Iraq, Najaf and Presidential Politics

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Aides to Muqtada Al-Sadr say he-s been slightly wounded, but US and Iraqi forces have pulled back from the confrontation at the Shrine of Imam Ali, and despite Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's declaration two days ago that there would be -no negotiations or truce,- tactics have changed. Will the new strategy help or hurt Allawi-s credibility with the Iraqi people? What-s the role of American forces? How does the situation look in the Arab press and to Muslims around the world? What-s the impact on the Presidential campaign? Warren Olney hears from reporters in Iraq, a national pollster, and experts in religious conflict and the Middle East. Making News: Kidnapped British Journalist Released A 23 year-old British journalist was kidnapped in southern Iraq today, threatened with death, and then released. Muqtada al-Sadr himself is said to have intervened. James Brandon is a stringer for the Sunday Telegraph of London and the Christian Science Monitor, where Scott Baldauf is a reporter. Reporter's Notebook: Legal and Political Issues Still at Play on Gay Marriage California's State Supreme Court has ruled that Gavin Newsom exceeded his authority by issuing marriage licenses to 4,000 same-sex couples. The San Francisco Mayor says he licensed and performed gay marriages to challenge the constitutionality of Prop 22, the voter-passed initiative to ban the practice. With 12 other states preparing to vote on the question, Professor Vikram Amar of Hastings College of Law says the constitutional challenge remains.
Aides to Muqtada Al-Sadr say he-s been slightly wounded, but US and Iraqi forces have pulled back from the confrontation at the Shrine of Imam Ali, and despite Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's declaration two days ago that there would be -no negotiations or truce,- tactics have changed. Will the new strategy help or hurt Allawi-s credibility with the Iraqi people? What-s the role of American forces? How does the situation look in the Arab press and to Muslims around the world? What-s the impact on the Presidential campaign? Warren Olney hears from reporters in Iraq, a national pollster, and experts in religious conflict and the Middle East.
  • Making News: Kidnapped British Journalist Released
    A 23 year-old British journalist was kidnapped in southern Iraq today, threatened with death, and then released. Muqtada al-Sadr himself is said to have intervened. James Brandon is a stringer for the Sunday Telegraph of London and the Christian Science Monitor, where Scott Baldauf is a reporter.
  • Reporter's Notebook: Legal and Political Issues Still at Play on Gay Marriage
    California's State Supreme Court has ruled that Gavin Newsom exceeded his authority by issuing marriage licenses to 4,000 same-sex couples. The San Francisco Mayor says he licensed and performed gay marriages to challenge the constitutionality of Prop 22, the voter-passed initiative to ban the practice. With 12 other states preparing to vote on the question, Professor Vikram Amar of Hastings College of Law says the constitutional challenge remains.

James Brandon (BBC profile)

Sunday Telegraph of London

Pew Poll on presidential candidates, terrorism, Iraq

Lockyer v City and County of San Francisco, CA State Supreme Court on

Mayor Newsom's approval of same-sex marriage

California's Prop 22

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney