MONDAY’S MINI-REPORT…. Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Iran: “Three months after the United Nations Security Council enacted its harshest sanctions yet against Iran, global nuclear inspectors reported Monday that the country has dug in its heels, refusing to provide inspectors with information and access they need to determine whether the real purpose of Tehran’s program is to produce weapons.”
* Tolerating corruption in Afghanistan: “U.S. commanders in southern Afghanistan are adopting a strategy that increasingly places the priority on fighting the Taliban even if that means tolerating some corruption.”
* On a related note, this is an important setback: “A quarter-billion dollar program to lure low-level Taliban fighters away from the insurgency has foundered, with Afghans bickering over who should run it, and international donors slow to put up the money they had promised.”
* A revised price-tag for the war in Iraq: $3 trillion.
* I don’t know what kind of changes to Social Security his deficit commission might propose, but President Obama isn’t about to let privatization move forward.
* In one of the dumber media exchanges in a long while, Fox News’ Chris Wallace noted that President Obama recently characterized his “central mission” as “restoring the economy.” Wallace said, “[I]s it unfair to say that this a president whose heart doesn’t seem to be into winning the war on terror, no matter what it costs?” The Weekly Standard‘s Stephen Hayes replied, “No, I don’t think that’s at all unfair.” No wonder the network’s poor viewers are so darned confused.
* And in honor of Labor Day, be sure to check out E.J. Dionne’s column today: “When unions mattered, prosperity was shared.”
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
