Top Items:
Dafna Linzer / Washington Post:
Troops Authorized to Kill Iranian Operatives in Iraq — Administration Strategy Stirs Concern Among Some Officials — The Bush administration has authorized the U.S. military to kill or capture Iranian operatives inside Iraq as part of an aggressive new strategy to weaken Tehran's influence across …
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Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Getting Serious With Iran In Iraq — The Bush administration has decided to escalate the response to Iranian infiltration in Iraq by ending a "catch and release" program and operating more aggressively against Iranian agents, especially Revolutionary Guard elements.
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
In Ex-Aide's Testimony, A Spin Through VP's PR — Memo to Tim Russert: Dick Cheney thinks he controls you. — This delicious morsel about the "Meet the Press" host and the vice president was part of the extensive dish Cathie Martin served up yesterday when the former Cheney communications director took …
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Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:
Ex-Cheney Aide Contradicts Libby — A former spokeswoman for Vice President Dick Cheney gave testimony in the trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr. on Thursday that directly contradicted Mr. Libby's version of events during a crucial period that is at the center of the perjury case against him.
Marc Santora / New York Times:
Iraq Leader and Sunni Officials in Clash on Security — Iraq's Shiite prime minister and Sunni lawmakers hurled insults at one another during a raucous session of Parliament on Thursday, with the prime minister threatening a Sunni lawmaker with arrest and the Sunni speaker of Parliament threatening to quit.
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New York Times:
Groups Head to Capital to Step Up Antiwar Drive — Tens of thousands of demonstrators are set to arrive in the capital this weekend for a major antiwar march, staging the first of several protests intended to persuade the new Democratic-controlled Congress to do more than simply speak against President Bush's Iraq policy.
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Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Secrecy Is at Issue in Suits Opposing Spy Program — The Bush administration has employed extraordinary secrecy in defending the National Security Agency's highly classified domestic surveillance program from civil lawsuits. Plaintiffs and judges' clerks cannot see its secret filings.
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Stella Dawson / Reuters:
DAVOS-U.S. invasion was "idiot decision"-Iraq vice president — Source: Reuters — The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 was an "idiot decision" and Iraqi troops now need to secure Baghdad to ensure the country's future, Vice-President Adel Abdul Mahdi said on Thursday.
Discussion:
Jules Crittenden
Aaron Klein / WorldNetDaily:
Jimmy Carter: Too many Jews on Holocaust council — Former president also rejected Christian historian because name sounded 'too Jewish' — TEL AVIV - Former President Jimmy Carter once complained there were "too many Jews" on the government's Holocaust Memorial Council, Monroe Freedman …
Discussion:
Kesher Talk, The Moderate Voice, PoliPundit.com, shotinthedark.info/wp, Hot Air and Tammy Bruce
John Bresnahan / The Politico:
Feingold Pushes Plan to Cut Off War Funds — Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., has scheduled a hearing next Tuesday in his Judiciary Committee subcommittee to explore whether Congress has the authority to cut off funding for the U.S. military campaign in Iraq. The move comes as Congress prepares …
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Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:
Hagel Ponders White House Run As War Criticism Raises His Profile — His Republican colleagues regard him warily. The White House barely speaks to him. He is reviled by his party's conservative base. — Looks as though Sen. Chuck Hagel is on a roll. — Both parties have their Iraq war contrarians.
Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
The Meaning of Marty Peretz — (updated below - updated again) — I've written once before, several months ago, about the unbelievably overt anti-Arab/anti-Muslim bigotry that spews forth regularly from The New Republic Editor Marty Peretz, typically at his blog, Spine.
Andrew Klavan / Los Angeles Times:
Is Hollywood too timid for the war on terror? — Thanks to political correctness, you don't see much about the greatest conflict of our time on the big screen. — I RECENTLY attended "FBI 101," a G-man seminar for Hollywood writers. I do this kind of thing a lot: law enforcement seminars …
Discussion:
Hot Air
Jonathan S. Landay / Real Cities:
Rockefeller: Cheney applied 'constant' pressure to stall investigation on flawed Iraq intelligence — WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney exerted "constant" pressure on the Republican former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee to stall an investigation into the Bush administration's use …
Discussion:
Larisa Alexandrovna's …, The Moderate Voice, Macsmind, Don Surber, CNN and Democratic Underground
Patrick Healy / New York Times:
Sharpton Goes to Washington to Talk to Party's '08 Hopefuls — The Rev. Al Sharpton, a man who says he knows a well-tailored suit from a fake, went to the United States Senate on Thursday to do some comparison shopping, meeting separately with four Democrats who are seeking the 2008 presidential nomination to discuss civil rights.
Discussion:
Althouse
Justin M. Norton / Associated Press:
R.I. School Bans Talking at Lunch — WARWICK, R.I. (AP) — Class, from now on there will be no talking at lunch. — A Roman Catholic elementary school adopted new lunchroom rules this week requiring students to remain silent while eating. The move comes after three recent choking incidents in the cafeteria.
Discussion:
shotinthedark.info/wp