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Ted Bridis / Associated Press:
Arab Co., White House Had Secret Agreement — WASHINGTON - The Bush administration secretly required a company in the United Arab Emirates to cooperate with future U.S. investigations before approving its takeover of operations at six American ports, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
Discussion:
The Mahablog, Talking Points Memo, PoliBlog, Outside The Beltway, TKS on National Review Online, Shakespeare's Sister, California Conservative, The Left Coaster, Instapundit.com, Daily Kos, Running Scared, outragedmoderates.org, CorrenteWire, Hullabaloo, Iowa Voice, Wizbang, Jihad Watch and The American Mind
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tcsdaily.com:
Good for America — Just last week, the shareholders of P&O, that venerable relic of the British Empire, agreed to sell their company to a group called Dubai Ports World, for $6.8 billion. DP World won a bidding war with another company from a developing country, Temasek Holdings of Singapore.
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Big Problem, Dubai Deal or Not — WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 — In the political collision between the White House and Congress over the $6.8 billion deal that would give a Dubai company management of six American ports, most experts seem to agree on only one major point: The gaping holes in security …
Associated Press:
DeLay says Bush making mistake on port sale — U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay said Wednesday that President Bush is making a big mistake backing a sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports to a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates. — The former Republican majority leader …
Kevin Drum / The Washington Monthly:(MUCH) MORE ON THE DUBAI PORT DEAL....I'm still open to argument …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Off the Kuff, Argghhh!, ed fitzgerald's unfutz, Lawyers, Guns and Money, The Road To Surfdom, August J. Pollak, PoliPundit.com, Iowa Voice, The Reaction, Six Meat Buffet, Bradford Plumer, Think Progress, cfr.org, The Carpetbagger Report, Booman Tribune, Daily Kos, Varifrank, Thomas P.M. Barnett and OxBlog
Kevin Drum / The Washington Monthly:YET MORE ON THE DUBAI PORT FIASCO....Jim Geraghty, who now believes …
Ziad Khalaf / Associated Press:
Mosque Attack Pushes Iraq Toward Civil War — efe7f6f417c0@news.ap.org Insurgents posing as police destroyed the golden dome of one of Iraq's holiest Shiite shrines Wednesday, setting off an unprecedented spasm of sectarian violence. Angry crowds thronged the streets, militiamen attacked Sunni mosques …
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Juan / Informed Comment:
Iran Blames Bush — Sunni Shiite Clashes — Dan Murphy of the Christian Science Monitor has an excellent piece interpreting the significance of the turmoil over the bombing of the Askariyah shrine in Samarra. — Shiites came out in the thousands all over the Shiite south on Wednesday to protest.
Robert F. Worth / New York Times:
Blast at Shiite Shrine Sets Off Sectarian Fury in Iraq — BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 22 — A powerful bomb shattered the golden dome at one of Iraq's most revered Shiite shrines on Wednesday morning, setting off a day of sectarian fury in which mobs formed across Iraq to chant for revenge and attacked dozens of Sunni mosques.
New York Times:
Sectarian Fury Turns Violent in Wake of Iraq Shrine Blast — BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 23 - At least 95 people, some of them prominent Sunni Arab clerics, were killed in revenge in Baghdad and the surrounding areas in the chaotic 24 hours following the bombing Wednesday morning …
Discussion:
Prairie Weather
Patrick Cockburn / Independent:
Destruction of holiest Shia shrine brings Iraq to the brink of civil war — Iraq took a lethal step closer to disintegration and civil war yesterday after a devastating attack on one of the country's holiest sites. The destruction of the golden-domed Shia shrine in Samarra sparked a round …
Monica Davey / New York Times:
Ban on Most Abortions Advances in South Dakota — PIERRE, S.D., Feb. 22 — Setting up South Dakota to become the first state in 14 years to start a direct legal attack on Roe v. Wade, lawmakers voted on Wednesday to outlaw nearly all abortions. — Across the country, abortion rights advocates reacted with outrage and dismay.
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Evelyn Nieves / Washington Post:
S.D. Abortion Bill Takes Aim at 'Roe' — Senate Ban Does Not Except Rape, Incest — South Dakota lawmakers yesterday approved the nation's most far-reaching ban on abortion, setting the stage for new legal challenges that its supporters say they hope lead to an overturning of Roe v. Wade .
Discussion:
State of the Day
Washington Post:
A Failure of the Press — There was a time when the press was the strongest guardian of free expression in this democracy. Stories and celebrations of intrepid and courageous reporters are many within the press corps. Cases such as New York Times v. Sullivan in the 1960s were litigated …
MSNBC:
Documents support Cheney's shooting account — Affidavits obtained by NBC News corroborate vice president's recollection — WASHINGTON - — NBC News has obtained new documents regarding the shooting accident involving Vice President Dick Cheney. — NBC News filed an Open Records Act request …
Discussion:
Capitol Hill Blue, Captain's Quarters, DownWithTyranny!, Say Anything and Democrat Taylor Marsh …
Lorie Byrd / PoliPundit.com:
More Crazy Talk From Hillary — I agree with Iowa Voice that Hillary Clinton has to be crazy to make statements like this: … More fear. Fear, fear, fear. — I wonder why the Republicans have not capitalized on the issue of school vouchers, which are very popular with non-Jesse Jackson-following blacks in America.
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George F. Will / Washington Post:
Smile if (and Only if) You're Conservative — To bemused conservatives, it looks like yet another example of analytic overkill by the intelligentsia — a jobs program for the (mostly liberal) academic boys (and girls) in the social sciences, whose quantitative tools have been brought to bear to prove the obvious.
Peggy Noonan / Opinion Journal:
If Cattle Flew — Look at the airports. Why would terrorists bother with seaports? — We are debating port security. While we're at it, how about airport security? Does anyone really believe that has gotten much better since 19 terrorists hijacked four planes five years ago?
Chris Bowers / MyDD:
The Kill Your Own Base Strategy — Taegen Goddard touched on this briefly over in Breaking Blue, but I'd like to devote a full post to it here, because it really blows my mind. — I have engaged in a decent amount of berating lately toward members of the progressive activist base who …
