Iraq

(IraqSlogger/AFP) The Iraqi government bans photographers and reporters from bomb sites. (This is desperate.)

(AP) The DoD blocks soldier access to MySpace and YouTube claiming bandwidth problems. (The irony is that this is being done as the Army is planting positive videos on YouTube and using MySpace for recruiting. I guess they don't want a competing message.)

(AP) The Army clamps down on blogs.

(Reuters) Mitch McConnell finds Bush a way out. "I want to assure you, if they (the Iraqis) vote to ask us to leave, we'll be glad to comply with their request." (Now, all the Bush administration has to do is create enough ill will.....)

Yesterday, both the LATimes and Chicago Tribune reported on languishing benchmarks.

(Reuters) Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Sunday he would send more troops to volatile Diyala province.

And, in "The Other War,"

Three American and two Pakistani troops were wounded in firing on the border with Afghanistan on Monday, Pakistani officials said.

The firing came after Pakistani and American troops had ended a meeting on the border in Kurram tribal region. The meeting was aimed at finding ways to end border clashes which erupted on Sunday between Pakistani troops and Afghan soldiers and tribesmen.

"The firing came from the Afghan side. Three American and two Pakistani soldiers were wounded," a Pakistani official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

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