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A Good Leak — President Bush declassified some of the intelligence he used to decide on war in Iraq. Is that a scandal? — PRESIDENT BUSH was right to approve the declassification of parts of a National Intelligence Estimate about Iraq three years ago in order to make clear why he had believed …
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A 'Concerted Effort' to Discredit Bush Critic — Prosecutor Describes Cheney, Libby as Key Voices Pitching Iraq-Niger Story — As he drew back the curtain this week on the evidence against Vice President Cheney's former top aide, Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald for the first time described a …

Intelligence Leaked by Aide to Cheney Was in Dispute — WASHINGTON, April 8 — When President Bush authorized Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff to reveal previously classified intelligence to a reporter about Saddam Hussein's efforts to obtain uranium, that information was already …
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TalkLeft, The Reality-Based Community, War and Piece, Booman Tribune, Blue Crab Boulevard and The Left Coaster

With Coverage This Slanted, Bush May As Well Resign
Discussion:
TalkLeft

U.S. Is Studying Military Strike Options on Iran — Any Mix of Tact, Threats Alarms Critics — The Bush administration is studying options for military strikes against Iran as part of a broader strategy of coercive diplomacy to pressure Tehran to abandon its alleged nuclear development program …
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Bush 'is planning nuclear strikes on Iran's secret sites' — The Bush administration is planning to use nuclear weapons against Iran, to prevent it acquiring its own atomic warheads, claims an investigative writer with high-level Pentagon and intelligence contacts.
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The Gun Toting Liberal, The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta, Ace of Spades HQ and BrothersJudd Blog

Hersh: Bush Plans On War With Iran UsingTactical Nukes (UPDATED)


Pro-Life Nation — It was a sunny midafternoon in a shiny new global-economy mall in San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador, and a young woman I was hoping to meet appeared to be getting cold feet. She had agreed to rendezvous with a go-between not far from the Payless shoe store and then come to a nearby hotel to talk to me.
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Outside The Beltway, Lawyers, Guns and Money, The Mahablog, The Sideshow, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Norwegianity
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Abortion Ban Foes Petition for a Choice — Even some conservative South Dakotans sign a bid to hold a vote on the law, which was meant to spark a Supreme Court test of Roe vs. Wade. — STURGIS, S.D. — Volunteers pushing to overturn the nation's most far-reaching abortion ban are surprised …
Discussion:
Eschaton


The rise of the Islamist axis — On Monday, Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported that part of Ukraine's Soviet-era nuclear arsenal may well have found its way to Iran. With the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainians agreed to transfer the Soviet nuclear arsenal that remained in Ukraine after its independence to Russia.
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ThreatsWatch.Org
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Israeli Strikes Kill 8 Militants in Gaza
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USS Neverdock


Condoleezza Rice on Piano — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, center, with her chamber group; from left, Soye Kim, Joshua Klein, Robert Battey and Lawrence Wallace. The group plays as often as every other week. — WASHINGTON — Two weeks ago on Sunday, Condoleezza Rice got up at 4 …
Discussion:
BAGnewsNotes

Slacker Friday — I've got a new Think Again column here. It's called: "Deconstructing the Attack on Jill Carroll." — From the Benton Foundation: … Christianity Today publishes a long, scholarly article on the "incoherence" of Hannah Arendt? I dunno. Someone read this and tell us if we need to pay attention.

'Forgers' of key Iraq war contract named — TWO employees of the Niger embassy in Rome were responsible for the forgery of a notorious set of documents used to help justify the Iraq war, an official investigation has allegedly found. — According to Nato sources, the investigation …

DOES IRAN WANT WAR — April 9, 2006 — THE most dangerous error we could make in our sharpening confronta tion with Iran is to con vince ourselves that its leaders will act rationally. Few wars are rooted in dispassionate analysis. Self-delusion sparks most such catastrophes.
Discussion:
Austin Bay Blog

Hammered — What I Saw at the Republican Revolution — It was my first week as Tom DeLay's communications director in late 1995. And we were already in crisis. — On the House floor, DeLay had gotten into a shoving match with a Wisconsin Democrat named Dave Obey. I had no idea what had happened.


Berlusconi in re-election battle — Italians are voting in general elections, with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi facing a strong challenge from centre-left leader Romano Prodi. — The polls remain open all day on Sunday and close at 1500 (1300 GMT) on Monday.
Discussion:
The Agonist