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 …
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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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.
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
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?"
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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 …
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, Ace of Spades HQ, Dr. Sanity, Betsy's Page, AMERICAN FUTURE and Gateway Pundit
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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.
Daniela Deane / Washington Post:
White House Denounces Robertson's Remarks on Sharon — Television Evangelist Said Prime Minister's Illness Was Deserved — The White House today criticized television evangelist Pat Robertson's remarks that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's severe illness was deserved, calling the comments "wholly inappropriate and offensive."
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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 …
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BBC:
My Lai massacre hero dies at 62 — Hugh Thompson Jnr, a former US military helicopter pilot who helped stop one of the most infamous massacres of the Vietnam War has died, aged 62. — Mr Thompson and his crew came upon US troops killing civilians at the village of My Lai on 16 March 1968.
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Associated Press:
Poll: Democrats favored to control Congress — Following Abramoff scandal, public uneasy with Republican Party, AP finds — WASHINGTON - In an ominous election-year sign for Republicans, Americans are leaning sharply toward giving Democrats control of Congress, an AP-Ipsos poll finds.
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.
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 …
BBC:
Khaddam calls for Syrian revolt — Former Syrian Vice-President Abdul Halim Khaddam says he wants to see President Bashar al-Assad ousted through a popular uprising. — Mr Khaddam told the BBC that Syrians were frustrated with the current regime and should be mobilised by the opposition groups in the country.
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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 …
Discussion:
King of Zembla
