Is Iraq Helping or Hurting the War on Terror?

Making News

Bullish Market Pushes Dow toward Record ()

The stock market is taking a lot of Wall Street regulars by surprise. Instead of declining in recent weeks, as some had predicted, the Down Jones Industrial Average is close to its highest finish on record. Will it break 12,000?

Guests:

• E.S. "Jim" Browning: Stock Market Reporter, Wall Street Journal, @WSJ

Main Topic

Is Iraq Helping or Hurting the War on Terror? ()

President Bush has declassified about 3 pages of a 30-page National Intelligence Estimate saying the Iraq war is a “cause celebre” that has has helped produce a new generation of Islamic radicals and increased the threat of terrorism. It also says that if the jihadists appear to have lost in Iraq, fewer will be inspired to keep fighting.  The President says selected portions of the NIE were leaked to reporters for political reasons. We hear how Democrats and Republicans are interpreting the report less than six weeks before the November elections.  Different parties drew different conclusions about how to proceed in Iraq.  Is President Bush right that the US is winning?”  Is it time to pull out?  Are there any good options left?

Guests:

• Mark Mazzetti: Reporter for the New York Times, @MarkMazzettiNYT
• Joe Wilson: Republican Congressman from South Carolina
• Jane Harman: Democratic Congresswoman from California
• Joseph Cirincione: Senior VP for National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress, @Cirincione
• Justine A. Rosenthal: Director of the Council on Global Terrorism

Links:

• Military Commission Act of 2006 (S 3930)
• Mazzetti's article on release of NIE excerpts

Reporter's Notebook

Cancellation of 'Idomeneo' Enrages Germans ()

One of the "key judgments" of the partly declassified National Intelligence Estimate is that “jihadists regard Europe as an important venue for attacking Western interests.” But Berlin's opera company has sparked bitter controversy by canceling an opera which might be offensive to Muslims. In Idomeneo, Mozart suggests that religion – any religion -- can produce superstition and inhumanity.

Guests:

• Kristiana Peitz: Editor of the Culture Department for Der Tagesspiegel

Links:

• Der Tagesspiegel on cancellation of "Idomeneo"