Today's Reading List: 1 & 2 June 2007

* recommended reading

1 June
NPR, Bloody Month in Iraq, Despite U.S. Troop 'Surge'.

NPR, Retired Generals Decry Military Politics.

Foreign Affairs, Al Qaeda Strikes Back. "By rushing into Iraq instead of finishing off the hunt for Osama bin Laden, Washington has unwittingly helped its enemies: al Qaeda has more bases, more partners, and more followers today than it did on the eve of 9/11. Now the group is working to set up networks in the Middle East and Africa -- and may even try to lure the United States into a war with Iran. Washington must focus on attacking al Qaeda's leaders and ideas and altering the local conditions in which they thrive."

2 June
*NPR, Seeking Perspective on the U.S. Death Toll in Iraq. ". . . Given the right circumstances, Americans are quite prepared to tolerate far higher casualties. Roughly 43,000 people die on our roads and highways every year. . . . There is a reason for keeping U.S. troops in Iraq that has more to do with American interests: stability in the Persian Gulf, the world's single largest producer and exporter of oil and natural gas. . . . Blood for oil has never been a popular slogan in America. But try to separate us from our motor vehicles and you'll get a sense of where our national interests lie. And if you try to keep those vehicles running without Persian Gulf oil, you'll know that a complete U.S. withdrawal from Iraq is nowhere in our immediate future."