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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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."
Dafna Linzer / Washington Post:
Troops Authorized to Kill Iranian Operatives in Iraq
Troops Authorized to Kill Iranian Operatives in Iraq
Discussion:
The Fourth Rail, alphabet city, Confederate Yankee, Blogs of War, The Road to Surfdom, toohotfortnr, Bradford Plumer, Solomonia, The Reaction, Larisa Alexandrovna's …, Bill Hobbs, Hot Air, Blue Crab Boulevard, Yourish.com, The Agonist, Macsmind, War and Piece, TPMmuckraker, Political Animal, State of the Day, Dean's World, Gun Toting Liberal ™, The Caucus, Jules Crittenden, First Draft and On Deadline
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
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 …
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.
Discussion:
QandO, Riehl World View, Washington Post, Suburban Guerrilla, Sirotablog and workingforchange.com …
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 …
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.
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
CBC News:
Ottawa reaches $10M settlement with Arar — Ottawa has reached a $10-million settlement with Maher Arar over Canada's role in a U.S. decision to deport him to Syria, where he was jailed and tortured. — Prime Minister Stephen Harper is scheduled to make the settlement announcement on Friday afternoon …
Henryk M. Broder / Spiegel Online:
"Hurray! We're Capitulating!" — The prevailing feeling among Muslims is that they are being abused by the West. What should we do about it? We might as well surrender. After all, we're already on our way. … Ten years ago, in the spring of 1996, the world still seemed more or less okay.