by Bay Fang

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, back from her vacation, is finally injecting herself visibly into the conflict over Georgia and South Ossetia. On the president's orders, she will be leaving at midnight tonight for Paris, the South of France, and Tbilisi.

The hastily arranged trip will not include the press corps with whom she normally travels. Apparently, she is stuck with a smaller plane for her diplomatic mission, since Vice President Cheney took the larger plane to go to a fundraiser.

The former Soviet scholar also will not be going to Moscow itself, preferring to let the French take the lead in ongoing mediation efforts between the Russians and the Georgians. In a press briefing just before leaving she did add, a tad defensively, that she spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov this morning, and that the administration has many channels of communication open with the Russian leadership.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

by Frank James

There's been no let up in the criticism by environmentalists of the Bush Administration's changes, announced yesterday, to the Endangered Species Act that would essentially leave it to various federal agencies to determine the impact of their projects on endangered species without involving the federal officials most responsible for protecting such animals.

It's one thing to have environmentalists upset. It's another to have Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) the act's founding father as it were and definitely not the kind of person big-business types would call a tree-hugger, issuing the following sort of statement today:

Dingell Outraged Over Proposed ESA Changes

"I wrote the Endangered Species Act and seeing it signed into law was among my proudest moments as a Member of Congress. The changes sought by the Bush Administration would seriously weaken the law, eliminating the requirement that scientists be the ones making decisions regarding science, instead giving political hacks and unsympathetic bureaucrats another opportunity to attack the scientific community. It is remarkable that this bill, signed into law by Richard M. Nixon and accepted for decades as a pillar of American conservation would be destroyed by George W. Bush in the final months of his Administration. It is most peculiar that a statute which has done so much good should be now jeopardized by the stroke of a hostile Presidential pen."

Damaged building near the Indian Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP Photos/Rahmat Gul)

by Frank James

Have U.S. intelligence agencies caught their Pakistani counterparts red-handed, aiding in last month's bombing by Afghan militants of the India's embassy in Kabul?

That's what the New York Times is reporting in a story by Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt.

WASHINGTON -- American intelligence agencies have concluded that members of Pakistan's powerful spy service helped plan the deadly July 7 bombing of India's embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to United States government officials.

The conclusion was based on intercepted communications between Pakistani intelligence officers and militants who carried out the attack, the officials said, providing the clearest evidence to date that Pakistani intelligence officers are actively undermining American efforts to combat militants in the region.

As shocking as the revelation is, it won't surprise anyone who's been following news from Pakistan for years. Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency has long been known to be playing both sides of the divide between terrorism and the nation's fighting it.

The ISI has long supported the Taliban in Afghanistan and has used Islamic extremists in its fight against archrival India over the disputed Kashmir region.

If the report is accurate, what the report does is once again underscore how difficult has been and will continue to be for the U.S. to fight terror in the region with Pakistan as an ally.

by James Oliphant

A Washington, D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday that members of the administration do not enjoy absolute immunity from the reach of congressional subpoenas.

This is an answer to a legal conundrum that has been developing for a long time, as the Democratic Congress has pushed for answers from the White House over the U.S attorney scandal, detainee interrogation methods and more.

But U.S. District Court Judge John Bates gave the matter some clarity today, saying that former White House counsel Harriet Miers and Bush chief of staff Joshua Bolten could not refuse to testify in response to congressional requests.

The White House had argued that staffers like Miers and Bolten were immune from congressional process. But Bates, in a 93-page ruling, said there was no legal foundation for that claim.

The White House position "is without any support in case law," Bates wrote, adding that the contention that "Miers is absolutely immune from compelled congressional process" is "unprecedented."

But the ruling was only a partial victory for Congress.

While ruling that Bolten and Miers had to testify, Bates said they were free to invoke executive privilege during that testimony for matters in which the privilege could apply. Meaning that it is likely if the two do appear, the matter will end up right back in front of Bates.

The administration is also expected to appeal to the federal appeals court in Washington, which will likely drag the case out past the end of this session of Congress. That would render the subpoenas moot.

Bates was appointed to the bench by President Bush in 2001. He is also a member of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

by Frank James

Bad news on the budget-deficit front. The Bush Administration shared with the nation today its forecast for the federal budget deficit: A record-setting $482 billion for fiscal year 2009.

But there was good news too. Jim Nussle, director of the Office of Management and Budget, noted today that the deficit of nearly half a trillion dollars, while a new record in sheer dollars, would be a mere 3.3 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. That's a lot smaller than the share of the GDP of the 1983 deficit, which was 6.0 percent of GDP.

Nussle said:

"The primary reasons that there will be larger deficits in 2008 and 2009 are because of the bipartisan growth package or stimulus checks that -- as well as slower economic growth."

But lest you think Nussle ended on a downer like that, he didn't. Like a Hollywood movie maker, he wanted to give the audience something more upbeat to leave with:

The president's budget blueprint remains on track to achieve balance with surpluses of $58 billion in 2012 and $29 billion in 2013.

The important point to remember is that near-term deficits are both temporary and manageable if and only if we keep spending in check, the tax burden low and the economy growing.

When asked by a reporter how that was possible, Nussle admitted it wouldn't be easy, but, hey, he still felt plenty optimistic so long as the Democrats didn't ruin everything with spending and tax increases:

I mean, I acknowledge in my statement that this is going to be a challenge particularly given the atmosphere on Capitol Hill to spend more. Most of the bills, most of the proposals on the Hill have been to spend more, have been to obligate more.

Most of those pressures are upward pressures on the deficit, not downward pressures. And each one of those, every dollar that is added to that bottom line makes it more difficult and takes away the cushion that we have in 2012 and '13. We do have some cushion but not enough to squander that with excessive spending programs.

by Frank James, with correction

There was a lot of surprise in Washington and beyond when the news broke that U.S. State Department official William Burns will be meeting in Geneva, Switzerland with Iranian officials over the weekend as part of an international group attempting to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear-weapons development efforts.

What raised so many eyebrows was what appeared to be seeming reversal in the Bush Administration's position that it wouldn't engage in direct talks unless the Iranians ceased and desisted in their nuclear enrichment efforts.

It's no reversal, said the White House which insisted that just because a senior State Department official will be in a room with Iranian officials where a lot of talking will be taking place, that's not the same as negotiations.

Here's a lengthy exchange White House Press Secretary Dana Perino had with reporters this afternoon:

Q But you're saying this isn't negotiated? Is this negotiating with the Iranians?

Q Well, how can you say nothing has changed if you're sending over Bill Burns to even sit there? I mean, that certainly gives the Iranians --

by Frank James

Once again, the federal government is riding to the rescue of the U.S. financial system with the statement of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Sunday that the government would make taxpayer funds available to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to meet their capital requirements.

It's an effort to dampen the panic among global investors over the possibility that the two goverment-sponsored entities or GSEs which own or support millions of U.S. mortgages, could essentially implode, resulting in the government having to takeover the two companies.

In his statement, Paulson said:

First, as a liquidity backstop, the plan includes a temporary increase in the line of credit the GSEs have with Treasury. Treasury would determine the terms and conditions for accessing the line of credit and the amount to be drawn.

Third, to protect the financial system from systemic risk going forward, the plan strengthens the GSE regulatory reform legislation currently moving through Congress by giving the Federal Reserve a consultative role in the new GSE regulator's process for setting capital requirements and other prudential standards.

The steps Treasury is taking is reminiscent of what the Federal Reserve did after a panic driven by rumors caused the investment bank Bear Stearns to experience what was essentially a bank run, leading to its takeover by JPMorgan Chase.

Something to watch today will be investor-reaction to Treasury's announced plan as well as the response to an auction of $3 billion in debt by Freddie Mac. If the response to the auction is weak, it's likely investor panic would flare up once again.

by Frank James

In a move that shouldn't surprise anyone, the Bush Administration decided it wanted no part of regulating the greenhouse gases most scientific experts believe contribute to global warming.

The EPA decision took the form of a 588-page document issued by the Environmental Protection Agency in which the EPA declined to take the vital step of declaring greenhouse gases unhealthy to the public.

If the EPA had done so, the agency would have been required by law to regulate greenhouse gases. Last year, the Supreme Court said the EPA had the authority to make such regulations if it determined that such gases were harmful to Americans' health.

Even though Bush has publicly accepted the premise that humans are contributing to global warming, his administration has opposed such regulations on the grounds that the U.S. economy could potentially be bogged down if the EPA were required to sign off on thousands or more projects and activities across the nation that influenced greenhouse gases.

The Bush administration's view on new EPA rules also mirrors its objections to the Kyoto Protocol; that the global warming problem is by definition a world-wide problem and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for the U.S. to burden its economy with rules and costs to fight global warming if developing nations like China and India weren't similarly constrained.

So Bush's EPA essentially punted, leaving it to a future president and Congresses to determine how the EPA should proceed. In lieu of making regulations, the EPA issued a document that, among other things, merely sums up the objections it heard from across the administration to possible regulations.

by Bay Fang

Iran's reported test-firing of missiles two days in a row, just as it is showing more interest in dialogue about its nuclear enrichment program, highlighted the mixed messages that pose a dilemma for the U.S. as it weighs how to approach a country moving ever closer to becoming a nuclear power.

In a show of strength and readiness, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards reportedly launched nine mid- to long-range ballistic missiles in the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday, and two more Thursday, including one that could reach Israel and U.S. forces stationed in the region.

But it comes as Tehran has seemed to react favorably to a new package of incentives presented by the U.S. and its European allies to halt its nuclear program, and as its top nuclear negotiator is planning to meet with European Union representative Javier Solana in the coming weeks.

Regional analysts surmise that the two approaches could indicate a real division in Tehran over how to deal with the West, but could also be an effective negotiating tactic.

by Matthew Hay Brown

Three months ago, congressional Democrats began pressing President Bush to halt new shipments to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Today, with gasoline prices still climbing, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked him to begin drawing the reserve down.

"Deploying a small portion of the resources in the SPR would provide much needed assistance to American consumers facing record prices and help our economy during a serious period of instability," Pelosi wrote to Bush. "I strongly urge you to use every available tool, including deployment of the SPR, to provide timely relief for American consumers and businesses."

Bush initially resisted the calls to stop adding 60,000 barrels of oil each day to the giant undergound caverns in Texas and Louisiana where the reserves are stored, but relented after Congress passed legislation to do so by veto-proof margins.

It's unclear whether Pelosi's current request will garner the same bipartisan support.

"The fact is, the American people expect and deserve far more than what Speaker Pelosi is proposing," House Minority Leader John Boehner said in a statement. The Ohio Republican did not indicate whether he favored drawing down the reserve.

"With her call for President Bush to release supplies from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the speaker is admitting yet again that increasing the supply of oil will help reduce the price of gasoline," Boehner said. "I agree that more supply is necessary, and so do my House Republican colleagues who have been arguing for decades in favor of more American energy production."

Pelosi's letter follows.

by Matthew Hay Brown

After a year and a half of pushing unsuccessfully for a timeable for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, congressional Democrats have found an ally in Baghdad.

Iraq's national security adviser told reporters in Najaf today that the U.S.-backed government would not agree to the security deal it is negotiating with Washington unless it included details of a pullout.

"We will not accept any memorandum of understanding if it does not give a specific date for a complete withdrawal of foreign troops," National Security Adviser Muwaffaq al-Rubaie said. His comments echoed those made by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to Arab diplomats in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

The State Department slapped the Iraqi demand down today.

"The U.S. government and the government of Iraq are in agreement that we, the U.S. government, we want to withdraw; we will withdraw," spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos told reporters. "However, that decision will be conditions-based."

But the demand has found a willing audience among the congressional majority.

"President Bush refuses to listen to Congress or the American people, but he cannot support Iraqi political reconciliation and security and ignore Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki's call for a timetable for the withdrawal," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

by Matthew Hay Brown

Growing up in the West African nation of Mali, Alima Traore assumed that girls everywhere had to undergo the procedure.

"In my country, it is usually an old lady" who performs the crude surgery, the 29-year-old woman said in her attorney's office. "They have a traditional knife for it. They cut your intimate parts. This knife is used for many girls."

It wasn't until Traore came to the United States eight years ago that she learned that female genital mutilation has been condemned the world over as a human rights abuse. Now that she's here - she has been living in Maryland since 2000 - she doesn't want to go back.

Traore's fight against deportation - her student visa expired in 2003 - has put her at the center of a growing dispute between rights groups and the Bush administration over whether victims of the practice also known as female circumcision, or female genital cutting, qualify for asylum here.

Read about the debate in today's Baltimore Sun.

In considering her case last fall, the Board of Immigrations Appeals described the "infliction of FGM" as "reprehensible." But the board, a tribunal within the Department of Justice, ruled that Traore does not have a well-founded fear of future persecution if she were to return to Mali, because the damage, though permanent, has already been done.

That interpretation, which now is binding on immigration judges, has drawn criticism from rights advocates, physicians and others, who say it defies federal case law and reverses the board's own reasoning in earlier, similar cases.

by Bay Fang

While her boss, President Bush, spoke out in Japan on the eve of the G8 summit about North Korean abductions and human rights in China, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was fielding the press back home on a different subject - her golf game.

In interviews with both CBS News and XM radio during the AT&T National Golf Tournament, at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, MD Saturday, Rice confessed that her summer goal was to "get just a little bit better at chipping so that I can have a little shorter putt."

Bush got in trouble in May when he told reporters he had sacrificed his golf game for the sake of the troops. "I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf," he said in an interview with Politico. "I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them."

(Enterprising reporters later revealed that although Bush said he made that decision after the August 2003 bombing of the UN headquarters in Iraq, his last round of golf was actually played in October 2003.)

Rice's last game was on the morning of the Fourth with her cousin and her cousin's husband, and a couple of friends in town for the holiday.

by David Nitkin

President Bush said today he wants to continue toward a diplomatic resolution to Iran's nuclear ambitions, and would not directly address reports that Israel plans a military strike to destroy Iranian uranium enrichment capabilities before the end of the year.

"I have made it very clear to all parties that the first option ought to be to solve this problem diplomatically," Bush said. "And the best way to solve it diplomatically is for the United States to work with other nations to send a focused message. And that is that, You will be isolated and you will have economic hardship if you continue trying to enrich."

Bush addressed his goals for an upcoming trip to Japan for a G8 summit during a statement in the Rose Garden, and took five questions from reporters at the conclusion of his prepared remarks. Two of the questions concerned Israel's intentions in Iran, a topic of escalating debate. But the president did not specifically mention the prospect of Israeli military attacks in his responses.

Bush said he supported a proposal from Russian leader Vladimir Putin to provide enriched uranium for an Iranian civilian nuclear power program and collect the spent fuel, "thereby negating the need for the Iranian regime to enrich at all."

Questions about Israeli intentions in Iran have swelled since last month, when more than 100 Israeli F-16s and F-15s flew more than 900 miles over the Mediterranean in an exercise that included refueling tankers and helicopters that could rescue downed pilots, the New York Times reported. The distance covered during the exercise showed that Israel jets could reach Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment facility.

by Bay Fang

Although President Bush announced this morning that he would lift key sanctions against the North Korean regime and remove it from the US terrorism blacklist, the State Department and administration officials followed up by emphasizing that other sanctions against the regime once dubbed part of the "axis of evil" remained in place.

For one, bans remain against missile equipment, possible dual-use technology, and the assets of any designated proliferators. Any assets that were previously frozen under the Trading with the Enemy Act remain frozen. Furthermore, sanctions put in place due to the regime's "gross violations" of human rights continue to prohibit any development or security assistance to Pyongyang.

While traveling in Japan for the G-8 meeting of foreign ministers, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged the North Koreans to do more on resolving the issue of abductions of Japanese civilians "We're continuing to expect the North Koreans to take this issue seriously because it is a major issue for Japan and it's a major issue for the United States," Rice said.

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