To the Point

Bush Considers Taking the Fight to Iraq

As Israel continues its assault on the Palestinian Territories, the Middle East looks increasingly like the quagmire President Bush had hoped to avoid. Yet he still insists that his main goal in the region is a "regime change" in Iraq. While Pentagon officials and party conservatives have urged Bush against letting Israel and the Palestinians divert him from that objective, convincing Congress and the American people may be another matter. Neither are our European allies -- even Great Britain, nor Arab leaders ready to jump on America's military bandwagon. We look at the obstacles to support for such action and the argument for going it alone with skeptics and Bush supporters, the British press and the head of Cairo's Al Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. Newsmaker: Iraq Threatens to Halt Oil Exports World oil prices shot up today after Saddam Hussein said he's halted Iraq's exports of oil for the next month or until Israel withdraws unconditionally from the West Bank. George Beranek, of the Petroleum Finance Company, predicts that unless labor issues in Venezuela become disruptive, Iraq's action will have minimal effect because it comes at a time when demand is traditionally low. Reporter's Notebook: Los Angeles Cardinal Mahony Faces Scandal The scandal over sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests has reached America's largest Archdiocese. Leaked e-mails revealed the strategy of Cardinal Roger Mahony for dealing with Los Angeles police and his fear of being called to testify before a grand jury. Richard McBrien, professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, defends Mahony's determination to get the story out with the least damage to the Archdiocese.