ThinkFast: August 22, 2008
“The United States has agreed to remove combat troops from Iraqi cities by next June and from the rest of the country by the end of 2011 if conditions in Iraq remain relatively stable.” The draft agreement, which “has the support of the Bush administration,” still needs to be “approved by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal […]
“The United States has agreed to remove combat troops from Iraqi cities by next June and from the rest of the country by the end of 2011 if conditions in Iraq remain relatively stable.” The draft agreement, which “has the support of the Bush administration,” still needs to be “approved by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders before it goes before Iraq’s fractious Parliament.”
The Shiite-run Iraqi government “is driving out many leaders of Sunni citizen patrols” that have allied with the U.S., known as the Awakening. “In restive Diyala Province, United States and Iraqi military officials say there were orders to arrest hundreds of members” of the Awakening “as part of large security operations by the Iraqi military.” “The state cannot accept the Awakening,” one Parliament member said.
A new Pew study finds that 50 percent of conservatives “think churches and other places of worship should stay out of social and political matters, up from 30 percent four years ago.” For the first time since Pew started this survey 12 years ago, a majority of Americans — 52 percent — also hold that view.
The Bush administration “proposed stronger job protections for doctors and other health care workers who refuse to participate in abortions because of religious or moral objections.” Jessica Arons of the Center for American Progress writes that the regulation could be used to block access to contraception.
On the trail today: Neither Barack Obama nor John McCain have any scheduled public events. (more…)