Top Items:
Bob Woodward / Washington Post:
Ford Disagreed With Bush About Invading Iraq — Former president Gerald R. Ford said in an embargoed interview in July 2004 that the Iraq war was not justified. "I don't think I would have gone to war," he said a little more than a year after President Bush had launched the invasion advocated …
Discussion:
Blue Crab Boulevard, The Moderate Voice, The Next Hurrah, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, About U.S. Politics, The Democratic Daily, First Draft, AMERICAblog, Liberal Values, Intrepid Liberal Journal, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Hullabaloo, Don Surber, Rising Hegemon, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Alternate Brain, Roger Ailes and Informed Comment
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Jeffrey Gettleman / New York Times:
Islamists Seem to Give Up Grip on Somali City — The Islamist forces who have controlled much of Somalia in recent months suddenly vanished from the streets of the capital, Mogadishu, residents said Wednesday night, just as thousands of rival troops massed 15 miles away.
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Jeffrey Gettleman / New York Times:
Islamist Forces in Somalia Are in Retreat — Ethiopian-backed forces continued to beat back Islamist fighters in Somalia today, advancing to within 15 miles of Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, as diplomatic pressure increased for the Ethiopians to pull out. — The African Union …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Matthew Yglesias, PrairiePundit and jules crittenden
Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:
John Edwards joins presidential race — WASHINGTON - Former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards jumped into the presidential race Wednesday a day earlier than he'd planned, prodded by an Internet glitch to launch a candidacy focused on health care, taxes and other domestic issues.
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MSNBC:
John Edwards joins presidential race — Senator who ran in 2004 bidding for Democratic nomination, campaign says — Former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards volunteers in New Orleans on Wednesday, a day before his scheduled presidential run announcement. — Slide show
Marc Santora / New York Times:
Sectarian Ties Weaken Duty's Call for Iraq Forces — The car parked outside was almost certainly a tool of the Sunni insurgency. It was pocked with bullet holes and bore fake license plates. The trunk had cases of unused sniper bullets and a notice to a Shiite family telling them to abandon their home.
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Washington Post:
Close Adviser to Sadr Dies in U.S.-Iraqi Raid — A top deputy of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was killed Wednesday during a raid by U.S. and Iraqi troops in the southern holy city of Najaf, sparking protests from Sadr's followers and complicating an already tense relationship with the powerful anti-American leader.
New York Times:
Gerald R. Ford — Gerald R. Ford was an accidental president, his tenure brief, his legacy limited. Yet he was the right man summoned at the right time to begin the necessary process of healing a country exhausted by war abroad and scandal at home. Elevated to the nation's top job …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
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Dennis Conrad / Associated Press:
Reid to miss Ford funeral — WASHINGTON - Incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will miss the state funeral for former President Gerald Ford at the Capitol Rotunda on Saturday night, opting instead to lead a delegation to South America with an expected stop at the Machu Picchu Inca ruins.
Discussion:
Wizbang
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Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Belarus Doubles Down — Belarus has decided to call Vladimir Putin's bluff on the standoff over energy prices and transit rights. Instead of acquiescing to Putin's demand for half of Belarus' revenues from its pipeline service to Europe and a doubling of their own energy prices …
Discussion:
Spiegel Online
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Jerusalem Post:
Exclusive: Hizbullah paying terrorists for Kassam attacks — Hizbullah is paying Palestinian splinter groups "thousands of dollars" for each Kassam rocket fired at the western Negev, The Jerusalem Post has learned. — According to Israeli intelligence information, Hizbullah is smuggling cash …
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Editor and Publisher:
White House to Joe Biden: Hold Your Horses on Rejecting Iraq Troop Surge — NEW YORK At today's press gaggle in Crawford, Texas, Scott Stanzel, pinch-hitting for White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, described the president's reaction to the death of Gerald R. Ford and his upcoming meetings to discuss his next moves in Iraq.
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Justin Rood / TPMmuckraker:
At The Corner, Iraq News That Isn't — Reader SB points us to an entry today at The Corner, a blog belonging to National Review magazine, entitled "FROM IRAQ: A MARINE'S NOTES." — Among other things, the unnamed Marine tells the National Review that:
Discussion:
The RBC, TBogg, The Carpetbagger Report, Wonkette, Political Animal and This Modern World
brusselsjournal.com:
Blair on Islam: Standard-Bearer of Tolerance — A quote from Tony Blair in Foreign Affairs, January/February 2007 — To me, the most remarkable thing about the Koran is how progressive it is. I write with great humility as a member of another faith. As an outsider, the Koran strikes …
DefenseLINK:
Contract — On the Web: — Media contact: +1 (703) 697-5131/697-5132 — Public contact: or +1 (703) 428-0711 +1 — FOR RELEASE AT — 5 p.m. ET — No. 1320-06 — CONTRACTS — ARMY — Honeywell International Inc., Phoenix, Ariz., was awarded on Dec. 21, 2006 …
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