Top Items:
Washington Post:
Official's Key Report On Iraq Is Faulted — 'Dubious' Intelligence Fueled Push for War — Intelligence provided by former undersecretary of defense Douglas J. Feith to buttress the White House case for invading Iraq included "reporting of dubious quality or reliability" …
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New York Times:
Pentagon Group Criticized for Prewar Intelligence Analysis — A Pentagon investigation into the handling of prewar intelligence has criticized civilian Pentagon officials for conducting their own intelligence analysis to find links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, but said the officials …
Mike Allen / The Politico:
All 435 House Members Can See Iraq Intelligence — and Talk on Iraq Next Week — To the surprise of the Bush administration, the House Intelligence Committee voted unanimously Wednesday night to allow all 435 House members to see the classified version of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq sent to the White House last week.
Spencer Ackerman / TPMmuckraker:
Intelligence or Policy Work? Feith Group's Legality Hinges on It — Douglas J. Feith's successor as undersecretary of defense for policy, Eric Edelman, has put together a 53-page rebuttal of the Pentagon Inspector General's report criticizing the Office of Special Plans (caution: PDF …
Think Progress:
VIDEO COMPILATION: Anna Nicole Smith And Our National Media Embarassment — The death of Anna Nicole Smith yesterday was a feeding frenzy for the national media. News of the war was drowned out: NBC's Nightly News devoted 14 seconds to Iraq compared to 3 minutes and 13 seconds Anna Nicole.
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Damien Cave / New York Times:
Iraq's No. 2 Health Official Is Held and Accused of Financing Shiite Militants — Iraqi and American troops arrested the second highest official in the Iraqi Health Ministry on Thursday, charging that he funneled millions of dollars to rogue Shiite militants who kidnapped and killed Iraqi civilians.
Faye Fiore / Los Angeles Times:
In capital, Pelosi plane dispute stays at high altitude — War and the deficit are the official business, but lawmakers' heads are in the clouds. — WASHINGTON — The plane commotion continued Thursday, with the nation's capital in a partisan fizz. — On a day when the federal deficit …
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Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:
NBC's Russert Wraps Up Prosecution Case in Libby Trial — The prosecution finished presenting its case in the perjury trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr. on Thursday, leaving his defense lawyers to try to undo the government's contention that Mr. Libby lied under oath during an investigation into the leak of a C.I.A. officer's identity.
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Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
"A Victory Of Sorts" — I love the smell of dropped felony counts in the morning. It smells like victory... of a sort. — Neil Lewis of the Times reports, sort of, on the latest in the Libby trial: … Which count? Not clear from this, but our panel of experts is betting on 33 (c), related to Judy Miller.
Discussion:
The Strata-Sphere
Matt Browner Hamlin / The Huffington Post:
The Bible That Bill Donohue Isn't Reading — It's clear that Bill Donohue of the Catholic League isn't reading the same version of the Bible that other Catholics are reading. Something tells me Donohue is missing out on some key passages when he continues to attack John Edwards for standing by Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan.
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Eric Fair / Washington Post:
An Iraq Interrogator's Nightmare — Aman with no face stares at me from the corner of a room. He pleads for help, but I'm afraid to move. He begins to cry. It is a pitiful sound, and it sickens me. He screams, but as I awaken, I realize the screams are mine.
Discussion:
Eschaton
Peter Slevin / Washington Post:
Obama Forged Political Mettle In Illinois Capitol — When Sen. Barack Obama heads downstate to Springfield on Saturday to announce his candidacy for president, he will speak in lofty tones of America and Abraham Lincoln, but also of a more prosaic topic: his own eight years in the Illinois Senate.
Discussion:
The Daily Background
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Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
'08 slate without standout for GOP — Many conservatives say they pick "none of the above" when faced with a choice of Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani as the 2008 Republican presidential nominee.
Ellen Goodman / Boston Globe:
No change in political climate — On the day that the latest report on global warming was released, I went out and bought a light bulb. OK, an environmentally friendly, compact fluorescent light bulb. — No, I do not think that if everyone lit just one little compact fluorescent light bulb, what a bright world this would be.
Discussion:
Financial Times, The Sundries Shack, The Corner, Sister Toldjah, The Intersection and Framing Science
Ian Sample / Guardian:
The brain scan that can read people's intentions — Call for ethical debate over possible use of new technology in interrogation — A team of world-leading neuroscientists has developed a powerful technique that allows them to look deep inside a person's brain and read their intentions before they act.
Edward Cody / Washington Post:
Despite a Ban, Chinese Youth Navigate to Internet Cafes — GEDONG, China — There was no sign, but Gedong's teenagers knew the way. Down a dusty alley just off Jicui Park and a few minutes' walk from local schools, the curtained door beckoned. Inside, in a dingy back room off the kitchen …
Discussion:
Amygdala
Michael Wilbon / Washington Post:
Sexuality Disclosed, Ignorance Exposed — Just as it would be a relief to arrive at the place in time when the color of the coaches in the Super Bowl matters not one bit, it would be fabulous to reach the day when a male athlete in a team sport doesn't have to worry about the reaction of declaring his homosexuality.
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
Journalism's Relentless Centrist — Last month, a group gathered in New York City to celebrate the 80th birthday of Charles Peters, one of the true revolutionaries in modern journalism. For more than 30 years, Peters edited the Washington Monthly— a liberal magazine with a small circulation …
Newsweek:
For the first time, poverty shifts to the U.S. suburbs. — Six years ago, Brian Lavelle moved out of the city of Cleveland to the nearby suburb of Lakewood for what he thought would be a better life. Back then, Lavelle, 38, was a forklift operator in a steel mill making $14 an hour.
Discussion:
Facing South
Peter Baker / Washington Post:
White House On Sidelines In 2008 Contest — Absence of a Candidate Shapes Race, Bush's Term — No one in the West Wing is booking tickets to Iowa. No one is scouring matchup poll numbers or hiring campaign managers or dialing for dollars. As candidate after candidate jumps into the race for president …