Clippings

* While the White House and war supporters try to paint a new happy face on the Iraq war, the Washington Post has come across a cable from the US Embassy in Baghdad that depicts an environment of unbelievable chaos, violence, and instability. See more from E&P.

* Bombings, kidnappings, and assorted violence over the weekend make the "security crackdown" in Baghdad look like a sick joke.

* The LA Times' Borzou Daragahi reports on the emerging amnesty and reconciliation plan that is being considered by the new Iraqi government.

* This long NY Times article on the Haditha massacre attempts to reconcile the explanations/excuses of the participating US soldiers with the other evidence on hand. However, if you read the article carefully, it comes through pretty clearly that the soldiers don't have a leg to stand on.

* "The killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may lead to a profound change in the nature of the Iraqi insurgency," contends UPI's Martin Sieff. "Far more U.S. soldiers may die as a result and far fewer Iraqi civilians," since Zarqawi was one of the main forces driving the sectarian violence. With him out of the picture, Sieff warns, the insurgency may refocus its sights on US troops.

* Another US military investigation, which was initiated by the Abu Ghraib revelations, has concluded that a certain number of Special Ops forces habitually abused Iraqi prisoners. Even though there was copious amounts of wrongdoing, the NY Times adds that the general in charge of the inquiry "recommended that none of the service members be disciplined, saying what they did was wrong but not deliberate abuse. He faulted 'inadequate policy guidance' rather than 'personal failure' for the mistreatment, and cited the dangerous environment in which Special Operations forces carried out their missions. He said that, from his observations, none of the detainees seemed to be the worse for wear because of the treatment." Uh huh.

* The "aerial occupation" isn't solely in Iraq. It's at work in Afghanistan, too.

* The Washington Post reports that the US spurned rather generous overtures by Iran in 2003. The Iranian offer to engage in talks "suggested everything was on the table," the Post informs us, but the Bushies rejected them since they thought regime change in Tehran was imminent. As an aside, the Post reports this as if it were a scoop, but Newsday and Gareth Porter of IPS have published stories on it before.

* Israel's claim that it had nothing to do with the explosions on a Gaza beach last week, which killed and injured dozens, looks like a bald-faced lie at this point. See separate reports from the Guardian and London Times.

* Apparently, it's still ok to starve and strangle people if it's consistent with American political wishes. Plus: Tony Karon on "How Gaza Could Turn Into Mogadishu."

* A new ICG report offers some advice to parties with a stake in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unless moves like the isolation of Hamas and the annointment of Israel's continued land grabs are reversed, the situation will only continue sliding towards crisis.

* A called off "Al Qaeda" attack on the New York City subway system? Hmm. I'm pretty skeptical about that...

* Do check out PBS' Frontline this week.