Top Items:
Michael Moss / New York Times:
Extra Armor Could Have Saved Many Lives, Study Shows — A secret Pentagon study has found that at least 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to their upper body could have survived if they had extra body armor. That armor has been available since 2003 …
Discussion:
Defense Tech, NewsHog, Daily Kos, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Brilliant at Breakfast, TalkLeft, Pam's House Blend and Factesque
Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:
Saddam's Terror Training Camps — THE FORMER IRAQI REGIME OF Saddam Hussein trained thousands of radical Islamic terrorists from the region at camps in Iraq over the four years immediately preceding the U.S. invasion, according to documents and photographs recovered by the U.S. military in postwar Iraq.
Discussion:
Right Wing Nut House, Ed Driscoll.com, Dr. Sanity, Ace of Spades HQ, Betsy's Page, AMERICAN FUTURE and Gateway Pundit
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New York Times:
Americans Said to Meet Rebels, Exploiting Rift — BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 6 - American officials are talking with local Iraqi insurgent leaders to exploit a rift that has opened between homegrown insurgents and radical groups like Al Qaeda, and to draw the local leaders into the political process …
Discussion:
Informed Comment
Timothy J. Burger / Time:
Disgraced Congressman 'Wore a Wire' — Sources tell TIME that Duke Cunningham wore a wire after agreeing to cooperate with a graft probe — Washington's power players have always bragged about being well-wired, but for disgraced former congressman Duke Cunningham, "wired" wasn't just a figure of speech.
New York Times:
Report Questions Legal Basis for Bush's Spying Program — WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 - President Bush's rationale for authorizing eavesdropping on American citizens without warrants rests on questionable legal ground and "may represent an exercise of presidential power at its lowest ebb," …
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Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Report Rebuts Bush on Spying — A report by Congress's research arm concluded yesterday that the administration's justification for the warrantless eavesdropping authorized by President Bush conflicts with existing law and hinges on weak legal arguments. — The Congressional Research …
Discussion:
The Washington Monthly
New York Times:
Basis for Spying in U.S. Is Doubted — WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 - President Bush's rationale for eavesdropping on Americans without warrants rests on questionable legal ground, and Congress does not appear to have given him the authority to order the surveillance, said a Congressional analysis released Friday.
Discussion:
The Mahablog
James Taranto / Opinion Journal:
Best of the Web — Nothing to Fear but Victory Itself — Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, who became a media darling in November by calling for immediate withdrawal from Iraq (though he voted against his own proposal when Republicans brought it to the House floor), elaborated on his views last night …
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Greyhawk / Mudville Gazette:
MURTHA VS THE ARMY — The Army has been meeting it's recruiting goals for several months. This must be deeply disturbing to Congressman John Murtha - he's now urging Americans to avoid military service: … Murtha's comments beg the question "But if you had it to do over again, would you enlist for Vietnam?"
Brian Montopoli / News Blog:
Robertson Out Of The Club? — One of the top stories on CBSNews.com today concerns Pat Robertson's comments about Ariel Sharon. Robertson suggested Friday "that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for 'dividing God's land,'" as the story puts it.
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Glenn Greenwald / Hullabaloo:
Hanging the Messenger — Atrios asked this question yesterday: … I'm not sure exactly what those commentators would say (although I'm sure it would be appropriately balanced and would give due deference to the view that Bush had good arguments for such spying and did so only with the best …
Discussion:
THE ASTUTE BLOGGER, Sadly, No!, Unclaimed Territory, Heard Here, AMERICAN FUTURE and The American Thinker
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Michelle Malkin:THE CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR "SPYING" BROUHAHA
Discussion:
Unclaimed Territory, The Hotline's Blogometer, QandO, Elephants in Academia, Media Blog on National …, Ace of Spades HQ, Captain's Quarters, Macsmind, RIGHTWINGSPARKLE, Decision '08, The Indepundit, NewsBusters.org, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Political Pit Bull, The American Thinker, Balloon Juice and The Truth Laid Bear
Hotline On Call:
BREAKING NEWS: HOUSE GOPERS CALL FOR ELECTIONS — The Hotline has learned from three House sources that at least two-dozen House GOPers spanning the ideological spectrum have agreed to sign a letter to House Conference Chair Deborah Pryce (R-OH) requesting new leadership elections in an effort …
Reuters:
Bremer says U.S. did not expect insurgency in Iraq — WASHINGTON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Paul Bremer, who led the U.S. civilian occupation authority in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, has admitted the United States did not anticipate the insurgency in the country, NBC Television said on Friday.
Firouz Sedarat / Reuters:
Zawahri says US defeated in Iraq: Jazeera TV — DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri said in a video aired on Friday that President George W. Bush's plans to withdraw troops from Iraq meant Washington had been defeated by the Muslims.
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Brock N. Meeks / MSNBC:
Homeland Security opening private mail — Retired professor confused, angered when letter from abroad is opened — WASHINGTON - — Brock N. Meeks — In the 50 years that Grant Goodman has known and corresponded with a colleague in the Philippines he never had any reason to suspect …
