Top Items:
Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:
C.I.A. Closes Unit Focused on Capture of bin Laden — WASHINGTON, July 3 — The Central Intelligence Agency has closed a unit that for a decade had the mission of hunting Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants, intelligence officials confirmed Monday. — The unit, known as Alec Station …
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consortiumnews.com:
Symbiotic Relationship — The implications of this new evidence are troubling, too, for the American people as they head toward another election in November 2006 that also is viewed as a referendum on Bush's prosecution of the "war on terror." — As we have reported previously at Consortiumnews.com …
New York Times:
Senator's Plan B Creates Quandary for Democrats — Six years ago Joseph I. Lieberman came within a hairbreadth of the vice presidency after the Democratic Party chose him as a moderate face whose support for family values and a stronger military might attract Reagan Democrats and independents.
Discussion:
The Next Hurrah, LamontBlog, The Moderate Voice, A Blog For All, Captain's Quarters and The Influence Peddler
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E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
A Dissident's Holiday — Have you ever noticed a certain hesitant quality to the expressions of patriotism by progressives or left-wingers? — The patriotism of the conservative goes unquestioned. It's assumed that every politician on the right will wear a flag on his lapel …
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John Kerry / The Huffington Post:
How to Love Your Country — This Fourth of July it's right to spend some time thinking about what it means not just to be an American, but to be a patriot — because the concept of patriotism itself is under assault in ways that remind me of a different time in our history.
Discussion:
The Sundries Shack
Examiner:
Christopher Hitchens: This July Fourth, ignore polls on America's image — WASHINGTON - Here's what I want to know, and here's why I want to know it. At what point in history, exactly, did the Pew Center decide that it knew how to measure world opinion? — I ask this because almost every week …
Discussion:
Cold Fury
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Judith / Kesher Talk:
Democracy Whiskey Sexy: a 4th of July playlist — The text of the Declaration of Independence. A fisking of the Declaration of Independence. A fisking of opinion polls, and some good advice, from Christopher Hitchens. — Some loosely-defined Americana from my iTunes library for your pleasure …
Discussion:
Yourish.com
Mike Schneider / Associated Press:
NASA Gives Green Light for Shuttle Launch — CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - NASA officials decided a crack in Discovery's fuel tank insulating foam wasn't enough of a threat to stop the countdown Tuesday to their first Independence Day shuttle launch. The launch is set for 2:38 p.m. EDT.
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Josh White / Washington Post:
Ex-Soldier Charged in Killing of Iraqi Family — Coverup Is Alleged; Four Others Implicated — A former U.S. Army soldier was charged yesterday with the rape and murder of a young Iraqi woman and the slayings of three of her family members in their home south of Baghdad in March, federal prosecutors said.
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BBC:
Al-Qaeda 'bid to infiltrate MI5' — Al-Qaeda sympathisers have been trying to infiltrate the British security service MI5, the BBC has learned. — Whitehall officials confirmed what some had long suspected, says BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner. — But those with al-Qaeda sympathies …
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Haaretz:
IDF troops find bomb-laden car, searching for second near Jenin — By Avi Issacharoff (in Ramallah) and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies — Israel Defense Forces soldiers from the Golani Brigade's elite Egoz anti-guerilla unit tracked down a bomb-laden car in the Jenin refugee camp on Tuesday morning.
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MSNBC:
Dirty wars, dirty bombs — Plus, Slacker Friday letters — I am taking an extra day because I love my country, sooo much. If people really miss me, I'll be on Al Franken's show around 1:30 p.m. ET. — I've got a new Think Again: The Best of Times . here. — We're not yet a police state.
New York Times:
No News Allowed — News has always been a tough nut for Communist dictators. It happens unexpectedly, giving bureaucrats precious little time to prepare the correct ideological explanation; it often undermines whatever propaganda line the state is pushing, and if it happens …
Jerusalem Post:
Switzerland: Israel violating int'l law — GENEVA — Switzerland said Monday that Israel has been violating international law in its Gaza offensive by heavy destruction and endangering civilians in acts of collective punishment banned under the Geneva conventions on the conduct of warfare.
Gateway Pundit:
Happy Independence Day, 2006!... "One Nation, Under God!" — Please, on this Independence Day, remember our brave men and women sacrifice so much for our freedom our future. — A final look at the funeral of PFC Thomas Tucker this Independence Day weekend.
Anton La Guardia / Telegraph:
Target any white person: the chilling guidelines for Bali suicide bombers — Any white person is a target. Avoid hotels because they are too well protected. Carry the bombs in small knapsacks to avoid suspicion. And don't worry about your escape route because you will become a "martyr".