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Los Angeles Times:
U.S. Starts Laying Groundwork for Significant Troop Pullout From Iraq — WASHINGTON — Even as debate over the Iraq war continues to rage, signs are emerging of a convergence of opinion on how the Bush administration might begin to exit the conflict. — In a departure from previous statements …
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James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:
Why Iraq Has No Army — The Bush administration doesn't take the problem seriously—and it never has — W hen Saddam Hussein fell, the Iraqi people gained freedom. What they didn't get was public order. Looting began immediately, and by the time it abated, signs of an insurgency had appeared.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:Bush Administration Reportedly Plans Major Iraq Withdrawals In 2006
Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Biden, Democrats Ask The Wrong Question — Senator Joe Biden writes an op-ed for today's Washington Post that gets the entire war on terror fundamentally wrong — and demonstrates why the Democrats have entirely failed to provide any leadership on Iraq and the wider war.
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Joseph R. Biden Jr / Washington Post:
Time for An Iraq Timetable — The question most Americans want answered about Iraq is this: When will our troops come home? — We already know the likely answer. In 2006, they will begin to leave in large numbers. By the end of the year, we will have redeployed about 50,000.
Discussion:
Middle Earth Journal
Kate Zernike / New York Times:
Even Supporters Doubt President as Issues Pile Up — COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 22 - Leesa Martin never considered President Bush a great leader, but she voted for him a year ago because she admired how he handled the terrorist attacks of 2001. — Then came the past summer …
Discussion:
Rantingprofs, The American Street, War and Piece, Bark Bark Woof Woof, NewsBusters.org and Dohiyi Mir
Kathy / Liberty Street:
The Bush Administration's Use of Torture Means Padilla Cannot Be Prosecuted on Original Charges — The U.S. Justice Department has decided not to charge Jose Padilla with trying to build a "dirty bomb" or with having ties to Al Qaeda — both of which were supposedly why he was arrested in the first place …
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Tom Regan / Christian Science Monitor:Report: US didn't want Al Qaeda members to testify in Padilla case
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The Heretik, TalkLeft, Once Upon a Time, Financial Times, Balloon Juice and the human province
Jamie Wilson / Guardian:Torture claims 'forced US to cut terror charges'
Discussion:
Once Upon a Time
wftv.com:
Shopper Fights With Security Guards At Orlando Wal-Mart — WEIRD PHOTOS: News Of The Strange Slideshow — ORLANDO, Fla. — Security guards wrestled a man to the ground and handcuffed him, this morning at an Orlando Wal-Mart. — Eyewitnesses told Channel Nine that the man cut in line to get laptop computers that were on sale.
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Charles Krauthammer / Weekly Standard:
The Truth about Torture — DURING THE LAST FEW WEEKS in Washington the pieties about torture have lain so thick in the air that it has been impossible to have a reasoned discussion. The McCain amendment that would ban "cruel, inhuman, or degrading" treatment of any prisoner by any agent …
Will Knight / newscientist.com:
Holographic-memory discs may put DVDs to shame — A computer disc about the size of a DVD that can hold 60 times more data is set to go on sale in 2006. The disc stores information through the interference of light - a technique known as holographic memory.
Austin Bay Blog:
UPDATED: Will Iraqi realists win? Will American realists win? — Fascinating questions. AINA (an Assyrian Christian website) publishes an essay by Saudi journalist Mshari Al-Zaydi opinion page editor of Asharq Al-Awsat) which discusses the Iraqi context, with an eye on the trend toward realism Al-Zaydi …
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Angela K. Brown / Associated Press:
Sheehan Back in Texas for War Protest — The mother of a fallen soldier who led a vigil against the war in Iraq outside President Bush's ranch returned to Texas, saying she is "heartbroken" that the troops are not home. — When Cindy Sheehan arrived at the Waco airport Thursday …
Washington Post:
Lawmakers Under Scrutiny in Probe of Lobbyist — Ney and DeLay Among the Members of Congress Said to Be a Focus of Abramoff Investigation — The Justice Department's wide-ranging investigation of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff has entered a highly active phase as prosecutors are beginning …
Discussion:
firedoglake, MyDD, The Next Hurrah, The Stakeholder, Obsidian Wings, Off the Kuff, The Washington Monthly, The All Spin Zone and TalkLeft
Charles Moore / Telegraph:
How did we forget that Israel's story is the story of the West? — Sometimes Private Eye runs a spoof "Apology - printed in all newspapers", which says something like: "We used to say that X was a disgusting, brutal pig, unworthy to hold public office. We now recognise that X is a living saint."
Discussion:
Power Line
Jason Szep / Reuters:
Boston "holiday tree" stirs controversy — BOSTON (Reuters) - Boston set off a furor this week when it officially renamed a giant tree erected in a city park a "holiday tree" instead of a "Christmas tree." — The move drew an angry response from Christian conservatives …
Clare Dyer / Guardian:
Call for inquiry after rape case collapses over 'drunken consent' — The lord chancellor and the director of public prosecutions are to be asked to look into a rape case which collapsed yesterday after the alleged victim told the jury she was unconscious from too much drink and could not remember what happened.
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