Morning Brief, Tuesday, September 26

Iraq The political flap over the National Intelligence Estimate continues. Negroponte tries to put it into context, but the Democrats just quote the report back at the White House. Bob Kagan has some questions for the report's authors. Yet more evidence of Rumsfeld's shortcomings on Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, on the ground, 4,000 U.S. troops are ...

Iraq

Iraq

The political flap over the National Intelligence Estimate continues. Negroponte tries to put it into context, but the Democrats just quote the report back at the White House. Bob Kagan has some questions for the report's authors. Yet more evidence of Rumsfeld's shortcomings on Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, on the ground, 4,000 U.S. troops are to stay in the "volatile" Anbar province. Brits kill a key al Qaeda figure and Saddam is thrown out of court—again.

Homeland Security

U.S. citizens could be designated enemy combatants under new detainee legislation. The wiretapping bill nears approval. More preparedness money for cities. Restrictions on carry-on liquids eased and the United States and the European Union near a deal on passenger data. Muslim intellectual Tariq Ramadan is still barred from the United States.

Middle East

Questions of the day: Which Saudi did Israeli Prime Minister Olmert meet with? Is Egypt trying to join the nuclear club? U.N. investigation reveals that former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri was killed by a suicide bomber.

Musharraf

Having irritated the Americans yesterday, Musharraf embarrasses the Brits by suggesting that Daniel Pearl's captor was once a British spy. Next stop on the book tour: The Daily Show.

Thailand

A Thai general pleads for the world to be patient, while the ex-head of the WTO is supposedly lined up as a caretaker PM.

In other news

A suicide bomber strikes in Helmand and a Nato convoy is attacked in Kabul. North Korea "likely" to test a nuke this year, says Armitage. Bulgaria and Romania will join the European Union in January. More fallout from the Shanghai corruption case. China is not alone on the corruption front. U.S. economy is no longer the world's most competitive. Shinzo Abe packs his cabinet with fellow conservatives. The Islamic Courts in Somalia claim that Ethiopia has declared war by sending troops to prop up the government. George Allen in yet more racial hot water. Blair delivers his last address as leader to the Labour conference, but it is his wife's words that are generating headlines.

James Forsyth is assistant editor at Foreign Policy.

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