July 20, 2007 – CBS Weekend Roundup – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
July 20, 2007 – Ten years ago – a war then too – an endless war. A war of insurgents and car bombs and raids. No sign of peace. And ten years later, the region is still in turmoil.
This week, ending July 20th in 2007 was as much in doubt and chaos as any other week. And it wasn’t that long ago. News that there were a few relatively calm days in Iraq, while President Bush told Congress we needed more time. There were fights on Capitol Hill over war strategy – how the war was dragging on and on without result. Congress had their first all-nighter since 2003, and afterwards, each side accused the other of hurting the soldiers in Iraq; all over a vote to withdraw combat troops by April 2008 – some insisted that withdrawal now would mean a certain loss for the U.S. – while others demanded the US withdraw troops in other to get out of what had become a multi-sided, sectarian war which we were now stuck in. In the end, the Democratic proposal for immediate withdrawal got only 52 of the needed 60 votes – but even at that, it signified the country was growing weary of the war, and the 52 votes represented several Republicans who jumped ranks to go against the Presidents proposal to stay.
There was other news – a plane crash in Sao Paulo Brazil took the lives of some 200 people. The Catholic church Sex Abuse scandal was making news – this time, a settlement to the tune of some $660 million in damages to over 500 victims of sexual abuse by clergy. And football star Michael Vick was facing charges of animal cruelty in connection with his involvement in a Dog Fighting ring.
All that, and news of the sudden explosion in wealth via the Stock Market was only a small slice of what went on, this week ending July 20, 2007 as presented by The CBS World News Roundup Weekend Edition.
