Truthout rooundup 8/7

Matt Renner reports for Truthout on the relationship between Iraqi oil revenues and reconstruction; roadside bombs in Afghanistan hit highest level in four years for US troops; major world powers move toward more sanctions on Iran; a year after Jena, David A. Love advocates a "zero tolerance" policy for noose incidents; Ron Suskind defends his allegation that the Bush administration forged a letter showing a link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda; and more ... Browse our continually updating front page at http://www.truthout.org

t r u t h o u t 08.07

Matt Renner Playing Politics With Iraqi Oil Money
http://www.truthout.org/article/playing-politics-with-iraqi-oil-money
Truthout's Matt Renner reports: "Republicans and Democrats have been in an uproar over a new report that examines the amount of money the government of Iraq has been taking in and where they have been spending it. However, according to a leading Iraq economy scholar, the report is being misinterpreted and the political fall-out could be extremely harmful. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, released on Tuesday, shows that the government of Iraq has spent less money than the United States in reconstructing vital infrastructure despite a growing surplus in Iraq's treasury.... Antonia Juhasz, a fellow with Oil Change International and author of the forthcoming book 'The Tyranny of Oil,' takes issue with many conclusions being drawn from the GAO report. 'Pinning the failure of reconstruction and the poor functioning of the Iraqi government on the Iraqi government is obscene,' Juhasz told Truthout."

Afghan Roadside Bomb Incidents Hit Four-Year Peak
http://www.truthout.org/article/afghan-roadside-bomb-incidents-hit-four-year-peak
David Morgan reports for Reuters: "Roadside bomb incidents involving U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan hit their highest level in at least four years between April and June, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. There was a peak of about 200 such incidents in Afghanistan in the three-month period, data released by a Defense Department office that oversees efforts to thwart attacks by improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, in Iraq and Afghanistan showed.... The spring peak coincided with an intensifying Taliban insurgency that has pushed U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan above those in Iraq in recent months."

US Presses World Powers for More Iran Sanctions
http://www.truthout.org/article/us-presses-world-powers-more-iran-sanctions
For Reuters, Sue Pleming reports: "The United States and Britain said major powers agreed on Wednesday to consider more U.N. sanctions against Iran after Tehran failed to freeze its nuclear activities, but Russia said there was no firm deal.... U.S. State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said after the conference call: 'The P5+1 (major powers) are discussing next steps in the U.N. Security Council and beginning to consider possible outlines of another sanctions resolution.'"

David A. Love One Year After the Jena Tree Was Cut, Little Progress Has Been Made
http://www.truthout.org/article/one-year-after-jena-tree-was-cut-little-progress-has-been-made
David A. Love writes for The Progressive Media Project: "We have made some progress since the ugly incidents in Jena, La. But we still have a long way to go to make the noose a thing of the past. On August 31, 2006, a black student at Jena High School asked the principal if he could have permission to sit under the 'white tree,' the tree where white students typically congregated. The principal told the student to sit wherever he liked. The student and his friends decided to sit under the white tree. The next day, three nooses - a potent symbol of racial hate - were found hanging from the tree, the act of three white students at the high school."

Suskind Stands by White House WMD Forgery Claim
http://www.truthout.org/article/suskind-stands-by-white-house-wmd-forgery-claim
According to MSNBC.com: "Despite adamant denials by both the White House and the CIA, journalist Ron Suskind Wednesday stood by his allegation that the Bush administration concocted a fake letter purporting to show a link between Saddam Hussein's regime and al-Qaida as a justification for the Iraq war. 'It's all on the record,' Suskind told Meredith Vieira on TODAY. Two former CIA officers denied that they or the spy agency faked an Iraqi intelligence document, as they are quoted as saying in Suskind's book 'The Way of the World,' published Tuesday. 'I never received direction from George Tenet (CIA director at the time) or anyone else in my chain of command to fabricate a document as outlined in Mr. Suskind's book,' said Robert Richer, the CIA's former deputy director of clandestine operations."