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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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Crescat Sententia, Say Anything, Flopping Aces, Blogs for Bush, New York Times and Outside The Beltway
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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:
New York Times:
Younger Clerics Showing Power in Iraq's Unrest — BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 25 — American officials have been repeatedly stunned and frequently thwarted in the past three years by the extraordinary power of Muslim clerics over Iraqi society. But in the sectarian violence of the past few days …
Discussion:
Daily Kos
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.
Michelle Malkin:
RICIN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS (UPDATE: MAYBE NOT) — ***ABC reporting tonight that more tests are needed...*** — Yeah, it's weird. — Reuters: … The powder was packed in a roll of quarters, opened by a student doing her laundry. — Chronology of events in the US and elsewhere involving ricin.
Discussion:
A Blog For All
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Gateway Pundit:
Another Big 12 Incident... Ricin Found at University of Texas! — Ricin found at the University of Texas! — CBS 42 Austin KEYE News carried the story this morning, — VIDEO HERE — The poison was packed in with a roll of quarters!! — If ricin was packed into a roll of quarters unknowingly,...
Liz Austin / Associated Press:More Tests Needed in Texas Ricin Scare
Discussion:
The Dread Pundit Bluto
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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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.
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Alexandra von Maltzan / All Things Beautiful:
In The Line Of Fire — Many of us have bitterly complained about the American MSM's lack of courage to stand up for what in pretty much any other circumstance it would have vociferously defended: Its freedom of expression. — The west is the source of the liberating ideas of individual liberty …
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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Charles R. Babcock / Washington Post:
Contractor Pleads Guilty to Corruption — Probe Extends Beyond Bribes to Congressman — Washington defense contractor Mitchell J. Wade admitted yesterday in federal court that he attempted to illegally influence Defense Department contracting officials and tried to curry favor with two House members …
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New York Times:
An Afghan Prison Expands, Filling Guantánamo's Role — While an international debate rages over the future of the American detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the military has quietly expanded another, less-visible prison in Afghanistan, where it now holds some 500 terror suspects …
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 …
Discussion:
Power Line, Happy Furry Puppy Story …, NewDonkey.com, Blogs for Bush, Daily Kos and Bring it On!
Toni Locy / Associated Press:
Update 4: Identity of Official to Be Kept From Libby — Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, charged with perjury in the CIA leak case, cannot be told the identity of another government official who is said to have divulged a CIA operative's identity to reporters, a federal judge ruled Friday.
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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.
Catherine Seipp / Los Angeles Times:
The fascists of free speech — A FRIEND OF MINE took his young daughter to visit the famous City Lights bookstore in San Francisco, explaining to her that the place is important because years ago it sold books no other store would — even, perhaps especially, books whose ideas many people found offensive.
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.
Jim Henley / Unqualified Offerings:
That's Another — Outraged Moderate got hold of Steven Cambone's handwritten notes of his meeting with Donald Rumsfeld from the afternoon of September 11, 2001. The notes confirm CBS News' report of September 4, 2002 that, at that meeting, Rumsfeld was already thinking of using the atrocities as an excuse to go to war with Iraq.
