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$20-billion discrepancies | Pentagon spending? Don't ask Congress COMMENTARY Government agencies can't even agree on how much Congress has appropriated for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and anti-terrorism efforts in the U.S., let alone on how much has been spent 
Also: In defense of Helen Thomas | Bush's fundamentalism seen as a decisive, negative factor in his policies COMMENTARY Former White House reporter Saul Friedman says that, for the first time in modern American history, a president’s religion is determining policies, and the press should do a better job reporting it.
Don't ask, don't read | Pentagon excels at blacking out the text COMMENTARY The Pentagon says it is committed to transparency and offers as evidence two reports on the subject of detainee policy. But huge portions are redacted, so that, for example, under a sub-head called ‘Interrogation techniques,’ all the text is blacked out.
The overseas press | Lebanese, other Arab papers focus on the U.S. COMMENTARY Lebanon Daily Star: 'We now have two Arab countries that Bush has trumpeted as models and vanguards of America's policy of promoting freedom and democratic change: Iraq and Lebanon. Neither is a very comforting sight today.'
On TV, vulgarity comes first | News judgment as a life or death matter COMMENTARY In some major catastrophes, news coverage brings financial aid which brings calls for peacekeeping forces, which bring humanitarian assistance teams, which bring more news coverage. No coverage (think Congo) means the absence of all the above.
View From Beirut | Who speaks for the innocent Lebanese? COMMENTARY A young American living in Beirut is shocked at how indifferent international reaction has been to the situation there, and wonders if the West values Arab humanity differently than it values itself.
Odom's view | A reverse domino theory may be playing out in the Middle East COMMENTARY Gen. William Odom says Vice President Cheney has it all wrong when he warns that the U.S. must stay in Iraq because failure there could prompt collapse elsewhere. In fact, now it looks like a new Arab-Israeli war could be breaking out precisely because our actions in Iraq have emboldened Iran and Syria.
From Nieman Reports | Fighting back against the PR presidency COMMENTARY Veteran Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus suggests that editors and reporters should be brave enough not to cover any statements made by the president or any other government official that are designed solely as a public relations tool, offering no new or valuable information to the public. From the Summer 2006 issue of Nieman Reports.
Fact-checking the president | Our missile defense system is seen as an expensive bluff COMMENTARY Which is Bush’s position: A)Our missile defense system can now defend the U.S., or B)It’s too new to predict success, or C)It has a reasonable chance of knocking out anything North Korea shoots at us? If you chose all three you would be correct; those are the answers Bush gave on July 6 and 7. And if you said the system flat out doesn’t work, you’d also be correct.
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