Top Items:
Liz Sidoti / Associated Press:
Hawkish Democrat Calls for Iraq Pullout — WASHINGTON - One of Congress' most hawkish and influential Democrats called Thursday for an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, sparking bitter and personal salvos from both sides in a growing Capitol Hill uproar over President Bush's war policies.
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Greyhawk / Mudville Gazette:
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THIS... The Honorable John P Murtha, D Pa, is concerned for me: … Okay, he's concerned for all the troops, and because of that I'm willing to help him out. — In his speech demanding our immediate surrender in Iraq he cited this statistic on casualties over there: "Over 15,500 have been seriously injured".
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Hugh Hewitt, Gateway Pundit, The Mahablog, The Carpetbagger Report, No End But Victory and TAPPED
Charles Babington / Washington Post:
Hawkish Democrat Joins Call For Pullout — GOP Assails Murtha's Demand to Leave Iraq — The top House Democrat on military spending matters stunned colleagues yesterday by calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, while many congressional Democrats reacted defiantly …
Discussion:
The Sideshow, New York Times, Wonkette, Nitpicker, AMERICAblog, The Washington Monthly and The Democratic Daily Blog
Eric Schmitt / New York Times:
Rapid Pullout From Iraq Urged by Key Democrat — WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 - The partisan furor over the Iraq war ratcheted up sharply on Capitol Hill on Thursday, as an influential House Democrat on military matters called for the immediate withdrawal of American troops and Republicans escalated …
Lorie Byrd / Michelle Malkin:DISGRACEFUL AND JUST PLAIN DUMB
Discussion:
Reuters, The Reaction, The Counterterrorism Blog, The Huffington Post, dreier.house.gov and GOP and the City
Adam Entous / Reuters:
Plame's husband wants Post to probe Woodward — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Joseph Wilson, the husband of outed CIA operative Valerie Plame, called on Thursday for an inquiry by The Washington Post into the conduct of journalist Bob Woodward, who repeatedly criticized the leak investigation without disclosing his own involvement.
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Arianna Huffington / The Huffington Post:15 Questions for Bob Woodward
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, azerbic, Hullabaloo, Slate, Discriminations, TalkLeft, The Reaction and firedoglake
James Glanz / New York Times:
Issuing Contracts, Ex-Convict Took Bribes in Iraq, U.S. Says — A North Carolina man who was charged yesterday with accepting kickbacks and bribes as a comptroller and financial officer for the American occupation authority in Iraq was hired despite having served prison time for felony fraud in the 1990's.
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Mark Sherman / Seattle Post-Intelligencer:American charged in Iraq scheme an ex-con
Discussion:
Patridiot Watch
Jim / Jim Lowney Photo:
Party Like It's 1999 — A little corvid out in Reno mentioned yesterday that the mad Aussie journo Tim Blair was back in the Big Apple. I hadn't smoked cigarettes and swilled Chardonnay with Mr. Blair since we covered the Axis of Ass during last year's Republican convention.
ITV:
'Cheney is vice president for torture' — A former CIA director has exclusively told ITV News that torture is condoned and even approved by the Bush government. — The devastating accusations have been made by Admiral Stansfield Turner who labelled Dick Cheney "a vice president for torture".
Discussion:
Power Line
Guardian:
Simon Tisdall and Ewen MacAskill — Iran is facing political paralysis as its newly elected president purges government institutions, bringing accusations that he is undertaking a coup d'état. — Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's clearout of his opponents began last month but is more sweeping …
Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
Extension of Patriot Act Faces Threat of Filibuster — WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 - A tentative deal to extend the government's antiterrorism powers under the law known as the USA Patriot Act appeared in some jeopardy Thursday, as Senate Democrats threatened to mount a filibuster in an effort to block the legislation.
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New York Times:
SPEAKERS: U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DUNCAN HUNTER (R-CA) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE KAY GRANGER (R-TX) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE GEOFF DAVIS (R-KY) — U.S. REPRESENTATIVE MIKE CONAWAY (R-TX) — U.S. REPRESENTATIVE ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN (R-FL) — U.S. REPRESENTATIVE TOM TANCREDO (R-CO) — U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DAVID DREIER (R-CA)
Meg Bortin / New York Times:
Survey Shows a Revival of Isolationism in U.S. — Shaken by the Iraq war and the rise of anti-American sentiment around the world, Americans are turning inward, according to a Pew survey of United States opinion leaders and the general public. — The survey, conducted this fall and released today …
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Damien Cave / New York Times:
Vital Military Jobs Go Unfilled, Study Says — The military is falling far behind in its effort to recruit and re-enlist soldiers for some of the most vital combat positions in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new government report. — The report, completed by the Government Accountability Office …
Dana Priest / Washington Post:
Foreign Network at Front of CIA's Terror Fight — Joint Facilities in Two Dozen Countries Account for Bulk of Agency's Post-9/11 Successes — The CIA has established joint operation centers in more than two dozen countries where U.S. and foreign intelligence officers work side by side …
Discussion:
www.AndrewSullivan.com
John / AMERICAblog:
Pentagon starts trying to swift boat Cong. Murtha — Well, that didn't take long. — Anonymous sources (read: cowards) at the Pentagon are already telling CNN that Murtha, a 37-year Marine, is being "irresponsible" by alerting folks to the fact that our military is "suffering" …
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Carl Hulse / New York Times:
In Loss for G.O.P., House Rejects Spending Plan — WASHINGTON, Friday, Nov. 18 - House Republican leaders were dealt a rare defeat Thursday as Democrats and 22 Republicans teamed up to kill a major health and education spending measure. — The 224-to-209 rejection of the $142.5 billion …
Discussion:
Eschaton
Matt Lagrone / Lag in Iraq:
A Wheelchair for Kevin — I'm sure you all recall that we have a friend here who happens to be an Iraqi translator that goes by the alias "Kevin." Kevin was nearly killed in a recent VBIED attack and has been maimed for life. I briefly mentioned him yesterday under "They Say Blogging is Contagious."
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin
Matthew Franck / Bench Memos on National Review Online:
Views, Personal and Constitutional — Like Gerry Bradley, I thought Ramesh's piece this morning was (as usual) a fine analysis of where we now stand in the Alito nomination story. Let me add a few more thoughts on this business of Judge Alito's "personal" views on abortion and Roe v. Wade.
