Win One for the Gipper?

The latest from the Political Grapevine:

Saddam’s Secrets
In the days just before the war in Iraq, Saddam Hussein (search) repeatedly removed Iraqi guards patrolling the Syrian border and replaced them with his own intelligence agents, so the agents could supervise the transfer of banned materials between Iraq and Syria ... That according to the Washington Times, which says Iraqis have told the Iraq Survey Group that once Iraqi intelligence agents were in place, trucks would carry what they believed to be materials banned by the UN, possibly including weapons of mass destruction, into Syria.

Once the shipments were complete, Iraqi border guards were allowed to return to their posts.

Win One for the Gipper?
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (search) has put together a new anti-meat ad campaign featuring a picture of former President Ronald Reagan, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, and the words, "Win one for the Gipper. Animal fats double your risk of Alzheimer's."

Reagan's wife, Nancy, and the Ronald Reagan Foundation have since sent a letter to PETA, demanding, "Discontinue any use of President Reagan's name ... image, or likeness. You have no authority, license or consent ... for such use."

But PETA, according to MSNBC.com, says it doesn't need permission since Reagan was a public figure. So PETA is now conducting an online poll to let the public decide whether it should roll out the ad campaign as planned.

Unfit for Media Coverage?
It has now been a week since the publication of the book "Unfit for Command," which features the words of more than 60 of John Kerry's fellow Vietnam veterans who say Kerry has completely distorted major details of his service in Vietnam. And, except for Fox News, no major news organization has reported on the specifics of the book.

This is in sharp contrast to earlier this year when Michael Moore (search) accused President Bush of being a "deserter" and Terry McAuliffe charged that he went AWOL, which sent the Washington Press Corps into a feeding frenzy over President Bush and his National Guard service.

Anarchists Attend Conference
Nearly 200 anarchists from all over North America held a conference in Athens, Ohio, over the weekend to, "build a positive movement toward a free and responsible society." But things grew sour when some anarchists, who by definition reject government and its processes, including elections, announced that they are so fed up with the war in Iraq that they plan to vote against President Bush in November.

One anarchist at the conference insisted, "those who are voting are either bad anarchists or not anarchists at all. No one can represent my interests. We reject political professionals."

— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report