Which Way, L.A.?

US Losing Interest in Iraq

The -interim government- made Iraq less prominent in American media than it was during the days of the Coalition Provisional Authority. Yet, today, once again, Iraq is leading the news. The governor of Najaf has cleared the way for military operations around the Shrine of Imam Ali, the holiest place in Shiite Islam, where US officials say the Mehdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr is holed up. Al-Sadr is being called -a major test" for the new Iraqi regime, despite those he-s vowed to -fight to the death- being mostly American and even though Prime Minister Iyad Allawi was installed by the US. Warren Olney discusses the ongoing insurgency in Najaf with Scott Baldauf who's in Baghdad for the Christian Science Monitor. (This program was originally broadcast in it entirety earlier today on To the Point.) Reporter's Notebook: 30th Anniversary of Nixon Resignation On August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon became the first president in American history to resign from office. It-s often said that Watergate destroyed the -imperial presidency,- strengthened the Congress and made the media a more powerful institution. But Stephen Hess, who served on the White House staffs of Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon and was an advisor to Presidents Ford and Carter, has a contrary view.