Iraqi Health Ministry Official is Detained, Mormon Mitt Romney as President,and Tim Russert at Libby's Trial

   I have been up all night so this is going to just be a short round-up of the latest news for Thursday morning. Computers can be so annoying sometimes.

    From the Associated Press:

February 8,2007

By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi forces on Thursday detained a senior Health Ministry official accused in alleged corruption and infiltration of the ministry that has funneled millions of dollars to Shiite militiamen blamed for much of the recent sectarian violence in the capital, the U.S. military said.

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    From New York Times:

By ADAM NAGOURNEY and LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Published: February 8, 2007

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 — As he begins campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination, Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is facing a threshold issue: Will his religion — he is a Mormon — be a big obstacle to winning the White House?

  Polls show a substantial number of Americans will not vote for a Mormon for president. The religion is viewed with suspicion by Christian conservatives, a vital part of the Republicans’ primary base.

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From Washington Post:

Journalist Says He Learned Plame's Role After Leak

By Carol D. Leonnig and Amy Goldstein

Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, February 8, 2007

Tim Russert, the Washington bureau chief for NBC News, yesterday swiftly and firmly rejected I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's assertion that the journalist revealed the identity of an undercover CIA officer to him during a telephone call in the summer of 2003.

Testifying as the final, and perhaps most critical, prosecution witness in the perjury trial of Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, Russert recounted their conversation that July and how a "very agitated" Libby called to complain about MSNBC's "Hardball." Russert said that the subject of the CIA officer, Valerie Plame, never came up and that he could not have told Libby anything about her.

 

Technorati tags: Iraqi Official, Mitt Romney, Tim Russert, Libby

 

McConnell and Reid Blasted By Seven Republican Senators

   This comes after the fiasco with the Senate not being able to pass any kind of resolution dealing with Bush's troop escalation.

   Apparently there was alot of in-fighting going on over this resolution so these seven voted to shelve the entire thing until the fine folks can grow up and deal with it.

    Here's the letter in PDF form and here's what the letter says:

February 7, 2007

The Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader

The Honorable Mitch McConnell, Republican Leader

The Honorable Richard Durbin, Assistant Majority Leader

The Honorable Trent Lott, Assistant Republican Leader

United States Senate -- Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Leader Reid, Leader McConnell, Senator Durbin and Senator Lott:

The war in Iraq is the most pressing issue of our time. It urgently deserves the attention of the full Senate and a full debate on the Senate floor without delay.

We respectfully advise you, our leaders, that we intend to take S. Con. Res 7 and offer it, where possible under the Standing Rules of the Senate, to bills coming before the Senate.

On January 10,2007, the President stated, with respect to his Iraq strategy, "if Members have improvements that can be made, we will make them. If circumstances change we will adjust." In a conscientious, respectful way, we offered our resolution consistent with the President's statement.

We strongly believe the Senate should be allowed to work its will on our resolution as well as the concepts brought forward by other Senators. Monday's procedural vote should not be interpreted as any lessening of our resolve to go forward advocating the concepts of S. Con. Res. 7.

We will explore all of our options under the Senate procedures and practices to ensure a full and open debate on the Senate floor. The current stalemate is unacceptable to us and to the people of this country.

Sincerely,

Olympia Snowe

John Warner

Chuck Hagel

Susan Collins

Norm Coleman

Gordon Smith

George Voinovich

 

Technorati tags: McConnell, Reid, Republican, Senators