Obama Calls Bush On Eve Of Primetime Address

A White House spokesman confirmed today that President Barack Obama phoned former President George W. Bush this morning in advance of Obama’s address to the nation tonight. The 44th and 43rd Presidents spoke for just a few minutes during the former’s flight down to Texas. Details of the conversation have yet to be released…

Deadly 48 Hours For Troops In Afghanistan

The Telegraph is reporting that 21 American troops have been killed in Afghanistan in the past two days. The casualties have all occurred as a result of bomb attacks in eastern and southern areas of the country. The number of NATO deaths this year has now reached 484. In 2009, 521 NATO troops were killed…

Biden: Media Overplaying Violence In Iraq

During a meeting in Baghdad this morning with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden touted the security condition of the war-torn nation.

“Notwithstanding what the national press says about increased violence, the truth is things are still very much different,” he said. “Things are much safer.”

Biden referred to a series of attacks last Wednesday that killed 55 Iraqi civilians in different parts of the country as “dismal.”

The Vice President’s visit to Iraq, his fifth since taking office, purposely coincides with the withdrawal of the last U.S. combat brigade from there. The U.S. now has a total of 50,000 troops in Iraq…

Blowout Preventer Removal Suspended Due To Weather

National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen told reporters in a conference call Monday that weather concerns in the Gulf of Mexico are forcing the joint command to suspend operations to remove the stacking cap and blowout preventer from the failed Deepwater Horizon Macondo well.

“We’re only good at to three to five days.  So I am predicting three days at this point.  As I have been (want) to do in the past, I don’t use any hard schedules that should be laid out at this time.  We should have been ready to go right after Labor Day.  But obviously this will move that,” said Allen.

The administration’s point man on the BP-Deepwater Horizon spill response told the media that the weather is not related to tropical depressions in the Atlantic, but local storms in the Gulf.

Retrieval of the blowout preventer remains a crucial part of the federal investigation into what caused the spill.

Biden Arrives In Iraq

Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Iraq today to participate in a Change of Command and Change of Mission Ceremony.

With fewer than 50,000 troops, the United States military presence is set to transition from Operation Iraqi Freedom to Operation New Dawn, an advise and assist role, at the turn of the month.

In his sixth trip to Iraq, the Vice President’s visit is aimed at reinforcing the long-term U.S. commitment to Iraq. Biden is scheduled to meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, Vice President Adil Abd al-Mahdi, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, leader of the Iraqiyya coalition Ayad Allawi, Chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council Ammar al-Hakim and other political leaders to discuss the latest developments in Iraq and to urge Iraqi leaders to conclude negotiations on the formation of a new government.