Top Items:
Michelle Malkin:
In the slums of Baghdad — My Hot Air colleague Bryan Preston and I have been in Iraq, embedded with an incredibly dedicated Army unit in Baghdad tasked with training Iraqi security forces (both Shia and Sunni) conducting counterinsurgency operations, and carrying out civil affairs work.
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Associated Press:
Al-Maliki gives Mahdi Army blunt choice: disarm or face American onslaught — Canadian Press: STEVEN R. HURST AND QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA — BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq's prime minister has told Mahdi Army militiamen they must surrender their arms or face an all-out assault by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces …
Juan / Informed Comment:
Bush Sends GIs to his Private Fantasyland — To listen to Bush's speech on Wednesday, you would imagine that al-Qaeda has occupied large swathes of Iraq with the help of Syria and Iran and is brandishing missiles at the US mainland. That the president of the United States can come …
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Bush Adds Troops in Bid to Secure Iraq — President Bush embraced a major tactical shift on Wednesday evening in the war in Iraq when he declared that the only way to quell sectarian violence there was to send more than 20,000 additional American troops into combat.
New York Times:
Promising Troops Where They Aren't Really Wanted — As President Bush challenges public opinion at home by committing more American troops, he is confronted by a paradox: an Iraqi government that does not really want them. — The Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki …
Washington Post:
Intensified Combat on Streets Likely — President Bush's plan to send tens of thousands of U.S. and Iraqi reinforcements to Baghdad to jointly confront Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias is likely to touch off a more dangerous phase of the war, featuring months of fighting in the streets …
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:Bush's Strategy for Iraq Risks Confrontations
Discussion:
Washington Post, Althouse, The Strata-Sphere, The Democratic Daily, PoliPundit.com, QandO and BAGnewsNotes
New York Times:The Real Disaster — President Bush told Americans last night …
Discussion:
Decision '08
Howard Fineman / Newsweek:A Crisis of Confidence — Bush's way forward may be sensible.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Middle Earth Journal, GregsOpinion.com, Washington Post, PSoTD and CorrenteWire
Associated Press:Iraq PM cracks down in Shiite militiamen
Discussion:
New York Post, Captain's Quarters, Jay Reding.com, AMERICAblog, Redstate, TPMCafe blogs and Riehl World View
White House:President's Address to the Nation
Discussion:
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Washington Post:
Report: U.S. Troops Raid Iranian Consulate in Iraq — U.S. troops raided an Iranian consulate in northern Iraq late Wednesday night and detained several people, Iran's main news agency reported today, prompting protests from Tehran just hours after President Bush pledged to crack down on the Islamic Republic's role in Iraqi violence.
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BBC:
US forces storm Iranian consulate — US forces have stormed an Iranian consulate in the northern Iraqi town of Irbil and seized six members of staff. — The troops raided the building at about 0300 (0001GMT), taking away computers and papers, according to Kurdish media and senior local officials.
Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Democrats Plan to Fight Expansion of Troops — The new Democratic leaders of Congress on Wednesday accused President Bush of ignoring strong American sentiment against the war in Iraq and said they would build a bipartisan campaign against his proposed military expansion.
RELATED:
Washington Post:Democrats Aim to Block Funds for Plan
Discussion:
MyDD, The Hill, Hot Air, Bark Bark Woof Woof, The Strata-Sphere, AMERICAblog, Swampland, Think Progress, Redstate and Sirotablog
Terence Hunt / Associated Press:Bush takes blame in Iraq, adds troops
Discussion:
Shakespeare's Sister
Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit.com:
The Glenn and Helen Show: Mitt Romney on the War, the Campaign and the Future — Mitt Romney has officially declared his interest in the 2008 Presidential election. In this interview, he responds to a controversial YouTube video about his positions on abortion and other social issues …
Discussion:
Boston Globe, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Right Wing News, ElephantBiz, Hot Air, Power Line and BuzzMachine
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Confederate Yankee:
J-DAMN — And so a major Associated Press claim in "Jamilgate" takes an apparently fatal hit. — According to Bill Costlow of CPATT (Civilian Police Assistance Training Team) in Baghdad, and as forwarded by Lt. Michael Dean of Multinational Corps-Iraq/Joint Operations Command Public Affairs …
RADAR:
DLC TAPS HAROLD FORD AS NEXT CHAIR — Young, black, and good-looking, Harold Ford is the kind of comer that the Democratic Party latches onto. But last November, after losing the closest Senate race in Tennessee history to Republican Bob Corker, the 10-year congressman suddenly found himself out of a job.
Hotline On Call:
Breaking: Dean Chooses Denver — The labor pains were hard, but the DNC finally has its 2008 convention city locked down: Denver. — A Democrat who was briefed said that chairman Howard Dean made the final decision yesterday, weeks later than planned. DNC comm. dir. Karen Finney declined to confirm the choice.
Alan Sipress / Washington Post:
Too Casual To Sit on Press Row? — Bloggers' Credentials Boosted With Seats at the Libby Trial — When the trial of Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice opens next week, scores of journalists are expected to throng the federal courtroom …
Russ Feingold / JSOnline:
Use the power of the purse — Keeping our brave troops in Iraq indefinitely is having a devastating impact on our national security and military readiness. — That's why I have consistently advocated that we set a timetable to redeploy our troops from Iraq.
DefenseLINK:
Responsibility For Security In An Najaf Province Transferred To Iraqis — Third Iraqi Province Handed Over This Year — The goal of U.S. security strategy in Iraq is to develop the Iraqis' capacity to secure their country while carrying out a campaign to defeat the terrorists and neutralize the insurgency.
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