More reading

I remain pressed for time, so here's another link dump:

* "A classified National Intelligence Estimate prepared for President Bush in late July spells out a dark assessment of prospects for Iraq," the NY Times reports. "The estimate outlines three possibilities for Iraq through the end of 2005, with the worst case being developments that could lead to civil war [while the] most favorable outcome described is an Iraq whose stability would remain tenuous in political, economic and security terms."

* "After weeks of hurricanes and controversies over swift boats in Vietnam and Texas and Alabama National Guard records," Jim Lobe observes in a round-up of recent media reports, "Iraq is beginning to creep back onto the front pages, and the news is uniformly bad."

* The US military is still striking Fallujah with impunity, and of course killing scores of Iraqi civilians in the process. Meanwhile, Baghdad continues to be torn apart by daily violence.

* Media reports of US casualties in Iraq have been lowballed by approximately 17,000, according to UPI.

* Shaheen Chughtai reports on the effects of depleted uranium in Iraq.

* The US military is running low on National Guard and reserve troops, according to a GAO survey.

* Ariel Sharon is threatening to expel or kill Arafat again. Sharon also recently admitted that he has no intention of following the much touted "road map" to peace.

* Kevin Drum breaks down the "whole Killian memo fiasco," arguing that "even if they're real they don't really add much to the story." Plus, Ian Williams agrees with Drum and FAIR urges the media to dig deeper.

* Ray McGovern introduces the new, Daniel Ellsberg-led Truth-Telling Project.

* Stephen Zunes asks: Is Kerry Really More Open than Bush to Alternative Foreign Policy Perspectives?

* Lewis Lapham provides a brief history of the Republican propaganda mill and Naomi Klein illustrates the pillaging of Iraq in this month's Harper's.