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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.
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:
Sister Toldjah, California Conservative, Power Line, firedoglake, The Corner on National … and Taegan Goddard's …
Maura Reynolds / Los Angeles Times:
House Erupts in War Debate — Lawmakers launch personal attacks as Republicans force a vote on whether to pull out of Iraq immediately. The measure is rejected. — WASHINGTON — House Republicans forced a vote Friday over a proposal to begin the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq …
Juan / Informed Comment:
Straw Man Resolution in Congress: — Joking around with the Lives of the Troops — Brad Blog gives the text of Democratic congressman and retired Marine Colonel John Murtha's resolution on Iraq: … By the way, Murtha's plan resembles in some ways the one I myself had put forward last last August.
Money Politic$ / Kudlow's Money Politic$:Unserious — Any preannounced timetable for troop withdrawal …
Daily Kos:Ugly GOP Smear Stunt Fails Its Objective
Discussion:
No End But Victory, QandO, New York Times, The Next Hurrah, Viking Pundit and THE NEWS BLOG
Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:What Could Be More American Than A Vote?
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bRight & Early
Kevin Aylward / Wizbang:WITH ALL DUE RESPECT... Democrats - Sen. Harry Reid in particular …
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Hugh Hewitt
Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:Democrats Don't Bite GOP-Baited Hook As Iraq Withdrawal Resolution Fails
Kevin Drum / The Washington Monthly:
DECONSTRUCTING WOODWARD....OK, based on a couple of comments from the previous post, here's a possible scenario that explains why Woodward and his source (Mr. X) came forward only after they had listened in on Patrick Fitzgerald's press conference announcing the indictment of Scooter Libby:
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Washington Times:
200,000 protest Amman attacks — AMMAN, Jordan — At least 200,000 persons demonstrated yesterday against the recent bombings of three luxury hotels, while a new online statement attributed to terrorist leader Abu Musab Zarqawi defended the attacks and threatened to cut off the head of Jordan's King Abdullah II.
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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.
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 …
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 …
Online NewsHour:
The argument for withdrawal — REP. JOHN MURTHA: Well, Margaret, as I said in my comments in the news conference, this is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion. From the very start, they said the oil production would pay for any rehabilitation. It would only cost us a few billion dollars …
