Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has announced a reconciliation deal between the country's Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders. The Shi'ite leader made the announcement easing restrictions on Ba'ath party members on national TV "flanked by Jalal Talabani, the country's Kurdish president, and the Sunni vice-president, Tareq al-Hashemi," says the Guardian.
The consensus-building agreement was forged in the wake of a week of political pressure from the White House and U.S. senators including Hillary Clinton, Carl Levin and John Warner. Maliki delivered a "stinging rebuke to Hillary Clinton yesterday, telling her to stop meddling in the affairs of his country as though it was part of America," writes the Independent. He also "accused U.S. forces of committing 'big mistakes' in killing and detaining civilians in the hunt for insurgents, says the LA Times.
Want to know the best way to get more troops into Iraq quickly? Offer new recruits a $20,000 "quick ship" bonus. Ninety percent of the Army's new recruits in the last month have opted for the quick march basic training schedule.