Top Items:
Gil Hoffman / Jerusalem Post:
Israel threatens to resume war if Hizbullah refuses to disarm — The IDF will have to resume operations in Lebanon if the expanded United Nations force being assembled does not fulfill its obligation to dismantle Hizbullah, an official in the Prime Minister's Office warned on Tuesday.
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Washington Post:
Hezbollah Balks At Withdrawal From the South — Hezbollah refused to disarm and withdraw its fighters from the battle-scarred hills along the border with Israel on Tuesday, threatening to delay deployment of the Lebanese army and endangering a fragile cease-fire.
Discussion:
Financial Times, Haaretz, DEBKAfile, Ynetnews, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Strata-Sphere and Israel Matzav
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
After the Bombs, Politics — The Lebanon war was damaging for Israel …
After the Bombs, Politics — The Lebanon war was damaging for Israel …
Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Israel: Game On If Hezbollah Keeps Weapons
Israel: Game On If Hezbollah Keeps Weapons
Discussion:
Riehl World View
Yoav Stern / Haaretz:
UNIFIL chief expects advance int'l force to arrive next week
UNIFIL chief expects advance int'l force to arrive next week
Discussion:
Israel Matzav
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Dem angst escalates — A group of Senate Democrats is growing increasingly angry about Sen. Joe Lieberman's (D-Conn.) campaign tactics since he lost the Democratic primary last week. — If he continues to alienate his colleagues, Lieberman could be stripped of his seniority within …
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John Kifner / New York Times:
Hezbollah Leads Work to Rebuild, Gaining Stature — As stunned Lebanese returned Tuesday over broken roads to shattered apartments in the south, it increasingly seemed that the beneficiary of the destruction was most likely to be Hezbollah. — A major reason — in addition to its hard-won reputation …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Liberty and Justice, The Huffington Post, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Israel Matzav and Boker tov, Boulder!
Washington Post:
Allen on Damage Control After Remarks to Webb Aide — Sen. George Allen on Tuesday sought to contain the political damage from remarks he made to a Fairfax County man that dredged up charges of racial insensitivity — allegations that have dogged him for years as governor, senator and now presidential hopeful.
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New York Times:
Iraqi Death Toll Rose Above 3,400 in July — July appears to have been the deadliest month of the war for Iraqi civilians, according to figures from the Health Ministry and the Baghdad morgue, reinforcing criticism that the Baghdad security plan started in June by the new Iraqi government has failed.
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Condoleezza Rice / Washington Post:
A Path To Lasting Peace — For the past month the United States has worked urgently to end the violence that Hezbollah and its sponsors have imposed on the people of Lebanon and Israel. At the same time, we have insisted that a truly effective cease-fire requires a decisive change from the status quo that produced this war.
Kathy Gannon / Associated Press:
Lebanese rescuer 'Green Helmet' injured — TYRE, Lebanon - A civil defense worker who has drawn controversy for holding up the bodies of children killed in Lebanon said Tuesday he was lightly injured fighting a weekend fire sparked by an Israeli bomb. — Salam Daher, dubbed the Green Helmet …
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Independent:
Robert Fisk: In the face of Bush's lies, it's left to Assad to tell the truth — In the sparse Baathist drawing rooms of Damascus, reality often seems a long way away. But it was a sign of the times that President Bashar al-Assad was able to bring the great and the good of Damascus …
Discussion:
Informed Comment
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Times of London:
German troops may face Jews - as part of mission for peace — From Roger Boyes in Berlin and Richard Beeston in Beirut — GERMANY was poised yesterday to shatter its most enduring postwar taboo by sending troops into the cauldron of Lebanon, where they risk coming into direct conflict with Israelis.
Edmund Blair / Reuters:
Iran says won't back down over atomic rights — TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday Iran would not yield to Western pressure to give up its home-grown nuclear technology. — His comments came days before an August 22 deadline Iran set itself to respond …
Discussion:
Liberty and Justice
Jamie Holly / Crooks and Liars:
Scarborough: "Is Bush An 'Idiot'?" — Joe Scarborough started his program tonight asking the question "is Bush an idiot?" (Is that really debatable?). Not only did he do a great run down of clips involving some of the most famous "Bushisms", but he did have an interesting conversation …
Gina Keating / Reuters:
Plame lawyer plans to force Cheney, Rove testimony — Source: Reuters — A lawyer plans to use a legal precedent that allowed President Bill Clinton to be sued while in office to force Vice President Dick Cheney and presidential adviser Karl Rove to testify in a lawsuit brought by former CIA operative Valerie Plame and her husband.
Discussion:
TPMmuckraker
Guardian:
Liberal agonies — Leader — "Why are the liberals always on the other side?" asks the fictional French military commander Colonel Mathieu when he is challenged, in The Battle for Algiers, for using torture to fight terror. The film suggests that torture works as a tool of immediate necessity …
Nicholas Bakalar / New York Times:
Coffee as a Health Drink? Studies Find Some Benefits — Coffee is not usually thought of as health food, but a number of recent studies suggest that it can be a highly beneficial drink. Researchers have found strong evidence that coffee reduces the risk of several serious ailments …
Discussion:
Donklephant
Fruits and Votes:
Generic US House polling: What does it tell us? — Planted by Professor Matthew Søberg Shugart, Head Orchardist @12:33 — Charles, at Political Arithmetik, has one of his many must-read, must-view posts-this time, about trends in 2006 and past cycles in polling for US House.
Art Levine / Salon:
Salon's shameful six — There was Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004. Here are the six states where vote suppression could cost voters their voice — and Democrats the election — in 2006. — Eva Steele has a son in the military who is supposed to be fighting for freedom in Iraq …