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By Daniel Politi
Posted Friday, July 4, 2008, at 6:21 AM ET The Washington Post leads with, and everyone fronts, Sen. Barack Obama suggesting that his plan for withdrawal from Iraq isn’t set in stone and he reserves the right to “continue to refine” his policies after meeting with commanders on the ground. The comment led to an outcry that he was backtracking on his plans for withdrawal. A few hours later, he called a second news conference where he was visibly frustrated and emphasized that his “position has not changed” and he intends “to end this war” and remove combat troops within 16 months of becoming president.

The New York Times leads with, and the Los Angeles Times fronts, new details about the daring mission that rescued 15 hostages who were being held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The NYT emphasizes that the success of the mission highlights how much the Colombian military has been helped by the $5.4 billion in aid it has received from the United States since 2000. It’s clear that the the operation was successful partly because the Colombians were able to exploit the weakened state of the FARC. While no one thinks this marks the end for the Marxist group that was founded in 1964, some think history may look at the rescue mission as the catalyst for peace talks. The LAT leads locally with the continuing wildfires in California that took “an ominous turn” yesterday as a blaze near Santa Barbara threatened populated areas. Tens of thousands of acres have been charred and about 100 fires continue to burn that threaten more than 10,700 homes.

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Daniel Politi writes “Today’s Papers” for Slate. He can be reached at todayspapers@slate.com.

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