Top Items:
Thom Shanker / New York Times:
Young Officers Leaving Army at a High Rate — WASHINGTON, April 9 — Young Army officers, including growing numbers of captains who leave as soon as their initial commitment is fulfilled, are bailing out of active-duty service at rates that have alarmed senior officers.
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USA Today:
Army surpassing year's retention goal by 15% — WASHINGTON — Two of every three eligible soldiers continue to re-enlist, putting the Army, which has endured most of the fighting in Iraq, ahead of its annual goal. — The Army was 15% ahead of its re-enlistment goal of 34,668 …
Thomas E. Ricks / Washington Post:
Military Plays Up Role of Zarqawi — Jordanian Painted As Foreign Threat To Iraq's Stability — The U.S. military is conducting a propaganda campaign to magnify the role of the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, according to internal military documents and officers familiar with the program.
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Lieut. General Greg Newbold / Time:
Why Iraq Was a Mistake — A military insider sounds off against the war and the "zealots" who pushed it — Two senior military officers are known to have challenged Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the planning of the Iraq war. Army General Eric Shinseki publicly dissented and found himself marginalized.
Thom Shanker / New York Times:
Third Retired General Wants Rumsfeld Out — WASHINGTON, April 9 — The three-star Marine Corps general who was the military's top operations officer before the invasion of Iraq expressed regret, in an essay published Sunday, that he did not more energetically question those who had ordered the nation to war.
Discussion:
Brilliant at Breakfast, Midtopia, World O'Crap, The Carpetbagger Report and Air America Radio
New York Times:
Bush Ordered Declassification, Official Says — WASHINGTON, April 9 — A senior administration official confirmed for the first time on Sunday that President Bush had ordered the declassification of parts of a prewar intelligence report on Iraq in an effort to rebut critics who said the administration …
Discussion:
TPM Muckraker, protein wisdom, Unclaimed Territory, AMERICAblog, Firedoglake, The Carpetbagger Report, SEIXON, Media Blog on National …, TalkLeft, JustOneMinute, Associated Press, State of the Day, Think Progress, Bark Bark Woof Woof, The Washington Monthly, Wonkette and skippy the bush kangaroo
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Jason Leopold / truthout.org:
Bush and Cheney Discussed Plame Prior to Leak — In early June 2003, Vice President Dick Cheney met with President Bush and told him that CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson was the wife of Iraq war critic Joseph Wilson and that she was responsible for sending him on a fact-finding mission …
BBC:
France to replace youth job law — French President Jacques Chirac has announced that the new youth employment law that sparked weeks of sometimes violent protests will be scrapped. — He said it would be replaced by other measures to tackle youth unemployment.
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MSNBC:
Polls: Berlusconi trailing challenger in Italy vote — Conservative premier is seeking third term; leftist Prodi is ex-ECU president — ROME - Center-left leader Romano Prodi looks set to beat Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Italy's general election, winning a majority in both houses of parliament …
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Washington Post:
Christian Coalition Shrinks as Debt Grows — In an era when conservative Christians enjoy access and influence throughout the federal government, the organization that fueled their rise has fallen on hard times. — The once-mighty Christian Coalition, founded 17 years ago by the Rev. Pat Robertson …
Discussion:
State of the Day, The Green Knight, Bring it On!, Pam's House Blend and HUMAN EVENTS ONLINE
Richard Morin / Washington Post:
Bush's Job Approval Rating Continues to Swoon — Forty-Seven Percent of Americans 'Strongly' Disapprove of Handling of the Presidency — Political reversals at home and continued bad news from Iraq have dragged President Bush's standing with the public to a new low and boosted Democratic chances …
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Neil Munro / nationaljournal.com:
Real Or Fake? … Thanks to digital technology, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are the most photographed in history. Photographers with digital cameras have provided, almost instantaneously, an enormous flood of accurate, dramatic, and even shocking images to people around the world.
Gretchen Morgenson / New York Times:
Outside Advice on Boss's Pay May Not Be So Independent — For Ivan G. Seidenberg, chief executive of Verizon Communications, 2005 was a very good year. As head of the telecommunications giant, Mr. Seidenberg received $19.4 million in salary, bonus, restricted stock and other compensation, 48 percent more than in the previous year.
Washington Post:
Organizers Expect Crush for Immigrant Rights Rally — Up to 180,000 Protesters May Converge on Mall — In churches, shops and sidewalks across the Washington region yesterday, thousands of people bustled in preparation for a rally that immigration advocates say could be a pivotal moment …
Stephanie Simon / Los Angeles Times:
Christians Sue for Right Not to Tolerate Policies — Many codes intended to protect gays from harassment are illegal, conservatives argue. — ATLANTA — Ruth Malhotra went to court last month for the right to be intolerant. — Malhotra says her Christian faith compels her to speak out against homosexuality.
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
For McCain and the Press, the End of the Affair? — John McCain was expecting journalists to start slapping him around, and he hasn't been disappointed. — As he gears up for a likely presidential campaign, the Arizona senator knows that reporters and columnists — whom he jokingly described last year as …
Hassan M. Fattah / New York Times:
Democracy in the Arab World, a U.S. Goal, Falters — DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, April 9 — Steps toward democracy in the Arab world, a crucial American goal that just months ago was cause for optimism — with elections held in Iraq, Egypt and the Palestinian areas — are slowing …