Top Items:
New York Times:
Iraq Panel to Recommend Pullback of Combat Troops — The bipartisan Iraq Study Group reached a consensus on Wednesday on a final report that will call for a gradual pullback of the 15 American combat brigades now in Iraq but stop short of setting a firm timetable for their withdrawal …
Discussion:
Newsweek, Reuters, Captain's Quarters, The Moderate Voice, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Reason Magazine, The Huffington Post, The RBC, Hot Air, Blinq, Iowa Voice, CBS News, The Carpetbagger Report, The Agonist, LiberalOasis, Think Progress, Booman Tribune, Political Animal, About U.S. Politics, The Indepundit, Taylor Marsh, AMERICAN FUTURE, Discourse.net, First Read, MyDD, Matthew Yglesias, The American Street, NewsHog, American Thinker, The Democratic Daily, Alabama Liberation Front, FP Passport, f a t c a t politics, Riehl World View, Shakespeare's Sister, Decision '08, Hyscience, Blue Crab Boulevard, the talking dog, Bill's Bites, It Shines For All, On Deadline, Wizbang, The Reaction, Israel Matzav, Needlenose, Wonkette and News Hounds
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Washington Post:
Bush: Calls for Troop Drawdowns Unrealistic — At Summit, President Stands by Iraqi Prime Minister, Discusses Speeding Up Security Handover — President Bush delivered a staunch endorsement of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Thursday morning and dismissed calls for U.S. troop withdrawals …
Discussion:
Washington Times, jules crittenden, Andrew Sullivan, The Moderate Voice and Blue Crab Boulevard
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Bush Proclaims Support for Iraqi Premier — President Bush today proclaimed Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki "the right guy for Iraq," and said the two had agreed to speed the turnover of security responsibility from American to Iraqi forces. But Mr. Bush dismissed a reported decision …
Washington Post:
Study Group to Call for Pullback — The Iraq Study Group, which wrapped up eight months of deliberations yesterday, has reached a consensus and will call for a major withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, shifting the U.S. role from combat to support and advising, according to a source familiar with the deliberations.
Michelle Malkin:
Rumors and reporting in Iraq — ***scroll for updates...NYTimes blogger Tom Zeller Jr weighs in...plus: bloggers note the significance of the capture of Mazer Al-Jubouri, aka the Baghdad Sniper, and his group...*** — I've been following up with CENTCOM on the Associated Press/sketchy sources brouhaha.
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, Flopping Aces, Democracy Project, BLACKFIVE, Gateway Pundit, Riehl World View, PrairiePundit and JunkYardBlog
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Dr. Rusty Shackleford / The Jawa Report:
"Juba" the Baghdad Sniper Captured! — The Iraqi Ministry of the Interior announced that it has captured the Baghdad sniper known as Ali Nazar al Jubori. The name sounds eerily familiar. al Jubori....could this be the original Juba sniper? That is the claim being made.
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
As promised: Iraqi spokesman says AP police source is phony; Update: NYT blog picks up the story — Centcom said he'd mention it at today's MOI presser, and so he did: … An AP reporter was there but there's nothing on the wire yet. I'll update when there is.
Tom Zeller Jr / The Lede:
So Just Who Is Capt. Jamil Hussein? — They cycle of violence reached new levels in Iraq last week and into the weekend, but the military is complaining that one Associated Press report — and its source — was dodgy. (Photo: Karim Kadim/Associated Press)
George F. Will / Washington Post:
Already Too Busy for Civility — That was certainly swift. Washington has a way of quickly acculturating people, especially those who are most susceptible to derangement by the derivative dignity of office. But Jim Webb, Democratic senator-elect from Virginia, has become a pompous poseur …
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Greg Sargent / tpmcafe.com:
George Will Distorts WaPo's Own Reporting To Smear Jim Webb — This has to be one of the rankest displays of journalistic dishonesty I've seen in some time on the part of any columnist, large or small. — In today's Washington Post column, George Will assails Dem Senator-elect Jim Webb …
Discussion:
Reason Magazine, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Political Animal, Hot Air, JustOneMinute, KC Buzz Blog and DownWithTyranny!
Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
Democrats Reject Key 9/11 Panel Suggestion — Neither Party Has an Appetite for Overhauling Congressional Oversight of Intelligence — It was a solemn pledge, repeated by Democratic leaders and candidates over and over: If elected to the majority in Congress, Democrats would implement …
Daily Mail:
'Spy' radiation alert for 33,000 BA passengers — More than 33,000 British Airways passengers faced a radiation scare last night as three planes were grounded over fears that they have been contaminated by the toxin that killed Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko.
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CNN:
Colin Powell says Iraq in a 'civil war' … DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday that Iraq's violence meets the standard of civil war and that if he were heading the State Department now, he might recommend that the administration use that term.
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Spencer S. Hsu / Washington Post:
FEMA Told to Resume Storm Aid — Judge's Ruling May Affect Thousands On the Gulf Coast — The Bush administration unconstitutionally denied aid to tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and must resume payments immediately, a federal judge ordered yesterday.
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Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
Rule of Law 101 and Neoconservatism — Last year, the Bush administration and the GOP-led Congress jointly created a 5-person, tootheless, subpoena-less "panel" to monitor how "civil liberties issues" are handled as part of the "war on terror." They handpicked five members and …
Discussion:
Right Wing Nut House, The Anonymous Liberal, Sadly, No!, Redstate, Blue Crab Boulevard and Blogs for Bush
The Daily Dish:
Spare Us, Hillary — She really shouldn't run. It would divide and polarize the country; she's dreadful on the stump; she has very high negatives; most Democrats only like her; almost no-one loves her; and do we really want 20 years of two families in the White House? Besides: what do you do with Bill?
BBC:
UN troops face child abuse claims — Children have been subjected to rape and prostitution by United Nations peacekeepers in Haiti and Liberia, a BBC investigation has found. — Girls have told of regular encounters with soldiers where sex is demanded in return for food or money.
Discussion:
Hot Air, It Shines For All, Captain's Quarters, Tammy Bruce, Wake up America and Blue Crab Boulevard
Joseph D. McNamara / Wall Street Journal:
50 Shots — Around 4 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 25, several New York City police officers in plain clothes fired an estimated 50 shots at a car, wounding two black men and killing a third, 23-year-old Sean Bell. Some police bullets penetrated nearby homes. Although an undercover officer …