As 'Violence flares in Baghdad's Sadr City despite truce,' Patrick Cockburn reports on the "tactical retreat" by Muqtada al-Sadr in agreeing to a ceasefire.

Cockburn notes that President Bush personally ordered al-Sadr to be captured or killed, according to "Wiser in Battle" by Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who quotes Bush as having said: "Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Prevail! We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!"

As two former State Department officials accuse the Bush administration of ignoring corruption within the Iraqi government, during Senate testimony, the Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran, follows up on a little-noticed U.S. "confession."

The U.S. military debates offering the Purple Heart for psychological wounds, and with five Guantanamo detainees now 'facing death penalty,' a timeline is constructed on 'Politicizing Gitmo.'

With 'Another D-Day for Pakistan over militants,' the country "lurched into a new political crisis" after the party led by Nawaz Sharif quit the cabinet because of the government's failure to reinstate the Supreme Court justices sacked by President Musharraf.

AFP reports an 'Internet outcry as Olympic torch relay continues despite killer quake,' which is said to be 'proving a credibility test for the government.'

With the 'Myanmar regime accused of hoarding cyclone aid,' a high-level U.S. delegation gets a 'cool reception' in Rangoon, and as calls go out for the U.S. to intervene militarily in Myanamar, a "NewsHour" segment examines the country's military junta.

The New York Times' public editor describes the Pentagon's efforts to block FOIA requests for the paper's article on military analysts, and a review of the DOD's document dump turns up a request to interview Gen. George Casey that promised "a softball interview." Plus: 'The Pentagon's Toxic Legacy.'

An annotation of Sen. McCain's climate change speech notes that "environmental groups and conservatives expressed guarded grumpiness with the speech," in which he called nuclear energy a "powerful ally" in arresting global warming.

With a watchdog group "now calling for three more McCain staffers to resign because of connections to distasteful foreign regimes," Sen. Joe Lieberman 'takes the cheap shot on Hamas,' and Robert Parry and Jeffrey Toobin consider the implications of McCain Supreme Court.

As Obama is encouraged to "treat rural whites like adults," CJR looks at how West Virginia was depicted in a Financial Times article that failed to correct the false claim that Obama's "wife's an atheist," and the Washington Post reports on the 'Racist incidents' haunting the Obama campaign.

With 'Republicans "sore" at Obama's metaphor,' the contest between him and McCain is characterized as 'Poetry vs. fear,' and as Sen. Clinton's campaign is accused of continuing to push a 'bogus rationale,' George McGovern calls on her and Obama to campaign together.

The GOP takes up the mantle of the Effexor party, a "lifelong Republican" wins MoveOn's "Obama in 30 Seconds" contest, and a spokesman for Ron Paul responds to a report that 'Paul's forces quietly plot GOP convention revolt against McCain.'

Resisting GOP pressure, Bob Barr announced that he will seek the Libertarian Party's presidential endorsement, after telling the Village Voice that "We have to ... start rolling back the government intrusions in a number of different areas." Plus: "GOP Rep. hits Bush on 'signing statements.'"

With a report that "Obama disdains cable-TV talk-show shoutfests as trivial sideshows," Greg Mitchell, reflecting on 'when the media promoted "gutter politics,'" writes that "Obama may be over it (4:35), but the whole 'Bowling-gate' episode still bothers me."

As "crystal balls are rolled out and gazed into all over television," an "On the Media" segment goes "Inside the mind of a talking head," and 'Blogs mock vintage Bill O'Reilly in f-bomb explosion.'

May 12

In Sadr City, fighting ebbs following a tentative ceasefire agreement that was met by escalated U.S. bombardment, while fears of renewed violence persist, with the two sides offering conflicting interpretations of the pact, and a grisly video apparently taunting the Mahdi army making the rounds.

A long-promised offensive in Mosul catches residents off guard and scrambling for food, with Patrick Cockburn describing the city of 1.4 million as a 'ghost town' in which soldiers "shoot at any civilian vehicle on the streets in defiance of a strict curfew." Plus: The state of the surge.

With the actions of a few individual guards rather than the company now the focus of the DOJ's probe of the Nisoor Square massacre and, a New York Times analysis notes, "after an intense public and private lobbying campaign, Blackwater appears to be back to business as usual."

As a judge orders that Jamie Leigh Jones' gang rape claim against Halliburton/KBR be heard in court rather than in "secretive arbitration proceedings," a former Washington Times editor casts aspersions on her lawyer and contends that the company has no responsibility for the actions of a few bad employees.

An AP study finds the 'number of disabled veterans rising,' a piece in the New Yorker follows attempts to help traumatized veterans overcome their psychological wounds using 'Virtual Iraq,' and the U.S. military stops use of a pet cremation service for fallen troops.

From birth pangs to death throes, Nir Rosen takes stock of the collapsing Bush administration agenda across the "new Middle East," with the Iraq war seen as an ongoing 'incubator for terrorism,' and a Daily Star essay predicting that the changes that are coming will likely 'not be pretty.' Nonetheless, the U.S. cans Al-Qaeda/Internet expert.

As violence in Lebanon moves east and flares in the city of Tripoli, one observer interprets Hizbullah's takeover of West Beirut as a blunder that will exacerbate sectarian tensions, while a Daily Star commentator sees the "possible emergence of the first American-Iranian joint political governance system in the Arab world."

The decision of a military judge to disqualify a key Pentagon general from the Guantanamo prosecution, appears to also provide evidence of the Bush administration 'politicizing show trials at the same time as politicizing DOJ,' as Philippe Sands talks to Bill Moyers about the total failure of the architects of torture to accept any responsibility.

Sen. Harry Reid tells bloggers that there will be hearings on the military analyst story, a Los Angeles Times report notes that 'domestic spying far outpaces terrorism prosecutions,' and the Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel catches up with the latest twists of the Burger King spying scandal.

Although Hillary Clinton's "Southern Strategy" is apparently reaching "across the aisle ... straight to right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh," and perhaps playing well for certain audiences in West Virginia, "Saturday Night Live" turns on Clinton, skewering her (video here) as a candidate with "no ethical standards."

Carl Bernstein handicaps Clinton's race for the vice presidency, with one group already pushing for the option 'tied to her campaign,' but critics use her Iraq war stance to poke holes in the notion that she would add foreign policy "cred" to the ticket,

In support of a vision of the 2008 election that bridges the racial divide, Frank Rich cites the "restrained response" of protesters to the "acquittal of three police officers in the 50-bullet shooting death" of Sean Bell, but Max Blumenthal presents video evidence that the protest was "large, brimming with anger, and anything but restrained."

With 'GOP getting crushed in polls, key races,' some in the party begin to consider rebranding Republicans as "agents of change," while McCain's campaign to paint Obama as a favorite of Hamas leads to the stepping down of an adviser who advocated engagement.

McCain also loses a campaign adviser after it's reported that his firm lobbied for the military junta in Myanmar, as Glenn Greenwald makes the case that the GOP candidate is "the ultimate embodiment of America's hoary, Vietnam era 'stabbed-in-the-back' myth," and some extreme views of his neocon advisers are aired.

In 'A Last Chance for Civilization,' Bill McKibben sounds a dire warning about the need to take drastic action to reduce atmospheric CO2 in the face of "six irreversible tipping points," but the results of a recent Pew poll indicate that 'the deniers are winning, especially with the GOP.'

An inside report from a 'nuclear industry soiree' captures the idiom of an industry makeover replete with tokens of green and praise for the virtue of subsidies.

As the role of the Bush administration in promoting secessionist efforts in Bolivia is discussed, the country is poised for another round of "high stakes political poker" over a recall referendum. Plus: 'Never say Evo again?'

May 9-11

As the U.S. military steps up the air war in Sadr City with daytime strikes, the Iraqi military orders residents to evacuate in advance of "a big offensive" that is expected to exacerbate Iraq's ongoing refugee crisis and has raised concerns about the possibility of "a new Fallujah."

Mark Benjamin and Christopher Weaver examine signs of a "body-count pressure" on elite U.S. snipers reminiscent of Vietnam, a FPIF analysis finds that, despite a promised amnesty, 'the "surge" of Iraqi prisoners' continues, and the attempt to shut Muqtada al-Sadr out of the political process is termed 'the next big mistake in Iraq.'

A Vet Voice analysis points to a little noted but significant rise in U.S. casualties in Anbar province that may signal problems for the U.S. military's awakenings strategy, as 'rockets shatter Basra calm,' in the first such attack to cause casualties there since March.

As the list of American contractors taking advantage of a perfectly legal Cayman Islands loophole to avoid paying millions in taxes grows, British arms giant BAE, facing an ongoing investigation into a corrupt arms deal with Saudi Arabia, promises 'ethical arms sales.'

Following a decision by the Lebanese government to dismantle Hizbollah's communications network, a tactic the group's leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah denounced in a televised address as tantamount to "a declaration of war ... on behalf of the United States and Israel," Beirut erupts in deadly clashes.

As the 'U.N. pressures Myanmar to allow aid' in the face of a worsening refugee situation and inadequate government response, Helena Cobban illustrates problems with the "Laura Bush version" of what's been happening with a comparison to problems with humanitarian access to Sadr City.

With the Guantanamo trials already in disarray, and judges "making up the rules as they go," a military judge threatens to suspend the trial of one detainee unless the CIA turns over "a memo specifying brutal interrogation methods for use on prisoners held in U.S. custody overseas" for court review.

As the Politico takes note of the 'deafening silence' on the story of the Pentagon's deployment of military analysts in the media, Glenn Greenwald dissects a Gitmo trip, whose purpose a CNN analyst acknowledges was to "drink the government Kool-Aid," and an audio recording captures analysts hailing Rumsfeld's leadership.

With gas and oil prices jumping to record highs, and no clear ceiling in sight, Michael Klare paints a portrait of a superpower in decline, laid low by its dependence on oil, foreign ownership of key nodes of the economy, and a gas guzzling military machine.

A proposal heavily promoted by the entertainment industry to create a "White House czar" for enforcing intellectual property rights sails through the House, as Los Angeles cracks down on piracy as 'detrimental to public health, safety.' Earlier: Copyright and the public interest.

As bankruptcy filings soar in California despite changes in the law to make them more difficult, a look at the Federal Reserve's 'map of misery' suggests that the housing price bust has a long way to go. But President Bush, looking a little long in the nose, argues against plans to limit foreclosures.

Highlighting a statement Hillary Clinton made to USA Today that suggests that she is positioning herself as a white candidate, a New York Times editorial calls on her to back off, while Gary Sick situates her "obliterate" remark in a historical and foreign policy context.

Despite vehement denials from the candidate, Arianna Huffington maintains her account, now corroborated by other witnesses, that John McCain publicly said that he didn't vote for George Bush in 2000, as one radical pastor problem is amplified on video, and another reignites itself.

The Washington Post digs into one of a string of "McCain-engineered land swaps" that benefits one of his top presidential campaign fundraisers, his campaign's "pecuniary interest" is seen as a factor in a recent about face on FEC nominations, and McCain's wife vows "never" to release her tax returns. Plus: "For John McCain is an honorable man."

The chief exhibit in Katha Pollitt's survey of how the backlash against feminism is "cracking up a storm" is the recent decision by Washington University to give Phyllis Schlafly an honorary doctorate, while House Republicans stage a tactical vote against Mother's Day.

The chief of Mexico's federal police is gunned down in a dramatic escalation of a war between law enforcement and drug gangs that now "engulfs the entire country," amid concerns that the "cops are also starting to lose control." And the violence continues to escalate.

The New Statesman's cover retrospective on 'The Year that Changed Everything' features reflections by Noam Chomsky and Greil Marcus among others, while BBC World Service focuses in on May 68, when philosophy hit the streets and the 'best weapons were made of paper.' And in France today, "a festival of memory."

May 8

As 'Glitches mar debut of Guantanamo war court,' a former detainee is said to have carried out a suicide attack in Iraq, and a British human rights lawyer speculates on how the Bush administration will play election-year politics with Guantanamo. Plus: 'Torture Showdown Coming?'

After telling a House Judiciary hearing that "War crimes were committed," Phillipe Sands, author of "Torture Team," appeared at a forum on 'Beyond the Torture Debate.'

Cuban terror suspect Luis Posada Carriles 'enjoys a "coming-out" in Miami,' and Secretary of State Rice is branded 'Phony of the Day' for calling on Myanmar to let in more foreign aid workers, after having turned down an offer from Cuba to send some 1,500 doctors to the U.S after Katrina.

As part of its investigation of Special Counsel Scott Bloch, McClatchy reports that the FBI has subpoenaed records concerning Bloch's 2004 ethics probe of Rice, who was cleared of charges that she timed some of her trips to boost President Bush's 2004 reelection campaign.

Advisers claim that 'All is Well in Clinton Land,' during a conference call in which Clinton's chief strategist, writes Greg Sargent, "made the case for her electability in some of the most explicitly race-based terms I've heard yet."

Although Obama is credited with having pushed back against the media wall, three major newspapers let stand the false assertion by an Indiana man that Obama "is Muslim." Plus: 30 new superdelegates for Obama?

Democrats are warned to "be ready for the maelstrom that awaits ... if and when the Clinton campaign calls it quits," since "Someone will fill the void that is left behind when it gets down to two. And somehow, I don't see the media setting their sights on John McCain."

McCain, who is said to be 'Multilateral Like Bush,' repeated the claim that Hamas "endorsed" Obama, during an appearance on "The Daily Show," and Juan Cole looks at "who is endorsing McCain in the Muslim world."

Jim Lobe reports on how Iraq war costs and Afghanistan troop demands are straining the "surge," and as Iraq asks the U.S. and Iran to 'stop accusing and start talking,' John Bolton says that he can "definitely" imagine the U.S. bombing camps in Iran before Bush leaves office. Plus: 'Blacklisted by my bank for living in Iran.'

The notion that Baghdad neighborhoods being walled-off represents a barrier to reconciliation, is dismissed by invoking the existence of gated communities in the U.S., one of which may soon be home to Ron Paul supporters.

Chris Matthews says that his bosses were "basically pro-war during the war," implying that it's over, and NPR Check looks at NPR's explanation for the participation of its analysts in the Pentagon pundits program. Plus: 'Are doctors shilling for drug companies on public radio?'

"Ribbon Culture," described as "a cogent analysis of the ubiquitous 'awareness-raising' ribbon and its more recent offspring, the wristband," follows the publication of "Pink Ribbons, Inc.," whose author noted that many major sponsors "produce products that are linked to breast cancer incidence."

Democratic Senators 'berate' one EPA official, another suggests that the 'EPA might not act to limit rocket fuel in drinking water,' and 'U.S. consumers rank last in world survey of green habits.'

'Suburbia in all its gore and glory,' is the subject of a book and exhibit on the photography of Irwin Norling, a kind of suburban Weegee who shot both crime scenes and community events as a newspaper stringer and "unofficial photographer" for a Minneapolis suburb. Plus: 'Through Weegee's Lens.'

May 7

With 'Options dwindling for Clinton,' who appears to have run out of potential "game changers," she is nonetheless asked: 'don't drop out! (yet).'

And David Corn isn't convinced that she will drop out, since '"The Clintons have defied the pundits before," as pundits Brazile and Begala mix it up over the Democratic coalition, video here.

As 'Obama shifts to general-election mode,' the Washington Post quotes a Clinton adviser as saying that "she cannot be nominated and he can't get elected.'

With Fox News injecting a new shot of William Ayers into the race, 'McCain finds his own radical friend,' and in explaining 'Why No HageeGate?', Tim Russert said that "If there was video of Hagee, it makes all the difference in the world..."

As 'Federal agents arrest illegal immigrants leaving U.S.,' McCain, having "flipped back to his original position" of "comprehensive immigration reform," is thanked for "reminding us Tuesday what this year's presidential race really is about."

In an online chat, John Dean, who contends that 'Contrary to his claims, Senator John McCain is not a Goldwater conservative,' discussed "Pure Goldwater," which he co-authored with Barry Goldwater, Jr., and which reveals that the McCain-Goldwater relationship was 'Not as rosy as once thought.'

McCain gets less than 80% of the Republican vote in both Indiana and North Carolina, and as he suggests that the U.S. should be able to get 80% of its electricity from nuclear power, he, Clinton and Obama are said to be "in favor of raising gasoline prices, not lowering them."

With the 'U.S. presidents-to-be in denial' about Iraq, a commentary on 'The Price of Silence,' points out that the conflict is "eating up more of our money than rising prices at the pump." And with increasing congestion in the Persian Gulf skies, the U.S. Air Force hopes to fly 'Above All.'

As 'King David' is interviewed by Spencer Ackerman, 'Leader Reid gets pushback on Iraq war bill,' and a Pentagon spokesman ritualistically warns about soldiers not getting paid.

The U.S. military has reportedly "tied itself into a verbal knot as it tries to avoid further inflaming tensions" with Muqtada al-Sadr, and as 'Israel turns 60, probe threatens prime minister,' and 'Arabs in Israel are outsiders.'

As Mikhail Gorbachev accuses the U.S. of being on a new Cold War path, the 'White House threatens Swiss over $42b Iran gas deal,' a U.S. State Department official charges Iran with 'seeking to keep Afghanistan unstable,' and it's reported that the 'Pentagon targeted Iran for regime change after 9/11.'

The Department of Defense posts the documents released to the New York Times regarding the Pentagon pundits program, which garnered two follow-up stories in last week's PEJ news coverage index, one more than the latest iteration of the "Larry Craig Scandal."

As 'Lawyers for Guantanamo inmates accuse U.S. of eavesdropping,' the Al-Jazeera cameraman who was freed last week described it as "the most heinous prison mankind has ever known," in a speech that was broadcast live on Sudanese television. Plus: Released detainees face trial in Afghanistan.

William Fisher details the collapse of the "bioterror" case against artist Steve Kurtz, whose story was made into the docudrama, "Strange Culture," and Hendrik Hertzberg offers up three 'Drug-War Bulletins.'

"Violin Man" Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez is interviewed by Tavis Smiley about "The Soloist," which chronicles his friendship with a homeless, schizophrenic classical musician, Nathaniel Ayers.

May 6

With a prediction that there's likely to be a 'Sharp rise in suicide attacks by women in Iraq,' the Committee to Protect Journalists issues a report on attacks against journalists in Kurdistan, audio backstory here, one day after an Iraqi female journalist was shot and killed in Mosul.

As the House holds a Tuesday morning hearing on suicide among veterans, the U.S. government's top psychiatric researcher says that "it's quite possible that the suicides and psychiatric mortality of this war could trump the combat deaths."

'Iran halts talks with U.S. on Iraq,' citing the continued fighting in Sadr City, and Greg Mitchell contrasts articles from McClatchy and the New York Times about claims of 'Iran's link to Iraqi insurgents.'

With the Guantanamo justice system 'Moving at a crawl,' and Senate Republicans blocking torture investigations, it's argued that "the American public, press, and legislature appear to be completely oblivious to the idea that questions of war and military force raise any legal issues at all."

Alleging Abu Ghraib torture, an Iraqi has sued L-3 Communications and CACI International, claiming that a new book by CACI's chairman reveals that the company's "internal investigation failed to include any interviews of detainees or of a former employee whistleblower."

In his new book, retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez calls Bernard Kerik's efforts to train Iraqi police in 2003 "a waste of time and effort," saying that Kerik spent more time "conducting raids and liberating prostitutes" than training Iraqis.

As the New York Times returns to the same 'Stale Voices' that weighed in on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, FAIR wants readers to "Ask ABC, CBS and NBC when they are going to air responses to the Pentagon pundits scandal."

Tim Russert making his first 11 questions to Obama about Rev. Wright -- "as if some impersonal mechanism had tossed him a ball and now it had to be kept in the air" -- is cited as one example of how the race has "descended into the gutter." Plus: Voters obsessed with politicians' sex lives?

Robert Parry reviews the Clinton campaign's "oppo" against Obama, David Brooks contends that a "contrast between combat and composure defines the Democratic race," and Bill Berkowitz finds conservative activists Floyd Brown and David Bossie, 'Back in the Swift Boat captain's chairs.'

As John and Elizabeth Edwards officially decline to endorse, Facing South updates its investigation of robo-calling in North Carolina, where polling is all over the map.

Matt Taibbi, who writes about 'Hillary's Bitter Victory' in Pennsylvania, and who just won a National Magazine Award, discusses Sen. John McCain with Keith Olbermann, as McCain denies a claim that he didn't vote for Bush in 2000.

With the British press seizing on a good fight, one tabloid declares that Obama is 'Desperate," and as McClatchy reports that 'Clinton disclosures didn't list $24 million of Bill's income,' a junior high classmate recalls Hillary's first campaign.

A letter signed by more than 200 economists criticizes a holiday from the gas tax that Bill Clinton increased in 1993, and a group that prays at the pump is branded a "movement."

In his book "While America Aged," business writer Roger Lowenstein says that the U.S. is sitting on a "retirement time bomb" and it's not Social Security. Lowenstein also assesses the leading presidential candidates' proposals on entitlement programs.

As 'Bernanke gives green light to Frank foreclosure bill,' the Washington Post reports on the "remarkably productive relationship" between Treasury Secretary Paulson and Rep. Barney Frank, who's fresh off of last week's conversation with Paul Krugman about growing economic inequality in the U.S.

A U.N. official discusses the challenges of providing aid to a closed society like Burma, where Cyclone Nargis is said to have exposed the myth that the country has a "strong" military.

May 5

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