Top Items:
New York Times:
Commander Said to Be Open to More Troops — The American military command in Iraq is now willing to back a temporary increase in American troops in Baghdad as part of a broader Iraqi and United States effort to stem the slide toward chaos, senior American officials said Saturday.
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Kevin Drum / Political Animal:
ONE LAST PUSH....Guess what? Our commanders on the ground have met with their superiors and decided that we do need more troops in Iraq after all. They're now backing the "surge" plan: … So we're not quite sure what we're going to do with them, but after meeting with the new SecDef we're suddenly quite sure we need them.
Julian E. Barnes / Los Angeles Times:
Generals: More troops needed in Iraq
Generals: More troops needed in Iraq
Discussion:
Hot Air, New York Times, Wake up America, The Impolitic, Angry Bear, Daily Kos, Middle Earth Journal, Think Progress, Redstate, jules crittenden and Central Sanity
The Talking Dog / The American Street:
Kabuki of karnage — And so the American generals in Iraq …
Kabuki of karnage — And so the American generals in Iraq …
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Associated Press:
Man sets self aflame in Calif. protest — BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - A man used flammable liquid to light himself on fire, apparently to protest a San Joaquin Valley school district's decision to change the names of winter and spring breaks to Christmas and Easter vacation.
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Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Another moron lights himself on fire — Wait 'til you see why. There's some discrepany about what his sign said. According to the AP, "(expletive) the religious establishment and KHSD." According to the local NBC affiliate, "Expletive religious freedom and the silent KHSD."
Discussion:
Blue Crab Boulevard
KGET-TV:
Man sets himself, Christmas tree ablaze to protest KHSD winter break name change — BAKERSFIELD - Witnesses said a man set himself and a Christmas tree on fire in front of the County Courthouse before courthouse worker a deputy were able to put out the flames with a blanket and fire extinguishers.
MSNBC:
U.N. unanimously approves Iran sanctions — Tehran immediately rejects Security Council resolution on nuke activity — UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to impose economic sanctions on Iran for refusing to end a uranium enrichment program that the United States …
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Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Mahdi Christmas: Security Council approves meaningless sanctions on Iran — Follow the timeline. It's been three and a half years since the IAEA first flagged them for noncompliance with the Nonproliferation Treaty. And still the Security Council's giving them more time …
Randy Hall / CNSNews:
Islamic Group Has Mastered Victimization Game, Critic Says — (CNSNews.com) - The Republican lawmaker who sparked a storm with comments about Muslims and the need to tighten immigration laws is the latest target of an Islamic advocacy group's "victimization game," a political analyst said Thursday.
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New York Times:
A Real-World Army — Military reality finally broke through the Bush administration's ideological wall last week, with President Bush publicly acknowledging the need to increase the size of the overstretched Army and Marine Corps. — Larger ground forces are an absolute necessity for the sort …
John F. Kerry / Washington Post:
When Resolve Turns Reckless — There's something much worse than being accused of "flip-flopping": refusing to flip when it's obvious that your course of action is a flop. — I say this to President Bush as someone who learned the hard way how embracing the world's complexity can be twisted into a crude political shorthand.
Washington Post:
How Free Trade Hurts — Fewer and fewer Americans support our government's trade policy. They see a shrinking middle class, lost jobs and exploding trade deficits. — Yet supporters of free trade continue to push for more of the same — more job-killing trade agreements …
Qassim Abdul-Zahra / ABCNEWS:
Shiite Cleric Won't Support Coalition — Iraq's Most Revered Shiite Cleric Withholds Support for Plan to Construct Broad Coalition — BAGHDAD, Iraq Dec 23, 2006 (AP)— Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric withheld support Saturday for a U.S.-backed plan to build a coalition across sectarian lines …
Discussion:
Riehl World View
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Dave Itzkoff / New York Times:
Wars of the Worlds — When an emerging science-fiction writer's work earns him comparisons to Robert A. Heinlein, should he take them as a compliment? Don't misunderstand me: I have no reason to doubt that the old master's classic novels "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "The Cat Who Walks Through Walls" …
Times of London:
Christians suffer for Iraq, says archbishop — Christians in the Middle East are being put at unprecedented risk by the Government's "shortsighted" and "ignorant" policy in Iraq, The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, says today. — In an extraordinary attack …
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Michele Gershberg / Reuters:
Che Guevara CD case pulled from shelves — NEW YORK (Reuters) - Target Corp said on Friday it had pulled a CD carrying case bearing Ernesto "Che" Guevara's image after an outcry by critics who label the Marxist revolutionary a murderer and totalitarian symbol.