Morning Brief, Wednesday, September 27

War on terror

Last night, the White House released a short summary of declassified judgments from the National Intelligence Estimate. Bush wants you to read it for yourself (but if you've occasionally glanced at a newspaper in the last three years, you won't learn anything new). And he'd like voters to believe the "leaking" is politically motivated. But it may just be that we aren't getting the full story.

According to new State Department polls in Iraq, nearly three-quarters of Iraqis would feel safer if the U.S. left Iraq, and nearly two-thirds support an immediate pullout.  

Bush will break bread with Musharraf and Karzai at the White House tonight. Karzai has an increasingly bad security situation in Afghanistan and a neighbor he doesn't trust. And Musharraf has trouble brewing back home.

Iran

Russia signed a deal with Iran yesterday to supply the Islamic Republic with nuclear fuel, ostensibly to generate electricity, but it could be enriched for nuclear weapons. Jailed for months without charges and let out of detention briefly to attend a memorial service in Tehran for his father, an ex-Iranian lawmaker alleges torture.  

Oil

Even the U.S. Department of Energy thinks we're about to hit peak oil. Does no one care because oil is (relatively) cheap right now?

Elsewhere

Organizers in Berlin cancel a run of Mozart's Idomeneo opera because of a scene showing the severed head of Mohammed. Guess no one got upset over the beheading of Jesus, Buddha, and Poseidon in the same scene.

Japan's new PM Shinzo Abe hopes to smooth over relations with China at talks next month. Here's a regional press round-up on whether he'll succeed. 

Israel frees the Hamas deputy PM, and the Saudis deny any secret Israel talks.

The Dow Jones is close to its record high, and lock up your toddlers because otherwise they'll buy cars on eBay.