memeorandum: Iraq Study Group Will Call For Gradual U.S. Troop Pullback (Joe Gandelman/The Moderate Voice)

7:50 AM ET, November 30, 2006

Top Items:

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 …

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.

Discussion: On Deadline

Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:

Iraq Study Group Will Call For Gradual U.S. Troop Pullback — The Iraq Study Group co-chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker II has reached a consensus: it's time to start a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops, but not to do it on a specific timetable, the New York Times reports:

Discussion: New York Sun, the talking dog, Israel Matzav and Kiko's House

Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:

More Demonization Of Illegals At WND — I'm in favor of tough border enforcement stopping illegal entry into the US. That comes from a solid concern about national security and support for legal immigrants who take the time to follow the law when they move to our nation.

Discussion: Riehl World View

Joseph Farah / WorldNetDaily:

Illegal aliens murder 12 Americans daily — Death toll in 2006 far overshadows total — U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, Afghanistan — WASHINGTON - While the military "quagmire" in Iraq was said to tip the scales of power in the U.S. midterm elections, most Americans have no idea …

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Alabama Liberation Front and Gun Toting Liberal

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.

Discussion: News Hounds, Redstate, FP Passport, Silent Running, The Political Pit Bull and Firedoglake

New York Times:
Bush-Maliki Talks Are Postponed

Discussion: The News Blog

Tabassum Zakaria / Reuters: Bush, Maliki Hold Crunch Talks on Iraq

MSNBC:
Bush, Iraq PM agree to speed security turnover

Discussion: Time, AMERICAblog and democracyarsenal.org

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.

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere and Blogs of War

Agence France Presse: BA says low traces of radiation found on two aircraft

Guardian:
Radioactive material found on BA planes

Discussion: Hot Air, Telegraph and BBC

Sharon Behn / Washington Times:

Shi'ites, Sunnis amass arms — Rival Shi'ite and Sunni groups are massing their militias in expectation of major confrontations, Iraqis say, even as President Bush prepares to meet today with the nation's embattled prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. — Mr. Bush's meeting in Jordan is part …

Discussion: Jesus' General

Nasser Karimi / Associated Press:

Iraq, Iran reach agreement on security — TEHRAN, Iran - Iraq's president said Wednesday he had reached a security agreement with Iran, which the United States accuses of fueling the chaos in the war-torn country. Iran's president called on countries to stop backing "terrorists" in Iraq and for the Americans to withdraw.

Discussion: Middle Earth Journal, All Spin Zone, The Carpetbagger Report, Pajamas Media and NewsHog

Harold Meyerson / Washington Post:
Plumb Out of Mission — The meaning of the election was clear …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Austin Bay / strategypage.com:

Iraq's War of Perception: "Who is Jamil Hussein?" — In 1980 Washington Post reporter Janet Cooke wrote a story entitled "Jimmy's World," the startling tale of an eight-year old "third-generation heroin addict" living in Washington, DC. — Cooke's expose' captured several volatile issues in one tear-drenched package.

Discussion: The Belmont Club, JunkYardBlog, Michelle Malkin, Flopping Aces and Confederate Yankee

Patti Waldmeir / Financial Times:

Supreme Court clashes over climate change — The global political battle over climate change was also being fought at the US Supreme Court on Wednesday as judges bickered over the role of greenhouse gas emissions in global warming and disagreed on whether the Environmental …

Discussion: Agence France Presse

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Analysis: Kennedy key to global warming challenge

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, The Reaction and ShopFloor.org

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 …

Discussion: Instapundit.com

Audrey Hudson / Washington Times:

Marshals decry imams' charges — Air marshals, pilots and security officials yesterday expressed concern that airline passengers and crews will be reluctant to report suspicious behavior aboard for fear of being called "racists," after several Muslim imams made that charge in a press conference Monday …

Discussion: Power Line, PrairiePundit and PoliPundit.com

Elliot Spagat / Associated Press:

San Diego to Ban Wal-Mart Supercenters — SAN DIEGO (AP) — The City Council here voted late Tuesday to ban certain giant retail stores, dealing a blow to Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s potential to expand in the nation's eighth-largest city. — The measure, approved on a 5-3 vote …

Discussion: UNCoRRELATED and Redstate

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 …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and PrairiePundit