Top Items:
speaker.gov:
Congressional Leaders Call on President to Reject Flawed Iraq Troop Surge — Washington, DC—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi today sent the following letter to President Bush urging him to reject his reported plan to escalate the war in Iraq by increasing troop levels …
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway, Wake up America, The Carpetbagger Report, BobGeiger.com and AMERICAblog
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David Stout / New York Times:
Top Democrats Oppose More Troops in Iraq — As President Bush prepares to present his new strategy on Iraq to the American people, Democratic Congressional leaders said today they will fight any approach that calls for deploying more United States troops there.
President George W. Bush / Huffington Post:
DEM LETTER TO BUSH: "WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO REJECT ANY PLANS THAT CALL FOR OUR GETTING OUR TROOPS ANY DEEPER INTO IRAQ".... Dear Mr. President: — The start of the new Congress brings us opportunities to work together on the critical issues confronting our country.
Tom Curry / MSNBC:
McCain calls for substantial, sustained surge — Cites Lieberman's re-election as proof Americans don't want Iraq exit — WASHINGTON - The 2006 election has not changed Sen. John McCain's support for victory in Iraq one iota. — While some Democrats have interpreted their party's triumphs …
Bill Brubaker / Washington Post:Democrats Urge Bush Not to Increase Troops in Iraq
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Bryan / Hot Air:
The Lonely Senator, Update — Via InstaPundit, the intrepid reporter whose site insinuated that the photo of John Kerry sitting alone in a chow hall in Iraq was itself bogus, has now verified that the photo is real, but the absence of troops in it is misleading: … And he backs it up by talking to the reporters involved.
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Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit.com:
ARE TODAY'S ELECTRONIC GADGETS WORTH THE MONEY? USA Today says that some are and some aren't: … I'm going to be attending the Consumer Electronics Show myself, as part of the Popular Mechanics contingent — and yes, it was awfully nice of the PM folks to invite me along.
Discussion:
USA Today
Ann Althouse / Althouse:
In which I annoy you once again with the asssertion that I'm a moderate. — I took this test — recommended by Andrew Sullivan — and scored a 21 on a political scale that ran from 0 (100% liberal) to 40 (100% conservative). Sullivan scored 26, by the way. — UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds takes the test and, like me, gets a 21.
Eugene Volokh / The Volokh Conspiracy:
TRUST TEST: Andrew Sullivan, InstaPundit, and Ann Althouse link to this quiz that purports to measure where you stand on the liberal-conservative spectrum. I tend to agree with InstaPundit: "it was a pretty dumb test." — "Which do you trust more: The Pentagon or The U.S. Postal Service?," the test asks.
Nico / Think Progress:
CBS: Military Tells Bush It Has Only 9,000 Troops Available For 'Surge' — A State Department official leaked word this week that President Bush is considering sending "no more than 15,000 to 20,000 U.S. troops" to Iraq. "Instead of a surge, it is a bump," the official said.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Booman Tribune, rubber hose, Eschaton, KnoxViews, Real Cities and Daily Kos
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Oliver North / Human Events:
More Troops = More Targets — For months, advisers to President George W. Bush have been trying to convince the commander in chief that more U.S. troops in Iraq will improve prospects for victory. Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), both recently returned from Iraq …
Reuters:
Cleric gunned down in Gaza after plea for calm — GAZA (Reuters) - Unidentified gunmen shot dead a Muslim cleric after he delivered a sermon in the Gaza Strip on Friday calling for an end to fierce factional fighting between Hamas and Fatah, hospital officials and local residents said.
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Alexis Debat Reports / The Blotter:
American Passports Found on Bodies of Al Qaeda Fighters in Somalia — Alexis Debat Reports: — A senior official in the Somali government's new Ministry of the Interior told ABC News government forces had recovered "dozens of foreign passports," including several American passports …
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Reid Takes Center Stage, but He's Hardly the Star of the Show — Harry Reid is often called the man from Searchlight, Nevada. Nobody has ever called him the man from Spotlight. — The soft-spoken Democrat became the most powerful figure in the United States Senate yesterday.
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United States Central Command:
Jihadist Website: Al-Zawahiri Urges Somalis, Muslims To Fight Ethiopian Forces — A jihadist website is observed on 5 January to post several links to 5-minute and 30-second audio message by Al-Qa'ida's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri entitled "Rise up and Support Your Brothers in Somalia."
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Bryan / Hot Air:
Barney Frank accuses Bush of genocide "ethnic cleansing" Major Update — There's no other way around it: When you accuse someone of perpetrating "ethnic cleansing" in any way, shape or form, you are accusing them of genocide. — Genocide. Let that word work its way around your mind for an moment.
Think Progress:
William J. Fallon: Wrong Man For The Job — At a time when the United States is engaged in protracted ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, one of the worst moves the Bush administration could make is to appoint someone with no background in land warfare to oversee these operations.
Pete Yost / Associated Press:
White House visitor records closed — WASHINGTON - The White House and the Secret Service quietly signed an agreement last spring in the midst of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal declaring that records identifying visitors to the White House are not open to the public.
Andrew Roth / Club for Growth:
The New House Appropriation 'Cardinals' — The Democrats have selected their new "cardinals" for the House Appropriations Committee. The cardinals are the earmark-happy chairmen of the 12 subcommittees, which includes the chairman of the overall committee (David Obey).
Joe Strupp / Editor and Publisher:
AP's Editor Criticizes Those Who Questioned Iraq Source — NEW YORK Associated Press Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll on Friday criticized those who questioned the existence of an AP Iraq source, who was proven this week to be real, saying the scrutiny has now endangered the man's life.
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