Top Items:
Marc Santora / New York Times:
Hussein Video Grips Iraq; Attacks Go On — Saddam Hussein never bowed his head, until his neck snapped. — His last words were equally defiant. — "Down with the traitors, the Americans, the spies and the Persians." — The former ruler of Iraq's final hour began about 5 a.m. …
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Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Video: Saddam's execution uncut; Update: Translation added — As usual, Rusty Shackleford Vinnie comes through with the vid. Obviously this wasn't shot by the official Iraqi cameraman: he was up on the platform with Saddam and using a real lens, not a cell phone.
Telegraph:
Saddam's end: tormented as his death loomed — In pictures: Life and times of Saddam Hussein — Hands tied behind his back, feet bound, Saddam Hussein shuffled on to the red-painted metal gallows for his execution yesterday. — Iraqi TV showed Saddam Hussein being taken to the gallows and the noose being put over his head
Vinnie / The Jawa Report:
Saddam Execution Video — Thanks to Erin in the comments, the part of the Saddam video you're not seeing in the media. — Although it's poor quality, it's quite obviously Saddam Hussein. — And remember, it's not my fault if you hit the play button. — Update: More Vid copies and coverage in our first post here.
Michael James / Bizarre Bazaar:
SADDAM'S HANGING — UNCUT — Several hours after Saddam Hussein was hanged this morning in Baghdad, the state-run television channel, Iraqia, began to run edited video, without sound, of the run-up to the hanging. The video shows Saddam being guided up the steps to the top of the gallows …
Discussion:
TalkLeft
Bill / INDCJournal:
Dateline Baghdad: "This is for Saddam." — Media watching media at the Baghdad convention center. — As Greyhawk notes, manifesting on an Air Force flight is not at all the same as actually getting on a flight; it's been a challenging day of travel. Lowlight: waking up in a tent at 3AM, dusted by a fine coating of chalky powder.
David Kaspar / Davids Medienkritik:
Post Execution Media Reaction: The Death Penalty - Really a Wedge Issue? — (By Ray D.) — Majorities in USA and Europe Favor Saddam Execution — The recent results of a poll conducted by Novatris/Harris for the French daily Le Monde on the death penalty shocked the editors and writers at Germany's left-leaning SPIEGEL ONLINE.
Discussion:
Don Surber
John F. Burns / New York Times:
Feared and Pitiless; Fearful and Pitiable
Feared and Pitiless; Fearful and Pitiable
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Captain's Quarters, The Belgravia Dispatch, ¡No Pasarán!, Gateway Pundit, Power Line, Don Surber and Macsmind
Sudarsan Raghavan / Washington Post:
Saddam Hussein Is Put to Death
Saddam Hussein Is Put to Death
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, Hot Air, the talking dog, Power Line, New York Times, toohotfortnr, ScrappleFace and Winds of Change.NET
Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
THE 10 MOST OUTRAGEOUS CIVIL LIBERTIES VIOLATIONS OF 2006. — I love those year-end roundups—ubiquitous annual lists of greatest films and albums and lip glosses and tractors. It's reassuring that all human information can be wrestled into bundles of 10.
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Rob Crilly / Times of London:
Hunt for Al-Qaeda men in Mogadishu — SOMALIA's prime minister has asked clan elders in Mogadishu to surrender Al-Qaeda suspects who are believed to be sheltering in the city after his forces, with Ethiopian military support, drove out Islamic militias which controlled the capital.
Discussion:
PrairiePundit
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Robert Hodierne / militarycity.com:
Down on the war — Poll: More troops unhappy with Bush's course in Iraq — The American military — once a staunch supporter of President Bush and the Iraq war — has grown in creasingly pessimistic about chances for victory. — For the first time, more troops disapprove of the president's han dling of the war than approve of it.
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Jeffrey Jones / Reuters:
Huge ice shelf breaks free in Canada's far north — Source: Reuters — CALGARY, Alberta, Dec 29 (Reuters) - A chunk of ice bigger than the area of Manhattan broke from an ice shelf in Canada's far north and could wreak havoc if it starts to float westward toward oil-drilling regions …
Discussion:
Liberal Values
Michael Beschloss / Newsweek:
Ford's Long Shadow — An unlikely president, Gerald Ford steadied America and, in an unpublished interview, mused about her fate. — Vice President Gerald Ford and wife Betty escort First Lady Pat Nixon and President Richard Nixon across the South Lawn to Marine 1 following Nixon's farewell statement on Aug. 9, 1974.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Richard A. Clarke / Washington Post:
While You Were at War . . . In every administration, there are usually only about a dozen barons who can really initiate and manage meaningful changes in national security policy. For most of 2006, some of these critical slots in the Bush administration have been vacant …
Discussion:
Economist's View
Steve Benen / Political Animal:
ROCK OF AGES, AGES OF ROCKS.... An interesting controversy at the Grand Canyon has been percolating for three years now, and the issue, unfortunately, remains unresolved. — First, a little background. In August 2003, the National Park Service approved a creationist text, "Grand Canyon …