New York Times: Campaign enters critical two-week phase encompassing debates with vicious ads on both sides hurling attacks and showing images of Mohammed Atta, Osama bin Laden and the burning streets of Iraq.
AP: Colin Powell says situation in Iraq is “getting worse” and insurgency will only get stronger as elections approach in January — quite a contrast from Allawi and Bush’s show of optimism last week.
Knight-Ridder: Statistics compiled by Iraqi Health Ministry show operations by U.S. and multinational forces and Iraqi police are killing twice as many Iraqis — most of them civilians — as attacks by insurgents. U.S. airstrikes intended for insurgents are killing large numbers of Iraqi civilians, ministry says.
Reuters: Say it isn’t so! “Many of President Bush’s assertions about progress in Iraq — from police training and reconstruction to preparations for January elections — are in dispute, according to internal Pentagon documents, lawmakers and key congressional aides.”
Washington Post: John Kerry slams Bush for saying he had “no regrets” over Mission Accomplished flight-suit photo op. Kerry: “I will never be a president who just says, ‘Mission Accomplished.’ I will get the mission accomplished.”
Los Angeles Times: Dick Cheney “pushing the envelope” on al Qaida-Hussein connection, “obscuring the distinction” between war in Iraq and war on terror for many voters — a critical tactic for Bush to convince Americans the Iraq mess was worth it. And it’s working! “As recently as June, a Gallup Poll found that 44% said Hussein was personally tied to the terrorist strikes.”
Wall Street Journal: (free link) “Election Day” will happen before Nov. 2 for one-quarter to one-third of voters, thanks to early balloting.
New York Times: Massive voter registration drives in Ohio and Florida have added tens of thousands of new voters to the rolls in heavily Democratic areas — far greater than Republicans in both states, a Times data analysis showed.
