Top Items:
New York Times:
The Rush to Hang Saddam Hussein — The important question was never really about whether Saddam Hussein was guilty of crimes against humanity. The public record is bulging with the lengthy litany of his vile and unforgivable atrocities: genocidal assaults against the Kurds …
Discussion:
It Shines For All, PoliBlog (TM), Balloon Juice, A Blog For All, Secular Blasphemy, Sweetness & Light, Reuters and Daily Pundit
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CNN:
Lawyer told to pick up Hussein's personal effects … WASHINGTON (CNN) — With Iraqis braced for Saddam Hussein's execution, the former dictator's lawyer said Friday the U.S. military has asked that he arrange the pickup of Hussein's personal belongings. — But Hussein has not been handed …
Discussion:
Washington Post, On Deadline, The Reaction, Wake up America, Polimom Says, GINA COBB, Blogs of War, QandO and Pam's House Blend
Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Three Years Later, A 'Rush' — A little more than three years after Saddam Hussein meekly came out of his spider hole, the Iraqis have finally removed the last obstacle to his execution. Saddam attempted, with some success, to transform his trial into a political showpiece …
Discussion:
It Shines For All, bRight & Early, The Moderate Voice, PrairiePundit and Blue Crab Boulevard
Paul J. Gough / Reuters:
TV plans tasteful coverage of Saddam execution — NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Television networks face a killer of a conundrum with the impending execution of Saddam Hussein, whose hanging could be videotaped and perhaps aired on Iraqi TV. — The timing of Saddam's date with the gallows was unclear …
Lauren Frayer / Associated Press:
Officials: Saddam still in U.S. custody — BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein's half brothers visited him in his jail cell and he gave them his will, Iraqi officials said Friday, indicating his execution may be approaching. But they said he had yet to be transferred to Iraqi custody.
James Glanz / New York Times:
U.S. Is Being Told Hussein Hanging Seems Imminent — Preparations for the execution of Saddam Hussein began taking on a sense of urgency late Thursday as American and Iraqi officials suggested that he could be hanged within a span of days rather than weeks.
Joseph Lieberman / Washington Post:
Why We Need More Troops in Iraq — I've just spent 10 days traveling in the Middle East and speaking to leaders there, all of which has made one thing clearer to me than ever: While we are naturally focused on Iraq, a larger war is emerging. On one side are extremists and terrorists led …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Raw Story, toohotfortnr, Legal Fiction, American Footprints, Booman Tribune, QandO, Political Animal, Daily Kos, Matthew Yglesias, ConnecticutBLOG, The Moderate Voice, Brilliant at Breakfast, Eschaton, Ankle Biting Pundits, The Reaction, The American Street, Blue Crab Boulevard, Op For, PrairiePundit, AMERICAblog and Tom Watson
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Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
Joe Lieberman's declaration of war on Iran — (updated below) — In his Washington Post Op-Ed today, the Great Warrior Joe Lieberman predictably endorsed sending more troops to Iraq, in the process dutifully spouting (as always) every Bush/neoconservative talking point.
New York Times:
Bush Considers Up to 20,000 More Troops for Iraq — The Bush administration is considering an increase in troop levels in Iraq of 17,000 to 20,000, which would be accomplished in part by delaying the departure of two Marine regiments now deployed in Anbar Province, Pentagon officials said Thursday.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, democracyarsenal.org, Booman Tribune, New York Sun, Obsidian Wings and AMERICAblog
Darlene Superville / news.aol.com:
AP Poll: Bush Both a Villain and a Hero — WASHINGTON (AP) - Bad guy of 2006: President Bush. Good guy of 2006: President Bush. When people were asked in an AP-AOL News poll to name the villains and heroes of the year, Bush topped both lists, in a sign of these polarized times.
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CNN:
THE SITUATION ROOM — Saddam Hussein's Final Hours; James Brown's Life Celebrated at the Apollo — THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. — ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Christine. And to our viewers …
Discussion:
Political Animal
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Caroline Glick / Jerusalem Post:
Column One: The new Zionist occupiers — The diplomatic campaign against Iran has failed. After three years of sterile diplomacy, last Saturday the UN Security Council passed impotent sanctions against Iran. Iran greeted the sanctions by announcing its intention to expand …
Discussion:
PrairiePundit
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Ronald Bailey / Reason Magazine:
Grande "Conservative" Blogress Diva Ann Althouse Among the "True Believers" —What Really Happened? — I've been following with amazement and dismay the odd postings of Grande Conservative Blogress Diva Ann Althouse about Liberty Fund Conference that we both attended earlier this month.
Hindrocket / Power Line:
SOME THOUGHTS ON MOONBATTERY — A few days ago, radio talk show host Scott Hennen posted an email he received from a soldier in Iraq who witnessed John Kerry's visit to the troops in Baghdad. This soldier offered his own observations to the effect that Kerry's welcome was less than warm …
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River / Baghdad Burning:
End of Another Year... You know your country is in trouble when: — The UN has to open a special branch just to keep track of the chaos and bloodshed, UNAMI. — Abovementioned branch cannot be run from your country. — The politicians who worked to put your country in this sorry state …
Solomon Moore / Los Angeles Times:
Marines deny airstrikes used against insurgents in Ramadi — BAGHDAD — A large-scale U.S. military operation in Ramadi last month did not target suspected insurgents with airstrikes, U.S. military officials said. — Witness statements reported by The Times on Nov. 15 indicated …
Daily Mail:
Ken plans Trafalgar Square street party to celebrate 50 years of Castro — Ken Livingstone is planning a "massive festival" across London to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Fidel Castro's Cuban revolution. — The event, to be staged in 2009, will involve street parties …
Bob Woodward / Washington Post:
Ford, Nixon Sustained Friendship for Decades — Months before Richard M. Nixon set a relatively unknown Michigan congressman named Gerald R. Ford on the path to the White House, Nixon turned to Ford, who called himself the embattled president's "only real friend," to get him out of trouble.
Discussion:
New York Times, The Agonist, the talking dog, CorrenteWire, On Deadline, Wonkette, Althouse, Talking Points Memo and The Moderate Voice