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United States Institute of Peace:
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.
Discussion:
The Nation, Pajamas Media, Captain's Quarters, Time, FP Passport, AMERICAblog, worldpublicopinion.org, Political Animal, Editor and Publisher, The Moderate Voice, Outside The Beltway, Don Surber, Riehl World View, Informed Comment, Blogs of War, The World Wide Rant, David Corn, Obsidian Wings, Security Watchtower, NewsHog, Dick Polman's American Debate, Wake up America, ABCNEWS, Atlas Shrugs, newsweek, rubber hose, The Lede, KnoxViews, UN Dispatch, On Deadline, The Indepundit, White House, New York Times, Blue Jersey, TimChapmanBlog.com, The Carpetbagger Report, Hot Air, Happy Furry Puppy Story …, Gun Toting Liberal, The News Blog, Right Wing Nut House, Stop The ACLU, The Reaction, WorldwideStandard.com, The Democratic Daily, IMAO, GINA COBB, JustOneMinute and Townhall.com Blog's …
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Spencer Ackerman / American Prospect:
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.
CNN:
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.
Jamie Holly / Crooks and Liars:
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.
Agence France Presse:
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.
Discussion:
Roger L. Simon
Fred Kaplan / Slate:
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.
Sudarsan Raghavan / Washington Post:
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 …
David Stout / New York Times:
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.
Washington Post:
The Realists' Repudiation Of Policies for a War, Region
The Realists' Repudiation Of Policies for a War, Region
Discussion:
New York Times, Democracy Project, Legal Fiction, Marc Cooper, The Carpetbagger Report and The Democratic Daily
Anne Plummer Flaherty / Associated Press:
Gates confirmed as secretary of defense
Gates confirmed as secretary of defense
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Outside The Beltway
Khaled Abu Toameh / Jerusalem Post:
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 …
Discussion:
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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Aaron Klein / WorldNetDaily:
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 …
Winston / The Spirit of Man:
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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Will / Attytood:
Exposed: The right's sleazy strategy for deflecting bad news from Iraq — Last week, we got a lot of traffic for writing about the bizarre and false claim that a grieving Iraqi woman in a Reuters news photograph was really a Photoshopped "Bush in a burqa." We noted that this was just part …
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Jeralyn / TalkLeft:
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 …
Discussion:
Flopping Aces, Michelle Malkin, Patterico's Pontifications, Blue Crab Boulevard and Done With Mirrors
Linda Greenhouse / New York Times:
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
Agence France Presse:
Follow God or vanish, Ahmadinejad tells West — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned Western leaders to follow the path of God or "vanish from the face of the earth". — "These oppressive countries are angry with us ... a nation that on the other side of the globe has risen …
Popular Mechanics:
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