Top Items:
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.
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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:
Oh, That Liberal Media, Power Line, The Corner on National …, firedoglake and Sister Toldjah
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.
Discussion:
Don Surber, The Moderate Voice, AMERICAblog, The Next Hurrah, NewsBusters.org and The Democratic Daily Blog
Liz Sidoti / Associated Press:
House GOP Seeks Quick Veto of Iraq Pullout — WASHINGTON (AP) - House Republicans maneuvered for swift rejection Friday of any notion of immediately pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq, sparking a nasty, sometimes personal debate over the war and a Democratic lawmaker's own call for withdrawal.
Hotlineblog / Hotline On Call:
GOP Tries To Call Murtha's "Bluff" — We can now confirm that there will be a "Murtha Vote" later this p.m. Speaker Dennis Hastert's spokesperson Ron Bonjean tells The Hotline that it's a "vote to send a message to our American troops that we believe in their mission of fighting terrorists and we must not retreat and defeat."
Discussion:
The Anonymous Liberal, PrestoPundit, www.AndrewSullivan.com, Instapundit.com, PunditGuy and Argghhh!
Liz Sidoti / Associated Press:
House GOP Seeks Quick Vote on Iraq Pullout — WASHINGTON (AP) - House Republicans, sensing an opportunity for political advantage, maneuvered for a quick vote and swift rejection Friday of a Democratic lawmaker's call for an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq.
New York Times:
Murtha Calls for a 'Change in Direction' — REP. MURTHA: I just spoke to the Democratic Caucus and told them my feelings about the war. And I started out by saying the war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It's a flawed policy wrapped in illusion. The American public is way ahead of the members of Congress.
Scott Shields / MyDD:The Murtha Resolution — The big talk floating around right now …
Discussion:
Seeing the Forest
John Hawkins / Right Wing News:Format Break: Ok Big Mouths, Vote On An Iraq Pull-Out
Discussion:
Power Line
Kit Jarrell / euphoricreality.net:House Repubs Force Vote on Iraq War
Discussion:
Small Town Veteran
Daily Kos:"Murtha vote" coming in next few hours
Discussion:
MyDD, Needlenose, No End But Victory, AMERICAblog, Don't Go Into The Light and Super Fun Power Hour
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen / No End But Victory: We will stay the course. — Our mission in Iraq is clear …
John Cole / Balloon Juice:Just Shut Up and Vote — So Rep. Jack Murtha yesterday …
Discussion:
Right Wing Nut House
Viveca Novak / Time:
Why Woodward's Source Came Clean — The famed Washington Post journalist describes the series of events that lead him and his source to Fitzgerald … As reporters keep scrambling to find out who told Bob Woodward about Joe Wilson's wife, Woodward himself has told TIME about a related mystery …
Discussion:
firedoglake, The Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, Hullabaloo, The Strata-Sphere, The RCP Blog and Wizbang
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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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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.
Discussion:
The Democratic Daily Blog
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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 …
Think Progress:
VIDEO: Schmidt's Shame — Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) today on the House floor, speaking about Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), a decorated former Marine: … Watch in Quicktime — Schmidt was later forced to return to the House floor and have her remarks stricken from the record.
Discussion:
firedoglake, Daily Kos, skippy the bush kangaroo, Talking Points Memo, Jesus' General, Oliver Willis, Hullabaloo, TBogg and Crooks and Liars
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James Bamford / Rolling Stone:
The Man Who Sold the War — Meet John Rendon, Bush's general in the propaganda war — The road to war in Iraq led through many unlikely places. One of them was a chic hotel nestled among the strip bars and brothels that cater to foreigners in the town of Pattaya, on the Gulf of Thailand.
