another interpreter were also wounded. The suicide bombing in Baghdad, which killed five soldiers, "was the deadliest single attack on American soldiers in the capital since the height of the troop buildup here last summer."

And finally: Last week, Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Pat Roberts (R-KS) were "walking to the subway trains from a vote when Thune, with his gazelle-like stride, suddenly broke into a sprint to catch a train headed for Dirksen." Roberts shouted, "You’ll never make it." Indeed, the doors "snapped shut" just as Thune reached the train. Roberts, 71, said with a sigh, "I know. These young guys think they can zip right in."