Top Items:
Charles Babington / Washington Post:
House Rejects Iraq Pullout After GOP Forces a Vote — Differences over policy on the Iraq war ignited an explosion of angry words and personal insults on the House floor yesterday when the chamber's newest member suggested that a decorated war veteran was a coward for calling for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.
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Liz Sidoti / Associated Press:
Lawmakers Reject Immediate Iraq Withdrawal — The House on Friday overwhelmingly rejected calls for an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq, a vote engineered by the Republicans that was intended to fail. Democrats derided the vote as a political stunt. — "Our troops have become the enemy.
CNN:
Defense official: Rumsfeld given Iraq withdrawal plan — Plan calls for troops to begin pulling out after December elections — WASHINGTON (CNN) — The top U.S. commander in Iraq has submitted a plan to the Pentagon for withdrawing troops in Iraq, according to a senior defense official.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, The Strata-Sphere, Open Source Poor Man, PoliPundit.com, The Moderate Voice and Simianbrain
Eric Schmitt / New York Times:
Uproar in House as Parties Clash on Iraq Pullout — WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 - Republicans and Democrats shouted, howled and slung insults on the House floor on Friday as a debate over whether to withdraw American troops from Iraq descended into a fury over President Bush's handling of the war …
Discussion:
Power Line, Sister Toldjah, California Conservative, firedoglake, The Corner on National … and Taegan Goddard's …
Daily Kos:
Ugly GOP Smear Stunt Fails Its Objective — The latest incarnation of the New McCarthyism, the ugly Duncan Hunter stunt - the so-called "Murtha" resolution - blew up in their face. — The NYTimes reported that: … The vote on the rule to bring the Fake Hunter Resolution to the floor …
Money Politic$ / Kudlow's Money Politic$:Unserious — Any preannounced timetable for troop withdrawal …
Discussion:
Instapundit.com
Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:Democrats Don't Bite GOP-Baited Hook As Iraq Withdrawal Resolution Fails
Kevin Aylward / Wizbang:WITH ALL DUE RESPECT... Democrats - Sen. Harry Reid in particular …
Discussion:
Hugh Hewitt
Scott Shields / MyDD:The Murtha Resolution — The big talk floating around right now …
Discussion:
Seeing the Forest
BBC:
Index ranks Middle East freedom — There is a wide range of democratisation across the Middle East, a survey by a leading research and advisory firm has found. — The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) ranked 20 countries on 15 indicators of political and civil liberty.
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ABCNEWS:
CIA's Harsh Interrogation Techniques Described — Sources Say Agency's Tactics Lead to Questionable Confessions, Sometimes to Death — Nov. 18, 2005 — Harsh interrogation techniques authorized by top officials of the CIA have led to questionable confessions and the death of a detainee since …
Greyhawk / Mudville Gazette:
A BRIEF HISTORY OF A LONG WAR (IRAQ, 1990-2003) — The 2003 invasion of Iraq is likely to be a contested topic in the American discussion for many years to come. As with any fractious issue, opinions will vary and even individual opinions will shift and change with time.
James Taranto / Opinion Journal:
Best of the Web … Still Flaky — Even the New York Sun is hyping the news that Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, supposedly a hawkish moderate Democrat, has joined the cut-and-run caucus. "Bush in 'Nosedive' as Murtha Urges Retreat" reads today's Sun headline (though the lead sentence says …
harrisinteractive.com:
President Bush's Job Rating Falls Again, to 34 Percent Positive — Cabinet members, congressional leaders and both parties in Congress also down five or more points since August — The latest Harris Poll finds that President Bush's positive job rating has continued to fall, touching another new low for his presidency at 34 percent.
David Nason / The Australian:
US author lauds suicide bombers — ONE of the greatest living US writers has praised terrorists as "very brave people" and used drug culture slang to describe the "amazing high" suicide bombers must feel before blowing themselves up. — Kurt Vonnegut, author of the 1969 anti-war classic Slaughterhouse Five …
Anne E. Kornblut / New York Times:
DeLay Ex-Aide to Plead Guilty in Lobby Case — WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 - Michael Scanlon, a former top official for Representative Tom DeLay and onetime partner of the lobbyist Jack Abramoff, has agreed to plead guilty in a deal with federal prosecutors, according to his lawyer.
Norman Johnson / Guardian:
Marmite jars and the blogging revolution — No offence to G2 and all the lovely girls who work so hard to keep it brimming with froth, but as an unrepentant, comment/analysis kind of guy, the lite-weight end of this paper has never appealed much to me. OK, I'm an extreme case …
