Top Items:
Salad Duhul / Associated Press:
Islamic forces on the retreat in Somalia — MOGADISHU, Somalia - Islamic fighters were in a tactical retreat Tuesday, a senior Islamic leader said, as government and Ethiopian troops advanced on three fronts in a decisive turn around in the battle for control of Somalia.
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Michael van der Galien / The Moderate Voice:
Brave Islamists Withdrawing — The brave and strong Islamist forces who took over in Somalia are, a few days after Ethiopia joined the fight, on the run. … Obviously, the war isn't over yet. Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed (I wonder how his friends call him... 'triple s'?) refuses to give up:
Salad Duhul / Associated Press:
Islamic Fighters Quitting Somalia Front — MOGADISHU, Somalia — Islamic fighters attempting to wrest power from Somalia's internationally recognized government retreated from the main front line early Tuesday, witnesses said, a day after Ethiopian fighter jets bombed the country's two main international airports.
Discussion:
Blue Crab Boulevard
Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Islamist Forces Retreating In Somalia — Ethiopian advances have forced the Islamists in Somalia to fall back, abandoning some of their bases and towns. Their reverses prompted the weak Somalian government to offer amnesty for surrender, but the Islamic Courts Union has thus far refused:
Discussion:
Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog
Christopher Torchia / Associated Press:
U.S. toll in Iraq surpasses that of 9/11 — BAGHDAD, Iraq - At least 36 Iraqis died Tuesday in bombings, officials said, including a coordinated strike that killed 25 in western Baghdad. Separately, the deaths of six U.S. soldiers pushed the American toll beyond the number of victims in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
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Marc Santora / New York Times:
Abuse Seen at Iraqi Jail Puts New Focus on Rogue Police
Abuse Seen at Iraqi Jail Puts New Focus on Rogue Police
Discussion:
Suburban Guerrilla
Michael B. Oren / Opinion Journal:
A Religious Problem — Jimmy Carter's book: An Israeli view. — Several prominent scholars have taken issue with Jimmy Carter's book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," cataloguing its historical inaccuracies and lamenting its lack of balance. The journalist Jeffrey Goldberg also critiqued …
Ezra Klein / Los Angeles Times:
Going universal — The American healthcare system is, simply put, a mess, but we may finally be ready to fix it. — THE STATISTICS, by now, are well known. Forty-seven million uninsured Americans. Premium increases of 81% since 2000. Small businesses failing, big businesses foundering …
Jeff Sessions / Washington Post:
A Bipartisan Fix for Retirees — In the aftermath of their November election victory, Democratic leaders have pledged to work on a bipartisan basis to solve the problems facing our nation. In that spirit, I suggest that Democrats and Republicans can successfully work together …
Annie Huang / Associated Press:
Tsunami Aims at Philippines After Quake — TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - A powerful quake struck off southwestern Taiwan on Tuesday, triggering a potentially destructive tsunami that was headed toward the Philippines on the second anniversary of the deadly waves that killed thousands in south Asia.
Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
Democrats Pledge to Restrain Spending — Critics Say Party's Goals Are Too Lofty — Determined to banish their old tax-and-spend image, Democrats want to shrink the federal deficit, preserve tax cuts for the middle class and challenge the president to raise money for the Iraq war when they take control of Congress next week.
Robert Patrick / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
St. Louis judge's outspoken book causing controversy — A liberal-bashing book by a veteran St. Louis judge is to become available publicly this week, but it is already causing a stir in political and legal circles — and prompting some to say it could cost him his job.
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report
Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:
Flash! President Bush Says He Reads Papers — Is there hope for newspapers after all? Readers may be abandoning the printed versions, but over the last couple of years, at least one person seems to have started reading them, at least sometimes. He lives in the White House.
Michael Barone / Townhall.com:
Christmastime decisionmaking — We Americans, despite our current grumblings, are fundamentally an optimistic people. Our optimism has helped us achieve great things. But it can also be a problem. There is an assumption in public life that every problem has an optimum solution, all gain and no pain.
Discussion:
Daily Pundit
Daily Mail:
Veil liberates me, says alternative Christmas message woman — A veil-wearing Muslim convert today claimed the way she chooses to dress makes her feel "liberated" as she delivered an alternative Christmas message. — Khadija, the great-granddaughter of a suffragette …