Top Items:
Qassim Abdul-Zahra / Associated Press:
Largest Iraq Air Assault Since '03 Begins — BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — U.S. forces, joined by Iraqi troops, on Thursday launched the largest airborne assault since the U.S.-led invasion, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital, the military said. — The military said the operation …
Discussion:
NewsHog, Democrat Taylor Marsh …, The Moderate Voice, Attytood, Left I on the News and State of the Day
RELATED ITEMS:
CNN:
U.S. launches largest Iraqi air assault since invasion — Body count rises in Baghdad — BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — U.S. and Iraqi forces on Thursday launched the largest air assault operation since the invasion of Iraq nearly three years ago, the U.S. military said.
Bill Roggio / The Fourth Rail:
Operation Swarmer Near Samarra — A joint U.S. & Iraq force launches large air assault operation; Iraqi military uniforms discovered — North-central Iraq has become a main focus in the fight against the insurgency. In what is described as the "largest air assault operation since Operation Iraqi Freedom …
Edward Wong / New York Times:
U.S. Begins Big Assault in Iraq; New Parliament Convenes — BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 16 — The American military announced today that it had begun its largest air assault since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, while Iraqi legislators convened the long-awaited first session of the new Parliament in the capital …
Hullabaloo:
Air War — We got ourselves an air war. — Hersh told us why a few months ago:
Air War — We got ourselves an air war. — Hersh told us why a few months ago:
Discussion:
MSNBC, firedoglake, Comments From Left Field, The American Street and Democrat Taylor Marsh …
Peter Baker / Washington Post:
Bush Restates Terror Strategy — 2002 Doctrine of Preemptive War Reaffirmed — President Bush issued a new national security strategy today reaffirming his doctrine of preemptive war against terrorists and hostile states with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, despite the troubled U.S. experience in Iraq.
RELATED ITEMS:
Ramesh Ponnuru / The Corner on National Review Online:
WHAT DID WE KNOW AND WHEN DID WE KNOW IT? — Peggy Noonan asks whether conservatives should have known in 2000 that Bush would be a big spender—whether, that is, spending was always integral to compassionate conservatism. My answer to this question has been a qualified yes.
RELATED ITEMS:
Brad DeLong / Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal: Peggy Noonan Realizes She Has Conned Herself—and Says That She …
Peggy Noonan / Opinion Journal:
Hey, Big Spender
Hey, Big Spender
Discussion:
Power Line, Below The Beltway, Angry Bear, TAPPED, BrothersJudd Blog, QandO and Vox Popoli
David A. Lieb / kansascity.com:
House rejects spending for birth control — JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - An attempt to resume state spending on birth control got shot down Wednesday by House members who argued it would have amounted to an endorsement of promiscuous lifestyles. — Missouri stopped providing money for family planning …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns and Money, Obsidian Wings, firedoglake, Daily Kos, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Booman Tribune, expostulation, BlondeSense and Pandagon
RELATED ITEMS:
Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
First poll - Americans support Censure Resolution — This is such huge news that I have to put it in its own post even though I just added it as an update to the post below. The Censure Resolution — which is a great political boon to Republicans, massive self-destruction by Democrats …
RELATED ITEMS:
Bluto / The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta:
A Familiar Face — The Pentagon has just released to the public documents captured in Operation Iraqi Freedom. They can be accessed here in Adobe Acrobat format. — This one's interesting; the synopsis describes it this way: … The document hasn't been translated into English …
courant.com:
Lieberman Takes Issue With Lamont's Tone — U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman took issue Thursday with the tone of his Democratic opponent's campaign. — Ned Lamont formally announced Monday that he will oppose Lieberman for the party's nomination, becoming Lieberman's first Democratic challenger since …
Shmuel Rosner / Haaretz:
Saddam Hussein maintained pretense of chemical arms to prevent Israeli attack — WASHINGTON - Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein pretended to have chemical weapons because, among other reasons, he feared that Israel might attack if it discovered he did not.
Hindrocket / Power Line:
IN SADDAM'S ARCHIVES — As Scott noted below, the government has finally begun making available a few of the many thousands of documents captured from Iraqi intelligence during and after the 2003 war. Only a handful are now available on the Foreign Military Studies Office web site …
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, Weekly Standard, The Dread Pundit Bluto and The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta
NY Daily News:
Clooney & Huffington's blog of war — George Clooney is spitting mad at Arianna Huffington - and the blogosphere is wobbling on its axis. — "She said some things that I won't share, but she did tell me that this could be bad for me - bad for my career. Well, screw you!" …
Associated Press:
Scalia Rails Against the 'Judge-Moralist' — BOSTON — Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia railed against the era of the "judge-moralist," saying judges are no better qualified than "Joe Sixpack" to decide moral questions such as abortion and gay marriage.
Jonathan Gurwitz / Opinion Journal:
Once More Unto the Breach — The Angry Left takes on a moderate Democrat—and loses. — SAN ANTONIO—More than one political venture has met an unseemly end in the hardscrabble landscape of South Texas. It was here, in 1948, that Box 13 gave Lyndon Johnson a dubious 87-vote primary victory …
Ronald Brownstein / Los Angeles Times:
Senate Bill Would Override State Health Coverage Rules — GOP backers see the legislation as a way for insurers to offer more affordable plans. Critics say it would undermine treatment protections. — WASHINGTON — The battle over healthcare moved to a new front Wednesday …
Thomas Heath / Washington Post:
Companies Fear Spread of March Madness — Web-Broadcast Games Seen as Threat to Productivity, Computer Systems — The NCAA men's basketball tournament begins today, and for the first time, every game of the 19-day ritual known as March Madness will be available live — and free — over the Internet.