Megan Greenwell of the Post reports on the partial walkout by Sunnis from the Maliki government and the violent day in Baghdad. Although Greenwell doesn't explicitly say it, the Sunni coalition stepped up its negotiating tactics by announcing it would vacate five of its six seats in Maliki's cabinet for what it called "arrogance, refusing to change its stand and slamming shut the door to any meaningful reforms." The Iraqi Accordance Front, the largest Sunni bloc, wants the release of thousands of detainees, the removal of all militia members from the Shi'ite-dominated police force and the return of displaced families to their homes. They also want a greater role on security and investigations into mass kidnappings and the bombings of Sunni shrines. But the Sunnis aren't out the door yet. This is an age-old tactic in Iraq, very similar to the haggling that goes on in the bazaar. By leaving in place 44 Accordance members in parliament, as well as Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi and Defense Minister Abdul Qadir, the Sunnis have essentially stopped at the door of the carpet shop to admire something else while the owner considers sweetening the deal to keep them interested. The walkout came amid a day of car bombs in Baghdad, with two attacks that killed at least 70 people, one of which was in Karada, which is no longer a safe haven. A third car bomb in Dora killed five people and injured five. Also, four U.S. troop deaths were announced, bringing the July total to 78, the lowest since November 2006.
Stephen Farrell has the story on the walkout and the bombs for the Times and gives a bit more background. Maliki, he reports, has taken a softer stance in the past few days, referring to his "brothers" among the Sunni bloc (which the Times translates as the Iraqi Consensus Front) and saying discussions would "never stop" even in the face of withdrawal. Everyone in the Iraqi government warns this latest crisis is "grave" with serious implications. Farrell also reports on the bombings, which he says killed 76 people, the four U.S. troop deaths and the discovery of a mass grave in Diyala province containing 17 bodies, most of them Sunnis.
On the Road... still
The Christian Science Monitor's Dan Murphy and Rasheed Abou-Alsamh have the story on Rice and Gates' attempts to rally their Arab friends around the idea of containing Iran while at the same time supporting the Iraqi government. There isn't much to advance the story, but there are hints of far a more intriguing development: the hopes of Israel that by aligning itself with Saudi Arabia on the issue of Iran, it could convince the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to become the third Arab state to recognize Israel. And reports that the Saudis felt "unwelcome" in Iraq under Rumsfeld are likewise eye opening. Murphy and Abou-Alsamh finally make the connection that the new strategy toward Iran closely resembles the old strategy toward the Soviet Union: create powerful friends, restrict territorial ambitions and draw the enemy into an arms race it can't win. The role of West Germany would be played by Iraq, perhaps. And with a secretary of state having a specialty in Sovietology, Rice "now looks to be running Middle East policy from an old playbook." A number of analysts, naturally, disagree. "Iran has no has no military capability outside it's own territory, it's military budget is the total of Kuwait's and the United Arab Republics combined and ... it has no projection ability," says Ervand Abrahamian, an Iran analyst and historian at Baruch College in New York. "Sure, Iran can support the militias in Iraq, but that's not a threat to Saudi Arabia. I think the point is to harness in the Saudis and Gulf States diplomatically so they can say 'Hey, we're building an anti-Iranian coalition,' (which) draws attention from the Iraq and Palestinian issues."
Robin Wright and Josh White also report on Rice and Gates' visit to the region, but note that the diplomatic duo managed to persuade Saudi Arabia to begin talks to open an embassy in Baghdad. The move, long resisted by the kingdom, could bolster Iraq's Shi'ite-led government. Jordan is the only Arab state with a full embassy in Baghdad.
Helene Cooper and David S. Cloud have the story for the Times.
Jeff Zeleny of the Times reports that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., promised the audience at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., that if elected president, he would withdraw troops from Iraq and send another 7,000 troops to Afghanistan to fight al Qaeda. And if Pakistan won't move against terrorist groups on it territory, the U.S. would.
Dan Balz has the story for the Post.
MRAP demand
Peter Eisler of USA Today reports that three years after a lukewarm response by members of Congress to a demonstration of Force Protection Inc.'s "Cougar" mine-resistant vehicle, the company now can't make enough of them. Last fall the military showed little interest in the Mine-Resistant, Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle, but now the Pentagon has ordered 6,400 this year at $500,000 each, and vows to purchase thousands more to replace the humvee in Iraq. It's a success story for Force Protection Inc., which went from being a no-show to major defense contractor almost overnight. And the biggest reason for the surge in orders? The big, heavy vehicle didn't fit with former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's vision of the armed forces. Gates, however, has embraced the MRAPs.
IN OTHER COVERAGE
New York Times
Mark Mazzetti takes a crack at looking at the various data from Iraq, including concurrent drop in U.S. troop deaths for July with the horrific bombings that continue to kill Iraqis in great numbers. And the conclusions being drawn fall predictably into little partisan boxes. "Partisans on both sides of the debate in Washington are searching desperately for evidence to bolster their judgments about the success or failure of the strategy that the Bush administration calls a 'surge.' " War supporters look at the drop in troop deaths. Opponents point out the rise in civilian casualties. Mazzetti's conclusion? He doesn't really have one (odd for an analysis.)
Washington Post
The Post's Josh White reports that U.S. commanders in Kuwait say they have plenty of capacity to handle the massive exodus of men and materiel if -- when? -- the U.S. withdraws from Iraq. As part of his trip to the region with Rice, Gates flew over Camp Arifjan, the military's only port conduit for heavy equipment and vehicles. DoD officials said Gates' first visit to Kuwait was not "specifically" geared toward checking out withdrawal options.
Tom Jackman reports that Triple Canopy Inc. did not wrongfully fire two employees who failed to report a supervisor firing into two Iraqi vehicles last year in Baghdad. The jury harshly criticized the company, however, for "poor conduct, lack of standard reporting procedures, bad investigation methods and unfair double standards amongst employees."
Wall Street Journal
No Iraq coverage today.
