Andrea Mitchell looks pretty pissed: “He didn’t have reporters with him, he didn’t have a press pool, he didn’t do a press conference while he was on the ground in either Afghanistan or Iraq.”

“That position has not changed. I have not equivocated on that position. I have not searched for maneuvering room with respect to that position,” he said.

An Iraq clarification from Barack Obama:

Let me be crystal clear: if elected president, my first act will be to call for the immediate withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq. I have always been consistent and forthright in this position, and I want to reassure my supporters that my recent statement backtracking from it was just some bullshit my staff came up with to tack to the center for the general election. To win this election, it will be critical to appeal to the dwindling but stubborn group of idiots who cling to fantasies of American “victory” in this tragic disaster.

Obama walking backwards on Iraq?

The Washington Post says that Al Qaeda is not doing so well these days.  The reporter struggles to explain (or is purposely excluding) the Iraq war’s importance to their serious setbacks world-wide, essentially claiming that Al Qaeda is its own worst enemy (not the US).

McCain goes on the attack:

“He really has no experience or knowledge or judgment about the issue of Iraq and he has wanted to surrender for a long time,” the Arizona senator added. “If there was any other issue before the American people, and you hadn’t had anything to do with it in a couple of years, I think the American people would judge that very harshly.”

Abdul-Khaliq al-Sabawi, al Qaeda’s #1 in Mosul has been captured.

Read this: The Very Big War

Bill Roggio reports:  Sadrist bloc buckles, agrees to let Iraqi Army in Sadr City

After over six weeks of heavy fighting in and around the Mahdi Army stronghold Sadr City, where Mahdi Army forces took lopsided casualties in the fighting, the government and the Sadrist political bloc has signed an agreement to end the fighting. The agreement will allow for the Iraqi military to operate freely inside Sadr City while the Mahdi Army must halt its fighting.

Sadr coordinating with Al-Qaeda?

Fantastic news. “Disneyland” coming to a Baghdad near you.

Why is it only blogs report these stories, asks Vodkapundit? Also, don’t miss his drunk live blog on the debacle in Pennsylvania yesterday.

Couric talks to a sniper:

Katie Couric asked, “What do you feel when you shoot a terrorist?”

His answer: “A slight recoil.”

Good news: Sadr is in trouble.