In September the Congressional Budget Office analyzed how many U.S. soldiers could be kept in Iraq without extending tours beyond one year. The conclusion was that force levels would have to start dropping rapidly about five months from now, and that the forces in Iraq and Kuwait would eventually have to shrink by almost two-thirds. As the report explains, the Pentagon can use various expedients to maintain a larger force in Iraq, but all of these expedients would threaten to undermine our military readiness.

Mr. Cheney has cited a Zogby International poll to back his claim that there is "very positive news" in Iraq. But the pollster, John Zogby, told me, "I was floored to see the spin that was put on it; some of the numbers were not my numbers at all."

"I am not willing to say they lied," Mr. Zogby said. "But they used a very tight process of selective screening, and when they didn't get what they wanted they were willing to manufacture some results. . . . There was almost nothing in that poll to give them comfort."


under pressure from Republican and conservative groups, CBS is expected to announce as early as today that it is canceling its plans to run a two-part mini-series in November deconstructing the Ronald Reagan presidency

mred - u may have thuoght i was kidding about media control - take a look at this article - cbs (one of the big 4) were going to run a mini-series about president reagan. apparently the republicans dont think it sufficiently flatters their ex-president. i havent seen the miniseries, but if cbs were gonna play it to start with, im sure it wasnt too critical.
reagan was an actor who became pres after winning the california govnorship.
so thats it - 'they' decide they dont dont like the show in the schedule and simply demand that it gets pulled. astonishing.