Top Items:
Anthony Shadid / Washington Post:
Attacks Could Erode Faction's Support — Pressure Building Against Shiite Militia — BEIRUT, July 13 — The radical Shiite movement Hezbollah and its leader, Hasan Nasrallah, hold an effective veto in Lebanese politics, and the group's military prowess has heartened its supporters at home and abroad in the Arab world.
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Michael Young / New York Times:
Israel's Invasion, Syria's War — ISRAEL'S incursion into Lebanon after the kidnapping on Wednesday of two Israeli soldiers by the militant group Hezbollah is far more than another flare-up on a tense border. It must also be seen as a spinoff of a general counterattack against American …
Michael Oren / Washington Post:
Necessary Steps for Israel — Confronting State Sponsors of Terror Is the Only Option — JERUSALEM — For the first time since the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Israel is facing hostilities on two fronts. The exceedingly volatile situation is liable to embroil other Middle Eastern states …
New York Times:
Israel Extends Strikes Deeper Into Lebanon — BEIRUT, Lebanon, Friday, July 14 — Israel extended punishing airstrikes deeper inside Lebanon today, hitting areas in Beirut's suburbs linked to the militant group Hezbollah and cutting the main highway between the capital and Damascus in Syria.
Opinion Journal:
States of Terror — Syria, Iran and their proxies wage war on Israel. — Israel's military invasion and naval blockade of Lebanon is being denounced in European capitals and at the United Nations as a "disproportionate" response to the kidnapping this week of two of its soldiers by Hezbollah.
Discussion:
Think Progress
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
Behind the Crisis, A Push Toward War — After Hezbollah guerrillas captured Israeli soldiers Wednesday, a furious Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz warned that the Israeli army would "turn back the clock in Lebanon by 20 years." Unfortunately, that statement was truer than he may have intended.
New York Times:
Israel Blockades Lebanon; Wide Strikes by Hezbollah — BEIRUT, Lebanon, Friday, July 14 — Israel imposed a full naval blockade on Lebanon on Thursday and put Beirut's international airport out of commission, and the militant group Hezbollah loosed a hail of rockets and mortar shells that killed …
Sam F. Ghattas / Associated Press:
Israelis continues bombardment of Beirut
Israelis continues bombardment of Beirut
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, TigerHawk, The Belmont Club, The Adventures of Chester and Left I on the News
Business Wire:
Valerie Plame Wilson and Ambassador Joseph Wilson Initiate a Civil Action Against Vice President Cheney, Karl Rove, and Scooter Libby for Violations of their Constitutional and Other Legal Rights — WASHINGTON—(BUSINESS WIRE)—July 13, 2006—Former CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband …
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Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
Bush Would Let Secret Court Sift Wiretap Process — WASHINGTON, July 13 — After months of resistance, the White House agreed Thursday to allow a secret intelligence court to review the legality of the National Security Agency's program to conduct wiretaps without warrants on Americans suspected of having ties to terrorists.
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Jonathan S. Landay / Knight Ridder:
Bush agrees to have domestic eavesdropping program reviewed
Bush agrees to have domestic eavesdropping program reviewed
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
What will Democrats do in the wake of the Specter cave-in?
What will Democrats do in the wake of the Specter cave-in?
Discussion:
UPI, The Moderate Voice, Balkinization, Hit and Run, Booman Tribune, Brad DeLong's Semi … and Stop The ACLU
Donna Cassata / Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Poll: Americans want Democrats in power — WASHINGTON — Republicans are in jeopardy of losing their grip on Congress in November. With less than four months to the midterm elections, the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that Americans by an almost 3-to-1 margin hold …
Discussion:
Forward, Right Wing News, PSoTD, Donklephant, AMERICAblog, Middle Earth Journal and The Next Hurrah
Walter Pincus / Washington Post:
Watching Finances Of Terror Suspects Discussed in 2002 — At a House subcommittee hearing five months after the Sept. 11 attacks, plans were openly discussed to give the government a highly secure, real-time electronic capability to request and receive data from financial institutions …
Marc Caputo / Miami Herald:
Story of 'Joe's dead intern' began Harris' slide, insiders say — When Katherine Harris attacked a TV pundit, insiders say the incident revealed the depth of problems with her campaign — which was hit again by six staff departures. — mcaputo@herald.com
White House:
President Bush and German Chancellor Merkel Participate in Press Availability — President's Trip to Germany and Russia — CHANCELLOR MERKEL: (As translated.) Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to be able to welcome the President of the United States here to Stralsund yet again.
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Times of London:
Baghdad starts to collapse as its people flee a life of death — As I hung up the phone, I wondered if I would ever see my friend Ali alive again. Ali, The Times translator for the past three years, lives in west Baghdad, an area that is now in meltdown as a bitter civil war rages between Sunni insurgents and Shia militias.
David Sirota:
The Chutzpah & Lies of Joe Lieberman — "Desperate politicians do desperate things" should be written on the political gravestone of Sen. Joe Lieberman (D) come this election season when he finally loses his job. Lieberman is so desperate, he's now dispatching his top political consultant to create a blog …