- Making News: Muqtada al-Sadr Accepts Peace Plan
With Iraq-s interim government promising a -decisive battle- to -liberate- the shrine of Imam Ali, Muqtada al-Sadr has promised to withdraw his troops from the mosque. But, so far, it-s only on paper. Babak Dehghanpisheh, who is in Baghdad for Newsweek magazine, says Shiite cleric's reputation for flip flopping means that his letter must be taken with a grain of salt. He also updates efforts to establish an Iraqi National Congress. - Reporter-s Notebook: Athletes Compete at Birthplace of Olympic Games
Thousands of people have been watching the Summer Olympics on TV, but there are large numbers of empty seats in the stands in and around Athens, as well as rampant commercialism and disputes about doping. Today, the action shifted 200 miles to ancient Olympia, where the games began 2,780 years ago. Alan Abrahamson of the Los Angeles Times, who went to cover the men-s and women-s shot put, called what he saw "sport in its purist form."
MSNBC article on al-Sadr's agreement to pull troops from Shrine of Imam Ali
Senator Kerry's address to Veterans of Foreign Wars