The Daily MuckA newly released British document from 2002 asserts that Saddam Hussein had acquired uranium and technology necessary for chemical weapons. But the document does not include the crucial allegation used to justify the Iraq invasion - that Hussein was capable of launching weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes. A later draft of the document did include this assertion and critics believe that Prime Minister Tony Blair’s press advisers ordered its inclusion to bolster the case for war. (AP)
Senators Joe Biden (D-DE) and Kit Bond (R-MO) have called for an investigation into why officials from the Marine Corps turned down a 2005 request from commanders for more blast resistant vehicles in Iraq. The call comes after a study found that “hundreds of United States marines may have been killed or wounded by roadside bombs in Iraq” because of the refusal of the request. (AP)
Christopher Christie, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey whose office gave former Attorney General John Ashcroft a contract worth between $27 million and $52 million to monitor a settlement in a fraud case, has been asked to testify before a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee next week. The committee, which wants to ask Christie “about the process by which [Ashcroft] was selected to be the monitor and what exactly he’s doing to earn the fee,” has also asked Ashcroft to testify. (AP)
The Food and Drug Administration failed to inspect the Chinese factory that produces the active ingredient for the blood thinner heparin - a medication recently associated with a large number of dangerous side effects - because the agency was confused about the facility’s name. The FDA inspected a plant with a similar name instead. Though the FDA does not require inspections of foreign drug facilities, the agency now has sent experts to China to investigate the heparin facility. (Washington Post)
A new independent survey of U.S. military officers reveals that 90 percent believe that the Iraq war has stretched military resources “dangerously thin.” 80 percent agreed that it would be “unreasonable” for the US military to wage another large war today; 37 percent believe Iran has gained a strategic advantage from the Iraq war; 44 percent disputed the statement that “torture is never acceptable.” (Financial Times)