Top Items:
The Australian:
Sunnis and Sadr's Shiites make peace — THE movement of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, alleged to have played a role in the anti-Sunni violence over the last few days, publicly made peace with political and religious Sunni leaders overnight. — Four sheikhs from the Sadr movement made a …
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New York Times:
Sectarian Bloodshed Reveals Strength of Iraq Militias — BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 24 — The sectarian violence that has shaken Iraq this week has demonstrated the power that the many militias here have to draw the country into a full-scale civil war, and how difficult it would be for the state to stop it, Iraqi and American officials say.
Omar / IRAQ THE MODEL:
Curfew extended in Baghdad and three other provinces. — The defense minister in a press conference currently on Iraqi TV gave statistics to correct what he described as "exaggerated media reports" about civilian casualties and attacks on mosques since the attack on the Samarra shrine:
Steven R. Weisman / New York Times:
What Civil War Could Look Like — TWO days of mob violence last week after the bombing of a revered Shiite shrine did not simply aggravate Iraq's sectarian hatreds. Like a near-death experience, the carnage seems to have shocked Sunni and Shiite leaders into a new realization of what civil war would cost, and new efforts to avoid it.
CNN:
Pentagon: Iraqi troops downgraded — No Iraqi battalion capable of fighting without U.S. support — WASHINGTON (CNN) — The only Iraqi battalion capable of fighting without U.S. support has been downgraded to a level requiring them to fight with American troops backing them up, the Pentagon said Friday.
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Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:
Former Aide to Cheney Gains Access to His Notes — WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 — I. Lewis Libby Jr., the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney who is charged with lying to investigators about his role in the disclosure of the identity of a C.I.A. officer, won the right Friday to review …
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Jason Leopold / truthout.org:
White House 'Discovers' 250 Emails Related to Plame Leak — The White House turned over last week 250 pages of emails from Vice President Dick Cheney's office. Senior aides had sent the emails in the spring of 2003 related to the leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson …
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, Shakespeare's Sister, The Anonymous Liberal, Bring it On!, Pam's House Blend and TalkLeft
White House:
President Addresses American Legion, Discusses Global War on Terror — Washington, D.C. — In Focus: Veterans — In Focus: National Security — THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Please be seated. (Applause.) Thanks for the warm welcome. Mr. Commander, thank you for letting me come …
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Ted Bridis / Associated Press:
Homeland Security Objected to Ports Deal — WASHINGTON - The Homeland Security Department objected at first to a United Arab Emirates company's taking over significant operations at six U.S. ports. It was the lone protest among members of the government committee that eventually approved the deal without dissent.
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Walter Pincus / Washington Post:U.S. Intelligence Agencies Backed Dubai Port Deal
Discussion:
Thoughts from Kansas
Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
Prepare the noose for Bill Buckley, the Cowardly Traitor — (updated below) — An important and long-overlooked point about the depravity, corruption and truly un-American impulses which define so many Bush followers is revealed by a comparison of these two statements: — Howard Dean, December 5, 2005
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Glenn Harlan Reynolds / Wall Street Journal:
Early Warning System — Technology is empowering ordinary people in all sorts of ways. The blogosphere has demonstrated the ability to process information more quickly and thoroughly than other media in the past. The debate over the acquisition of American port operations contracts …
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Hasan Jamali / Associated Press:
Al-Qaida Claims Attack on Saudi Refinery — ABQAIQ, Saudi Arabia - Suicide bombers carried out a bold attack on the world's largest oil processing facility Friday but were stopped from breaking in by guards who fired on their cars, exploding both vehicles and killing the attackers.
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Ralph Blumenthal / New York Times:
1 Cafe, 1 Gas Station, 2 Roads: America's Emptiest County — MENTONE, Tex. — How empty is Loving County? — So empty that when Sheriff Billy Burt Hopper ran for office in 2004, he and his opponent attended each other's campaign barbecues. So empty that it cannot sustain two political parties …
Discussion:
Brendan Nyhan
Alex Tabarrok / Marginal Revolution:
In defense of polygamy — I'm not convinced by Tyler's arguments against polygamy. Let's clear away some misconceptions. — First, it's important to note that polygamy (specifically polygny) not monogamy is the norm in human society - some 75% of the known human societies have approved of polygny.
New York Times:
Silenced by Islamist Rage — With every new riot over the Danish cartoons, it becomes clearer that the protests are no longer about the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, but about the demagoguery of Islamic extremists. The demonstrators are undeniably outraged by what they perceive as blasphemy.
MSNBC:
Slacker Friday — Think Again is here. It's called "Second, Third and Fourth Thoughts about the President." — Not a joke: Later today, the Pentagon expects to release its quarterly Iraq Progress Report entitled "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq."
Discussion:
The Big Picture
George F. Will / New York Times:
The Conservative Imagination — IN 1950, in "The Liberal Imagination," Lionel Trilling noted "the plain fact" that there were then no conservative ideas "in general circulation." And, indeed, in 1955, when William F. Buckley started National Review, conservatism was a small church militant in an unconverted world.
Goel Pinto / Haaretz:
Chirac, de Villepin attend memorial ceremony for slain Jewish youth — PARIS - Cries of "vive la France" and "la justice" accompanied President Jacques Chirac, his wife Bernadette and Premier Dominique de Villepin last night as they left the memorial evening held here yesterday for Ilan Halimi.
