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Iraq Study Group Report Released — Download the official report just released by the Iraq Study Group titled The Iraq Study Group Report: The Way Forward - A New Approach. USIP is the facilitating organization for the Iraq Study Group (ISG), co-chaired by James A. Baker, III, and Lee H. Hamilton.
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No Middle Ground — The Iraq Study Group calls its prescription "responsible transition;" there's nothing responsible about it. — Given the specific lineup of the 10 wise men and women serving on the Iraq Study Group, the most conspicuous absence is that of supermodel Heidi Klum.
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Outside The Beltway, Booman Tribune, jules crittenden, Dymaxion World, Defense Tech, The Reaction, Daily Kos and Matthew Yglesias


Feingold Cuts Through The ISG Hype on Countdown — Keith Olbermann had Russ Feingold on to give his assessment of the now very famous Iraq Study Group report. — Video - WMV Video -QT — Feingold said what I have felt all day. This report does not give us a clear path in Iraq and leaves the future of the war up in the air.


Baker panel's mention of Palestinian "right of return" raises eyebrows — A reference to Palestinians' "right of return" in the report issued by the high-level Iraq Study Group broke a diplomatic taboo which sparked immediate concern in Israel and surprise among Middle East policy experts.
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Roger L. Simon


Threats Wrapped in Misunderstandings — The Iraq Study Group's prescriptions hinge on a fragile Iraqi government's ability to achieve national reconciliation and security at a time when the country is fractured along sectarian lines, its security forces are ineffective and competing visions threaten …

A Study In Comity — Whatever the final impact of the Iraq …
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Media Blog, Whiskey Fire, The American Scene, Sirotablog, Daily Kos, Middle Earth Journal and PrairiePundit

Senate approves Gates as defense secretary … WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Senate voted 95-2 Wednesday to approve Robert Gates as President Bush's choice to replace Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary. — The vote came a day after the nomination sailed through the Senate Armed Services Committee.
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Senate Confirms Gates as Defense Secretary — Robert M. Gates, President Bush's nominee to be defense secretary, was confirmed by the Senate this afternoon, hours after the Iraq Study Group offered recommendations meant to gradually reduce the United States' role in Iraq and stem the increasing violence there.


Enter the Grown-Up — ROBERT GATES' IMPRESSIVE—AND REASSURING—CONFIRMATION HEARINGS. — The most eyebrow-raising moment—of many such moments—in Robert Gates' confirmation hearings today came when Sen. Robert Byrd, the stentorian Democrat of West Virginia, asked if he favored attacking Iran.


Panel: Bush Iraq policy 'not working' — WASHINGTON - President Bush's policy in Iraq "is not working," a high-level commission said bluntly on Wednesday, prodding the administration to use diplomacy to stabilize the country and allow withdrawal of most American combat troops by early 2008.

The Realists' Repudiation Of Policies for a War, Region
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New York Times, Democracy Project, Legal Fiction, Marc Cooper, The Carpetbagger Report and The Democratic Daily

Best of the Web — Today's Video on WSJ.com: James Taranto discusses …

Hamas smuggled $66 million in 8 months — Hamas officials have managed to smuggle more than $66 million in cash through the Rafah border crossing in the past eight months, a member of the Hamas-led government revealed Wednesday. — Meanwhile, sources close to the Hamas-led government claimed …
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The Jawa Report, Yourish.com, A Blog For All, Power Line, BizzyBlog, Sigmund, Carl and Alfred, Ace of Spades HQ and Macsmind
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Report: Hamas met delegation of Democrats — Source claims U.S. party willing to hold dialogue with terror group — JERUSALEM - Hamas met with a delegation of "important Democrats" who expressed interest in relations with the Palestinian terror group even if it doesn't recognize the right …


Students Protesting — More than 2000 students of Tehran University gathered on Wednesday to commemorate the students day and protest against the regime. Students Day has always been a strong excuse for students to get together and show their anger. Police and Islamic vigilantes kept …
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LIQUID WATER ON MARS — Ending a debate that began more than a decade ago, NASA announced today that water does indeed flow on Mars. The agency is calling the discovery one of its most significant to date. — "We had evidence that water had flowed across the surface of Mars billions of years ago …
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THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER
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5-day work week is a Capitol Hill culture shock — Democrats seek a businesslike image; many in GOP decry effect on families — WASHINGTON - Forget the minimum wage. Or outsourcing jobs overseas. The labor issue most on the minds of members of Congress yesterday was their own …


Justices Breyer and Scalia Converse on the Constitution — On December 5, 2006, ACS and the Federalist Society co-sponsored A Conversation on the Constitution: Perspectives from Active Liberty and A Matter of Interpretation with U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justices Stephen Breyer and Antonin Scalia.

Arrest Warrant Issued in Denver for Oregon Blogger — Many of you will remember the Deb Frisch - Protein Wisdom blog drama. — Dr. Frisch has removed her website, but many of her posts and comments can still be found on Technorati and Google. — After the Frisch-Goldstein drama …
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Flopping Aces, Michelle Malkin, Patterico's Pontifications, Blue Crab Boulevard and Done With Mirrors

Case of the Dwindling Docket Mystifies the Supreme Court — On the Supreme Court's color-coded master calendar, which was distributed months before the term began on the first Monday in October, Dec. 6 is marked in red to signify a day when the justices are scheduled to be on the bench, hearing arguments.
Discussion:
The Volokh Conspiracy


Lauer Implores Gore: 'You Could Be In A Position To Save The Planet!' [Video] — In all my years of Today-watching, I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite like the display Matt Lauer put on this morning. In beseeching Al Gore to run for president, Lauer literally portrayed him as the planet's potential savior.


Wanting Babies Like Themselves, Some Parents Choose Genetic Defects — Wanting to have children who follow in one's footsteps is an understandable desire. But a coming article in the journal Fertility and Sterility offers a fascinating glimpse into how far some parents may go to ensure …


NBC: 10 U.S. service members killed in Iraq — Meanwhile, mortar attack kills 8 Iraqis, wounds 40 in Sadr City district — Residents look at a minibus destroyed in a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad's Sadr City on Wednesday. — BAGHDAD, Iraq - Ten American service members were killed …
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THE CUNNING REALIST