Top Items:
Hope Yen / Associated Press:
Bush to announce Iraq plan on Wednesday — WASHINGTON - President Bush will address the nation at 9 p.m. EST Wednesday about his new approach for the war in Iraq, the White House said. Bush is expected to announce an increase of up to 20,000 additional U.S. troops.
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Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
Democrats Revise Agenda To Deal With War in Iraq — With Bush to Announce New Plan, Domestic Policy No Longer Primary Focus — Democratic leaders who had hoped to emphasize their domestic agenda in the opening weeks of Congress have concluded that Iraq will share top billing …
Discussion:
New York Times, The Huffington Post, TAPPED, NO QUARTER, Taylor Marsh, Wake up America, Think Progress and Middle Earth Journal
Peter Wallsten / Los Angeles Times:
Troop surge in Iraq would have McCain in tow — As a key backer of a buildup, his 2008 chances may ride on its success or failure. — WASHINGTON — As a onetime prisoner of war during Vietnam and decorated Navy officer, Sen. John McCain has based much of his political persona …
Wesley K. Clark / Washington Post:
The Smart Surge: Diplomacy — The odds are that this week President Bush will announce a "surge" of up to 20,000 additional U.S. troops into Iraq. Will this deliver a "win"? Probably not. But it will distract us from facing the deep-seated regional issues that must be resolved.
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John F. Burns / New York Times:
War Could Last Years, Commander Says — The new American operational commander in Iraq said Sunday that even with the additional American troops likely to be deployed in Baghdad under President Bush's new war strategy it might take another "two or three years" for American and Iraqi forces to gain the upper hand in the war.
wnbc.com:
Gas Smelled Over Large Area Of Manhattan — NEW YORK — People over a large part of New York City are smelling a gas, but no cause has been identified. — Numerous people have called 911 concerned about the odor. Con Edison, the Fire Department and the U.S. Coast Guard are investigating.
Discussion:
Pajamas Media, On Deadline, Blue Crab Boulevard, Abovethelaw.com, Wake up America and Scared Monkeys
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Robert Collier / San Francisco Chronicle:
Talks with radicals called key to ending violence — U.S. must negotiate with insurgents and militias, experts say — As President Bush prepares this week to announce a new plan for the war in Iraq, doubts are growing in Baghdad and among some international analysts over whether U.S. attempts …
RELATED:
Yitzhak Nakash / Los Angeles Times:If U.S. drops the ball, Iraq shatters
Discussion:
Political Animal
David Carr / New York Times:
Slimmer Time in the Age of the Internet — Richard Stengel, the managing editor of Time, took his wife and kids out to dinner Friday night. — As historic moments go, not a big deal, but it does reflect a seismic change. Time magazine, which has been coming out every Monday for over 36 years, hit the streets on Friday instead.
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Edmund L. Andrews / New York Times:
Tax Cuts Offer Most for Very Rich, Study Says — Families earning more than $1 million a year saw their federal tax rates drop more sharply than any group in the country as a result of President Bush's tax cuts, according to a new Congressional study. — The study, by the nonpartisan …
Glenn Greenwald / Crooks and Liars:
Pajamas Media and "major embarrassment" — connect the dots — (1) Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute (and a Contributing Editor of National Review), on his Pajamas Media blog last Thursday: "BREAKING NEWS -Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, is dead."
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Morris B. Hoffman / New York Times:
Free-Market Justice — SIXTEEN years as a state trial judge have left me with a deep respect for the professionalism and competence of the public defenders who handle felony cases for indigent criminal defendants in my courtroom. In fact, I've told friends, only half-jokingly …
Judd / Think Progress:
VIDEO FLASHBACK: Bush Says Sending More Troops To Iraq Would 'Undermine Our Strategy' — On Wednesday night, President Bush is expected to announce plans to escalate the war in Iraq by sending more U.S. troops. On June 28, 2005 — just 18 months ago — Bush said that sending more troops to Iraq would …
Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
ATTENTION: War supporters - your country needs you — (updated below - updated again) — One of the two principal architects of the "surge" strategy about to be adopted by the President is Frederick Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute. He recently appeared at an AEI event …
Terry Jones / Guardian:
They have made a killing — The US has spent a million dollars for every dead Iraqi - is that what they mean by value for money? — Early this year the Bush administration is to ask Congress to approve an additional $100bn for the onerous task of making life intolerable for the Iraqis.
The Blotter:
Dead U.S. Soldier in Anti-War Video 'Alive and Well' — Rhonda Schwartz and Maddy Sauer Report: — An Iraqi insurgent propaganda video, containing what is described as a Christmas message from a U.S. soldier taped just before he was killed, appeared on dozens of Web sites and on the al Jazeera network.
Discussion:
The Jawa Report
Hotline On Call:
Romney's Call-A-Thon Begins In Boston — Boston — Mitt Romney calls it the most "extraordinary advanced technology ever employed in a fundraising effort." More than 350 of Romney's friends and early financial supporters gathered today in a canvernous convention hall in South Boston.
Robert Novak / Chicago Sun Times:
Will Bush back lifting payroll tax cap? — More than the ascension of Nancy Pelosi & Co. was disturbing congressional Republicans last week. They ask this question: Will President Bush embrace a tax increase that would produce potential economic disaster and guaranteed political catastrophe?
Sudarsan Raghavan / Washington Post:
War's Toll on Iraqis Put at 22,950 in '06 — Statistics From Health Ministry Official Show Tripling of Civilian, Police Deaths — More than 17,000 Iraqi civilians and police officers died violently in the latter half of 2006, according to Iraqi Health Ministry statistics …
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