Top Items:
Associated Press:
Bush unaware of port deal until after approval — White House: President only learned recently of handover to Arab firm … Today show — WASHINGTON - President Bush was unaware of the pending sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports to a state-owned business …
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Opinion Journal:
Ports of Politics — How to sound like a hawk without being one. — Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is the latest Republican to broadcast his "independence" from President Bush on homeland security, yesterday joining Senator Lindsey Graham, Representative Peter King and numerous state politicians …
Michelle Malkin:
NO MORE BUSINESS AS USUAL — Let's take a closer look at a rose-colored Wall Street Journal editorial on the port deal that is garnering favorable reviews from some of my friends on the right. — Sayeth the WSJ: … Contrary to the Journal editorial board's assertion …
New York Times:
Bush Would Veto Any Bill Halting Dubai Port Deal — WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 — President Bush, trying to put down a rapidly escalating rebellion among leaders of his own party, said Tuesday that he would veto any legislation blocking a deal for a state-owned company in Dubai to take over the management …
Discussion:
Think Progress, Sisyphus Shrugged, Daniel W. Drezner, Houston Chronicle, Happy Furry Puppy Story …, Reuters, BBC, MyDD, All Things Beautiful, New York Post, The Carpetbagger Report, TAPPED, Bring it On!, Gina Cobb, Bark Bark Woof Woof, News Hounds, Norwegianity, WTF Is It Now??, Andrew Sullivan and firedoglake
Phil Singer / dscc.org:
Republicans Opposing Dubai Deal Have Long Opposed Efforts To Secure America's Ports — This week, Republican Senators have come out in force against a controversial deal through which a company based in the United Arab Emirates would take over six major American ports.
Kevin Drum / The Washington Monthly:
PORTGATE....So what's up with this Dubai port deal, anyway? I hate to say it, but I can't help but think that Bush may be right about the whole thing. Just for the record: — This isn't a matter of outsourcing a government operation to a private company.
New York Times:
The President and the Ports — If President Bush follows through on his threat, he'll be making a strange choice for his first veto after more than five years in office. After giving a pass to a parade of misbegotten Congressional initiatives and irresponsible budget packages …
Discussion:
Washington Post, JustOneMinute, Unclaimed Territory, Daily Kos, firedoglake, CNN, The Mahablog, Prairie Weather, AMERICAN FUTURE and Alternate Brain
Edward Wong / New York Times:
Blast Destroys Golden Dome of Sacred Shiite Shrine in Samarra — BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 22 - Insurgents dressed as police commandos detonated powerful explosives on Wednesday morning inside one of Shiite Islam's most sacred shrines, destroying most of the building, located in the volatile town of Samarra …
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway
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Ziad Khalaf / Associated Press:
Sunnis Hit After Shiite Shrine Blast — SAMARRA, Iraq - Assailants wearing uniforms detonated two bombs inside one of Iraq's most revered Shiite shrines Wednesday, blowing the top off its landmark golden dome and spawning mass protests and reprisal attacks against dozens of Sunni mosques.
Omar / IRAQ THE MODEL:
Holy Shia shrine bombed in Samarra. — As if we didn't have enough problems already! — The quality of the target and the timing of the attack were chosen in a way that can possibly bring very serious consequences over the country. — The situation in Baghdad is so tense now …
Juan / Informed Comment:
Shiite protests Roil Iraq — Tuesday was an apocalyptic day in Iraq. I am not normally exactly sanguine about the situation there. But the atmospherics are very, very bad, in a way that most Western observers will miss. — The day started out with a protest by ten thousand people …
Monica Davey / New York Times:
Vote Due on South Dakota Bill Banning Nearly All Abortions — PIERRE, S.D., Feb. 21 — Lawmakers here are preparing to vote on a bill that would outlaw nearly all abortions in South Dakota, a measure that could become the most sweeping ban approved by any state in more than a decade, those on both sides of the abortion debate say.
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Associated Press:
Poll: Youths Back N. Korea if Attacked — Nearly half of South Korean youths who will be old enough to vote in the country's next elections say Seoul should side with North Korea if the United States attacks the communist nation, according to a poll released Wednesday.
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Robert Burns / Editor and Publisher:
Rumsfeld Changes His Story on Planting Reports — WASHINGTON Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday that the Pentagon is reviewing its practice of paying to plant stories in the Iraqi news media, withdrawing his earlier claim that it had been stopped.
Discussion:
Big Brass Blog
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New York Times:
Force-Feeding at Guantánamo Is Now Acknowledged — WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 — The military commander responsible for the American detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, confirmed Tuesday that officials there last month turned to more aggressive methods to deter prisoners …
