Top Items:
centcom.mil:
What Extremists Are Saying — We note seven critical themes from the Zawahiri-Zarqawi letter. The first four confirm al-Qaida's long-term strategy and core beliefs; the latter three reflect new information about how senior al-Qaida leader Zawahiri views developments in Iraq - and elsewhere - turning against them.
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Alia Ibrahim / Washington Post:
Syrian Official Found Dead — Interior Minister Was Questioned in U.N. Lebanon Probe — BEIRUT, Oct. 12 — Syria's interior minister was found dead Wednesday in his office in the Syrian capital, Damascus, in what the government described as a suicide. The death of Maj. Gen. Ghazi Kanaan came …
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Athena / Terrorism Unveiled:SYRIAN MINISTER SUICIDE — QUESTIONABLE STABILITY OF ASSAD REGIME
Discussion:
Rantingprofs, Publius Pundit, Michael J. Totten, The Counterterrorism Blog and The Glittering Eye
CNN:Syrian leader denies role in Lebanese death
Discussion:
The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta, In the Bullpen, Basil's Blog, WunderKraut.com, chicagoboyz.net and Across the Bay
Mark / Decision '08:
Blogger Conference Call, Ken Mehlman, RNC Chairman — I had the good fortune today to participate in a conference call with the great Ken Mehlman, RNC Chairman, regarding the Harriet Miers nomination. Here are some quick highlights, and I'll conclude with some final thoughts.
Discussion:
The Buzz on National …
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Steve Bainbridge / ProfessorBainbridge.com:Liveblogging the Ken Mehlman Conference Call
Discussion:
The Buzz on National …, The Political Teen, Blogs for Bush, Say Anything, Instapundit.com and Conglomerate Blog
Wall Street Journal:
Times Reporter Tells Grand Jury About Talk With Top Cheney Aide — A New York Times reporter told a federal grand jury about a previously undisclosed conversation she had with a White House official, as attention continued to focus on possible early efforts by the Bush administration …
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Washington Post:
SEC Issues Subpoena To Frist, Sources Say — Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has been subpoenaed to turn over personal records and documents as federal authorities step up a probe of his July sales of HCA Inc. stock, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
Mark Murray / MSNBC:
Bush approval dips below 40 percent — NBC-WSJ poll shows only 28 percent believe U.S. headed in right direction — WASHINGTON - It has been weeks since Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast; since gas prices began spiking to record highs; and since Cindy Sheehan …
Will / Attytood:
The President's day: One high crime and two misdemeanors — Since Attytood is now officially a "liberal journalist" according to Slate.com, we feel it's our duty to report that many on the farther left have been agitating in recent days for the impeachment of President Bush …
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John Cole / Balloon Juice:A Religious Test — Via Joe Gandelman, this story …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Associated Press, INDC Journal, QandO, www.AndrewSullivan.com, Crooks and Liars and Daily Kos
Robin Toner / New York Times:
Democrats See Dream of '06 Victory Taking Form — WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 - Suddenly, Democrats see a possibility in 2006 they have long dreamed of: a sweeping midterm election framed around what they describe as the simple choice of change with the Democrats or more of an unpopular status quo with the Republican majority.
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John Fund / Opinion Journal:
How She Slipped Through — Harriet Miers's nomination resulted from a failed vetting process. — "There's a standard vetting process that we go through with all nominees." —White House spokesman Scott McClellan — "The president is very, very confident in his judgments about people, and he likes to reward loyalty."
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Greyhawk / Mudville Gazette:
OPEN POST — No picture, just a few words. — The purpose of the Open Post is (hopefully) obvious. Those with something to say can link their blogs here and those readers who are interested can follow those links to the source. This whole inter-linking thing is what the blogosphere is all about.
Opinion Journal:
POLITICAL DIARY - Commentary and analysis on the 2004 election season — Political Diary, edited by Holman W. Jenkins Jr. and featuring John Fund, is a subscription-based e-mail newsletter offering commentary and analysis on American politics from a perspective only The Wall Street Journal's Editorial Page …
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Jason Leopold / rawstory.com:
Vice President's role in outing of CIA agent under examination, sources close to prosecutor say — Cheney's role in CIA outing not known — Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is trying to determine whether Vice President Dick Cheney had a role in the outing of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame-Wilson …
Associated Press:
Landmark deal reached on Iraqi constitution — Parliament gains Sunni support days before referendum — An Iraqi man reads a newspaper carrying pro-constitution advertisements in Baghdad on Wednesday. In a special session, Iraq's parliament won Sunni support on the draft constitution.
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Stars & Stripes:
Memories strong five years after Cole blast — Al-Qaida attack killed 17 sailors, sparked better deterrence in Navy — ARLINGTON, Va. — Command Master Chief James Parlier was forced to decide to let a sailor die. — It was Oct. 12, 2000, he said, aboard the USS Cole.
Discussion:
Sisyphean Musings, Neptunus Lex, Rantingprofs, Classical Values, In the Bullpen, Blogs for Bush and sisu
Howard Fineman / MSNBC:
The conservative crack up — The neocons develop an exit strategy — a political one — WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush may have no military exit strategy for Iraq, but the "neocons" who convinced him to go to war there have developed one of their own — a political one: Blame the Administration.
Kobayashi Maru:
A Dark Night (and Maybe Another) — My brother is still with us, though it's become harder and harder to tell how much he knows it. Occasionally he will make a small motion to indicate that he's heard us, including what I thought was a guffaw at one of my lame attempts at humor.
Anthony Browne / Times of London:
Dutch unveil the toughest face in Europe with a ban on the burka — THE Netherlands is likely to become the first country in Europe to ban the burka, under government proposals that would bring in some of the toughest curbs on Muslim clothing in the world. — The country's hardline …
Hullabaloo:
Two Tense Weeks — After reading my post about the WHIG group from last night, conservative journalist Robert George wrote in to give me a heads up about a post he wrote earlier (and cross posted on the Huffington Post) about "those two tense weeks in July" on both sides of the atlantic.
