Top Items:
Associated Press:
Bush: 'I'm the decision-maker' in Iraq troops — President challenges lawmakers to give 'surge' plan a chance to work — President Bush, right, meets with Defense chief Robert Gates, left, and Army Lt. General David Petraeus at the White House. — NBC VIDEO — Jan. 26: President Bush speaks to reporters on Friday.
Discussion:
Sister Toldjah, The Moderate Voice, The Political Pit Bull, The Democratic Daily and Liberal Values
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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 …
Discussion:
The Fourth Rail, Confederate Yankee, alphabet city, Blogs of War, The Road to Surfdom, toohotfortnr, Bradford Plumer, Hot Air, Solomonia, Larisa Alexandrovna's …, Bill Hobbs, The Reaction, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Agonist, Yourish.com, Macsmind, War and Piece, TPMmuckraker, Political Animal, State of the Day, Gun Toting Liberal ™, Dean's World, The Caucus, First Draft, Jules Crittenden and On Deadline
William Branigin / Washington Post:
Bush: 'I'm the Decision-Maker' on Iraq — President Bush today rebuffed congressional opponents who want to stop his plan to increase U.S. troop strength in Iraq, declaring that "I'm the decision-maker" on the war effort and challenging skeptics to produce their own plan for success.
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report
Think Progress:
President Bush: 'I'm The Decision-Maker' — In remarks to reporters this morning, President Bush said he would ignore Congress' opposition to his escalation plan, saying, "I'm the decision-maker." Watch it: — UPDATE: Flashback to 4/18/06: "I'm the decider, and I decide what is best."
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.
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.
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John Hawkins / Right Wing News:
Right-Of-Center Bloggers Select The Most & Least Desired 2008 Republican Nominee (First Half Of 2007 Edition) — Right Wing News emailed more than 230 right-of-center bloggers and asked them to send us a ranked list 1-5 of the candidates that they would most like to take the Republican nomination …
Associated Press:
House Speaker Pelosi visits Iraq — BAGHDAD, Iraq - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) and Rep. John Murtha (news, bio, voting record), both vocal war critics, were in the Iraqi capital Friday at the head of a delegation of House members on a fact-finding mission …
Discussion:
Waking the Giant
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Maamoun Youssef / Associated Press:
Insurgents post video of downed copter — CAIRO, Egypt - An insurgent group that has claimed responsibility for the downing this week of a U.S. helicopter in Baghdad that killed five Americans posted a video Thursday on an Islamic Web site showing the wreckage and two bodies.
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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.
Discussion:
Booman Tribune, Washington Post, The Impolitic, Andrew Sullivan, Reason Magazine, Stop The ACLU and The Heretik
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.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Firedoglake, Booman Tribune, The Moderate Voice, Outside The Beltway, AMERICAblog, PoliBlog (TM) and JustOneMinute
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Michael J. Totten:
Tough Times Ahead for Nasrallah — When Hugh Hewitt interviewed me three weeks ago we discussed the possibility of Hezbollah seizing the road to the airport, a threat that appeared, at the time, to be empty. Here is what he and I said then: … But Hezbollah went further, after all.
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Editor and Publisher:
AP Disputes Military Claims on Deaths of Americans in Iraq — BAGHDAD Contrary to U.S. military statements, four U.S. soldiers did not die repelling a sneak attack at the governor's office in the Shiite holy city of Karbala last week. New information obtained by The Associated Press shows …
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Energy Independence? — A Serious Plan Requires Taxes, ANWR and Nukes — Is there anything more depressing than yet another promise of energy independence in yet another State of the Union address? By my count, 24 of the 34 State of the Union addresses since the oil embargo of 1973 have proposed solutions to our energy problem.
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 …
Jules Crittenden:
Al Qaeda-Cowed Nation Persecutes U.S. Soldiers — A Spanish court last week issued a "search and capture" warrant against three soldiers involved in the Hotel Palestine incident, in which Spanish cameraman Jose Cuoso and Reuters's Taras Protsyuk were killed.
Discussion:
Power Line
Dean Barnett / Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog:
FAQ - The Pledge! — 1) I see you right wing bloggers who are demanding a loyalty oath as virtually goose-stepping through the internet. I am gobsmacked. I am filled with heart-ache. — Huh? Are there any questions? — 2) What is the purpose of the pledge? — It is not a loyalty oath.
Discussion:
Power Line, Right Wing News, Riehl World View, IMAO, Andrew Sullivan, Daily Pundit and Confederate Yankee
Steven Greenhouse / New York Times:
Sharp Decline in Union Members in '06 — Union membership dropped sharply last year in the United States, as the percentage of manufacturing workers in unions fell below the percentage of American workers in unions for the first time in modern history. — The Bureau of Labor Statistics …
Kathy Kiely / American Journalism Review:
Politico Mojo — FEBRUARY/MARCH ISSUE PREVIEW » Robert Allbritton hopes his ambitious new print and Internet ventures will lure political junkies and benefit from a fast-changing media landscape. — Kathy Kiely is a USA Today Washington correspondent.
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