DownWithTyranny!: McCain's latest stunt backfires...badly. Some observers believe the real motive for the Psychogeezer's latest gimmick is to keep Sarah Palin from spending another moment of unscripted time in public. But count on McCain - if he shows up for the debate - to try and work his surge-centric attack on Obama's judgment into every answer, no matter what the question. Some of us remember a time when McCain always called for withdrawal of troops.

Bob Geiger:Bush asleep while Iraqi fraud funnels millions to al-Qaeda

David E's Fablog: Albert Brooks explains it all for you

The Satirical Political Report: Cheney asserts a link between Saddam and Mortgages of Mass Destruction

LAist: Michael Moore is giving away his new movie

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: Minnesota Independent, Youtude, Women's Lens, Just a Moment of Miscellany,

Comments from Left Field: Shameless lies, and the lying liars who tell them

Your Right Hand Thief: Drilling is my business...and business is good!

The Overhead Wire: Conservative anti-transit pundits are worried about the new interest in public transportation.

William K. Wolfrum Chronicles: Jesus quits Christianity after viewing the GOP platform

Inside Iraq: Is a blog updated by Iraqi journalists working for McClatchy Newspapers. They are based in Baghdad and outlying provinces. These are firsthand accounts of their experiences. Their complete names are withheld for security.

The Freewayblogger is on a West Coast Peace Tour

I get to talk to John Amato multiple times a day, but it's easy for me to forget no matter how familiar and frequent that voice is in my ear, most other C&Lers don't know what John looks or sounds like. But luckily for all you curious C&Lers out there, Jason Linkins, HuffPo's roving reporter at the DNC, caught up with John in Denver and asked him his take on Maliki's insistence that the newly negotiated withdrawal of US troops from Iraq is a "real" withdrawal:

Iraq and the United States have agreed that all U.S. troops will leave by the end of 2011, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday, but Washington said no final deal had been reached.

"There is an agreement actually reached, reached between the two parties on a fixed date, which is the end of 2011, to end any foreign presence on Iraqi soil," Maliki said in a speech to tribal leaders in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.

"An open time limit is not acceptable in any security deal that governs the presence of the international forces," he said.

Maliki's remarks were the most explicit statement yet that the increasingly assertive Iraqi government expects the U.S. presence to end in three years as part of a deal between Washington and Baghdad to allow them to stay beyond this year.

How's this for spinning Bush's humiliating climbdown in accepting an Iraqi timetable for withdrawal and McCain's poor judgement in wanting a 100 year presence where the US isn't wanted? According to the WSJ's Yochi Dreazen says that Bush was right all along - the timetable can only happen because the Iraqis finally stood up so we can stand down! Wingnuts like the American Power blog are lapping it up. No mention at all of Bush's words from May, 2007:

It makes no sense to tell the enemy when you plan to start withdrawing. All the terrorists would have to do is mark their calendars and gather their strength -- and begin plotting how to overthrow the government and take control of the country of Iraq. I believe setting a deadline for withdrawal would demoralize the Iraqi people, would encourage killers across the broader Middle East, and send a signal that America will not keep its commitments. Setting a deadline for withdrawal is setting a date for failure -- and that would be irresponsible.

However, the Iraqi Army has no artillery, no airpower, no logistical capacity, no field hospitals and little else that a modern armed force needs. It's a glorified internal security paramilitary police force. And it has other problems too. Even Dreazen has to admit that:

Some U.S. officials warn that the army also is still vulnerable to internal sectarian tensions. Baghdad recently ordered a Kurdish brigade operating in Diyala to move elsewhere, but the Kurds refused, saying they would only take orders from the semi-independent Kurdish government in northern Iraq.

So if the Iraqi Army are standing up, it is only a bit - and the important question is "who for?"

No, this timetable is all about Noor al-Napoleon believing his own hype and really thinking his Shiite and Kurdish factions can keep a lid on Kurds, Sunnis and the Sadrists long-term. It's unlikely to be true, but if Iraq is a free and sovereign nation then it should get to sort such questions out as it wishes to and on its own.

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This Week with George Stephanopoulos marks the passing of actor/comedian Bernie Mac, Nobel Laureate author Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, talent agent/producer Bernie Brillstein, GOP foreign affairs consultant and Kissinger protege Peter Rodman, as well as 16 soldiers and Marines killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to icasualties.org, the allied deaths in Iraq now total 4,451. During this same period, Iraq Body Count numbers 147 Iraqi civilian deaths.

Following up on the Ron Suskind bombshell in his new book, I think the Medal of Freedom winner, you know -- the Slam Dunk King -- wouldn't forget this kind of information.

SUSKIND: What we now know from this investigation is that a secret mission was conducted in which a British manager, intelligence agent, met with the head of Iraqi intelligence in a secret location in Amman, Jordan. And what the Iraqi intelligence chief told the British-and essentially the Americans, because we're all in this together-is that there were no WMD in Iraq. And what that meant is that we knew everything that became so obvious by the summer after the invasion. And the president made a decision essentially to ignore that intelligence...

NPR: We have called key players in Ron Suskind's account...George Tenet says the Iraqi failed to persuade, and a White House spokesman adds that any information the Iraqi may have provided was, quote, "immaterial."

Jonathan has much more in the post.

Lawyers, Guns and Money: It's breathtakingly simple, I suppose, to support a potentially endless mission in Iraq when you can't imagine that your decision to leave might have anything to do with the wishes of your hosts.

The American Conservative: The Surge is the new loyalty test. GOP party surrogates are demanding The Surge be recognized as a success!

Politics in the Zeros: More on bank failures

Scrutiny Hooligans: Get Your War On - Animated Version

The Rude Pundit: Guest bloggers from New Orleans take over for the week. Here's the lineup...

The Galloping Beaver: What US troops will be training the Iraqis to do as the "time horizon" approaches

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It's a matter of priorities. Giant stingray caught by a British fisherman or the Iraqi Prime Minister backing the Democratic nominee's plan for withdrawing from Iraq? Which would you decide needed a big headline?

Don't worry your beautiful little mind about what's going on in the world, Fox viewer.

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This Week with George Stephanopoulos marks the passing of pioneering cardiovascular surgeon Michael DeBakey, investor and philanthropist John Templeton, former all-star Yankee and baseball announcer Bobby Murcer, former FoxNews anchor and White House Press Secretary Tony Snow as well as 5 soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to icasualties.org, the total number of troop members killed in Iraq is now 4,432. During the last week, Iraq Body Count confirmed the deaths of 165 Iraqi civilians.

As with all posts about the passing of notable current political figures, we ask that you keep your posts respectful. Posts that do not comport with the commenting policy will be deleted without notice.

Informed Comment: Iraqi allies we've left behind: "The people on my list have been tortured, they've been raped, they've lost body limbs. There's one guy on my list who's been thrown out of a moving vehicle. And all of this because they helped us. They came every single day to try to pitch in, in our efforts there."

The Reaction: So you thought you might like to go to the show

Monkey Muck: If you're not rich yet it's your own damn fault!

Princess Sparkle Pony's Photo Blog: Condi's Czech Mate

ePluribus Media: Rigged Casinos and the Plunge Protection Team: Bernanke debunks 'free market' myth.

Mother Jones: Is the McCain campaign screening questioners? Meanwhile, this ad could mark the first time the Republican National Committee launched an attack against its own party.