memeorandum: For Iraq's Shiites, a Dream Deferred Breeds Mistrust of U.S. (Sudarsan Raghavan/Washington Post)

16, 273 Deaths Reported in Iraq in 2006 — BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — As enraged crowds protested the hanging of Saddam Hussein across Iraq's Sunni heartland Monday, government officials reported that 16,273 Iraqi civilians, soldiers and police died violent deaths in 2006, a figure larger …

Discussion: HACKED

Sudarsan Raghavan / Washington Post:

For Iraq's Shiites, a Dream Deferred Breeds Mistrust of U.S. — BAGHDAD — As a dull winter sun nibbled away at the chilly morning, Hussein Lefta stood beside the Rahman Mosque. Before him, Shiite Muslim worshipers passed through an emerald green gate and shuffled across a stone-covered field.

Discussion: Informed Comment and Booman Tribune

jules crittenden:

Bad News! — Deaths are way down in Iraq. … What the enraged crowds of several hundred Sunnis in several different places and Saddam on a rope have to do with it, I'm not entirely sure, but it sure makes it look worse! Here's the bad news for al-P and other defeat fans: Deaths are down in Iraq.

Discussion: Liberty Street, The Reaction, toohotfortnr, Riehl World View and TBogg

Merv / PrairiePundit: How many Iraqis died as a result of enemy war crimes?

New York Times:

Chaos Overran Iraq Plan in '06, Bush Team Says — WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 — President Bush began 2006 assuring the country that he had a "strategy for victory in Iraq." He ended the year closeted with his war cabinet on his ranch trying to devise a new strategy, because the existing one had collapsed.

Discussion: ParaPundit, Unclaimed Territory, The Democratic Daily, The Left Coaster, CorrenteWire, The News Blog, Rising Hegemon and Washington Post

Nir Rosen / iraqslogger.com:

Hijacking Eid and Hanging Saddam — Timing and Hostile Repartee Creates Further Division — Saddam Hussein became the first modern Arab dictator to die violently since Egypt's Anwar Sadat in 1981. Saddam's hanging at the hands of chubby Iraqi men wearing ski masks is likely to be perceived …

Discussion: Jesus' General, AMERICAblog and Informed Comment

CNN:
Top Iraqi source: U.S. tried to delay execution

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Washington Post:

Democrats To Start Without GOP Input — As they prepare to take control of Congress this week and face up to campaign pledges to restore bipartisanship and openness, Democrats are planning to largely sideline Republicans from the first burst of lawmaking. — House Democrats intend to pass …

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs, The News Blog and AMERICAblog

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:
States Take Lead on Ethics Rules for Lawmakers

Discussion: Daily Kos and Prairie Weather

Michael Barbaro / New York Times:

Power-Sipping Bulbs Get Backing From Wal-Mart — As a way to cut energy use, it could not be simpler. Unscrew a light bulb that uses a lot of electricity and replace it with one that uses much less. — While it sounds like a promising idea, it turns out that the long-lasting …

Discussion: Cheat Seeking Missiles and NathanNewman.org

Herb Keinon / Jerusalem Post:

'Israel-Palestinian conflict key to Mideast problems' — Ban Ki-Moon, the new secretary-general of the United Nations, said on Monday that the Israeli-Palestinian issue was at the core of solving all the problems in the Middle East. — In an interview with the South Korean Hankyoreh newspaper …

Discussion: Secular Blasphemy, Power Line, Clarity & Resolve and Atlas Shrugs

Binyamin Netanyahu / Jerusalem Post: Iran can still be stopped

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Good Portents for 2007 — I just wanted to point out something that gave me a lot of hope today. Sue mentioned it in the comments — over at the WaPo, in response to Joe Lieberman's Op-Ed calling for a "troop surge," there are 37 pages of negative comments.

Discussion: Eschaton

Jill / Brilliant at Breakfast: The Brilliant 20 of 2006 — I'm a bit perturbed that the only woman …

Amy Goldstein / Washington Post:

The Private Arm of the Law — Some Question the Granting of Police Power to Security Firms — RALEIGH, N.C. — Kevin Watt crouched down to search the rusted Cadillac he had stopped for cruising the parking lot of a Raleigh apartment complex with a broken light.

Discussion: Gun Toting Liberal ™

Lisa Rein / Washington Post:

Hello, Grisham — So Long, Hemingway? — With Shelf Space Prized, Fairfax Libraries Cull Collections — You can't find "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" at the Fairfax City Regional Library anymore. Or "The Education of Henry Adams" at Sherwood Regional. Want Emily Dickinson's "Final Harvest"?

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard, The Corner and The Heretik

Lindsay Murdoch / Sydney Morning Herald:

Corby fears jail transfer — WHAT Schapelle Corby calls her living hell in Bali's Kerobokan prison is about to get worse. — Indonesian authorities are set to transfer the 29-year-old Brisbane woman to a prison in the East Java city of Malang, hundreds of kilometres from Kerobokan …

Discussion: TalkLeft and NEWS.com.au

Caroline Glick / Jerusalem Post:

Our World: The longest-running big lie — Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Yasser Arafat was a master of the big lie. Since he invented global terrorism with the founding of the Fatah terror organization in 1959, Arafat successfully portrayed himself as a freedom fighter while introducing the world …

Discussion: Power Line

Curt / Flopping Aces:

The AP Changing It's Ways? — Here we go again with the AP. Coalition forces had a firefight today in Baghdad in which they killed six of the enemy. During the fight two buildings caught fire: … But the AP, using a "anonymous" police source now (cough), print how the police say it was a airstrike:

Discussion: Power Line and A Blog For All

Multi-National Force: SIX TERRORISTS KILLED DURING BAGHDAD RAID

Jeffrey H. Birnbaum / Washington Post:

NRA Sounds Alarm of Not-So-Imminent Threat — In lobbying, a threat is good for business, whether it's genuine or not. — This might help to explain the dire warnings being issued by the National Rifle Association as the Democrats prepare to take control of Congress this week.

Discussion: MyDD and Scobleizer

Sweetness & Light:

The Eid Festival Around The World - Graphic Photos — The beauty of the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival as it is celebrated around the world: — Of course people have to eat. — But maybe the celebration of this and similarly grisly rituals feeds their blood-thirstiness.

Discussion: Clarity & Resolve

Wretchard / The Belmont Club:

US Strategy in Iraq for 2007? — A informed reader believes the eventual shape of the President's future plan in Iraq is taking shape. Pointing to informed speculation at Small Wars Journal, he thinks it is likely that there will be a "shift in mission" in Iraq, emphasizing a security solution …

Discussion: Winds of Change.NET