Morning Brief, Tuesday, June 13

This is one "good PR move" the White House won't need to distance itself from: Bush made a surprise visit to Baghdad today. His war council met at Camp David yesterday to hone a strategy for a post-Zarqawi Iraq, and I'm surprised it took this long for Zarqawi's death to be used against the Democrats. ...

This is one "good PR move" the White House won't need to distance itself from: Bush made a surprise visit to Baghdad today. His war council met at Camp David yesterday to hone a strategy for a post-Zarqawi Iraq, and I'm surprised it took this long for Zarqawi's death to be used against the Democrats. Zarqawi's replacement is named and in an attempt to end the myth-making, the US military wheels out some skeleton diagrams to explain the final hour of Zarqawi's life. Suicide bombings kill 20 in Kirkuk. 

This is one "good PR move" the White House won't need to distance itself from: Bush made a surprise visit to Baghdad today. His war council met at Camp David yesterday to hone a strategy for a post-Zarqawi Iraq, and I'm surprised it took this long for Zarqawi's death to be used against the Democrats. Zarqawi's replacement is named and in an attempt to end the myth-making, the US military wheels out some skeleton diagrams to explain the final hour of Zarqawi's life. Suicide bombings kill 20 in Kirkuk. 

In the NYT, Warren Christopher, who was chief negotiator during the Iranian hostage crisis, offers some money suggestions for dealing with the Iranian nuclear negotiators:

First, we must be sure we are talking with the right people….At the moment, Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is riding high. But he may not be as powerful as he seems and, in any event, power may shift over time….

[W]ith the Iranians, the negotiating style is likely to resemble that of a Middle Eastern marketplace, with outlandish demands, feints at abandoning the process and haggling over minor details up to the very last moment….

[S]anctions can play a valuable role. 

ElBaradei says Iran is failing to provide crucial data necessary to fully understand their nuclear program. 

Factional fighting between Hamas and Fatah supporters worsens. Nine are killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza.

Abu Bakar Bashir, the Muslim cleric convicted in connection with the 2002 Bali bombings, is due to be released from prison tomorrow. In a recent review in FP, Scott Atran detailed the fascinating terrorist tell-all exposing Bashir's role as the emir of Jemmah Islamiyah.  

The European Parliament calls on the US to close Guantanamo. Today is the final day for Saddam's defense team to present its case. A prominent Three Gorges Dam activist is beaten. China and Zimbabwe sign an energy deal worth $1.3 billion. Gaddafi lashes out at FIFA for selling World Cup rights to a pay-TV channel. Being gay in the Middle East.

So you think you can legislate? Putin launches a reality show to recruit young lawmakers

Carolyn O'Hara is a senior editor at Foreign Policy.

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