Biden and oil made the news - not a lot of background information needed on those items. Also, another story about recently-released summaries of FBI interrogations of Saddam Hussein (both articles have been nice enough to point out that the interrogations took place before Hussein’s execution).

From Baghdad
In the New York Times, Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Timothy Williams write that Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. landed in Baghdad on Thursday, beginning a two-day diplomatic mission that he said was intended to “re-establish contact” with Iraqi leaders, intended to, as they say, “prod them toward settling internal disputes over oil revenues and political power-sharing.” Biden is called “a kind of unofficial envoy to the country.”

The trip is unusually long for such a high-level official; when Mr. Obama visited Iraq, he spent just a few hours here, and President George W. Bush did not spend more than a day. But Mr. Biden said Iraq was at a pivotal moment, “the moment where a lot of Iraqis cynically believed we’d never keep the agreement.” He said the White House wanted to send a message to Iraqi leaders that it was engaged at the...

After Freedom of Information Act requests were made by the independent NGO, The National Security Archive, transcripts of 20 formal interviews and at least 5 "casual conversations" the FBI held with Saddam Hussein are made available, held after his capture by U.S. troops in December 2003. Interesting stuff.

From the intr...

BAGHDAD - As celebrations are thrown and omnipresent Iraqi security vehicles are decorated with chains of colorful plastic flowers, much the Iraqi public is being given a false impression. The government, individual politicians, and much of...