TSR: "This ramshackle throw-together of disperate militias"
Wolf asks Michael to explain whom exactly the surge is aimed at stopping.
Length: 2:19
YWT: "The enemies of America...know that America's on borrowed time."
Hala Gorani interviews Michael about the way the "enemies of America" are using the September deadline for their own purposes, by making sure they raise the death rates high enough to insure that the surge will be seen as a failure. (We still don't seem to be giving The Bad Guys enough credit as military strategists.)
She also shows the Frederik Pleitgen piece from Diyala that illustrates the main problem we have as far as disengaging -- that no matter how many casualties we take in winning ground, it can be lost within a few hours of handing it over to the Iraqi Army, which is in no way ready to hold the line against the insurgents. I left it in because it really is a good example of this very serious problem (and despite the fact that I'm still grumpy over Michael's Diyala footage not seeing the light of day) and afterwards, Michael comments on yet another insurgent strategy we still seem to be falling for.
Length: 5:05
AC: "Here on the ground it's been nothing but pragmatism"
Michael discusses with Anderson what the expected pull-out of British troops from Iraq will mean and what the troops on the ground think of the September deadline that Washington used to be pushing.
Length: 3:45
AC: "'It's time for America to start dumbing down its notion of success in Iraq.'"
Anderson talks to David Gergen and Michael about the surge, the September benchmark that everyone seems to be backing off of, and the reality of the situation in Iraq.
Length: 7:33
LDT: More on the bombing
Michael talks about some of the rumors circulating in Baghdad about possible motives behind the bombing at the al-Mansour Hotel.
Length: 2:40
TSR: Bombing at al-Mansour Hotel
Michael reports on this morning's suicide bombing at the al-Mansour hotel, which killed several tribal sheiks who are fighting against al Qaeda.
Length: 3:33
AC: World Refugee Day -- One Iraqi's story
Michael does a prepared piece about the plight of one Iraqi man who was nearly killed because he worked with the American troops.
Length: 6:21
PZN: World Refugee Day -- Millions of Iraqis
Michael is back from holiday, and on World Refugee Day his first live report is about the plight of Iraqi refugees.
Length: 3:45