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" …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Firedoglake, DefenseLINK, TPMmuckraker, Political Animal, Dick Polman's American Debate, Booman Tribune, The Road to Surfdom, The Carpetbagger Report, Donklephant, The Democratic Daily, AMERICAblog, TIME: Swampland, Polimom Says, NewsBusters.org, Amygdala, The Heretik and State of the Day
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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.
Reuters:
Officials report sixth helicopter downing in Iraq — BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A helicopter operated by a private security firm came down in Iraq last week, U.S. officials said on Thursday, an incident that marks the sixth downing of a helicopter in three weeks. — Reports of the January 31 incident …
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
Laura Litvan / Bloomberg:
Pelosi May Decline Air Force Flights Over Plane Issue (Update1) — Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she might decline the use of Air Force planes to travel from Washington to her San Francisco district because the Pentagon won't guarantee her an aircraft that can make the trip non-stop.
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Media Matters for America:
CNN, MSNBC aired Donohue's criticism of Edwards bloggers without noting his bigotry — In a February 7 segment on the controversy surrounding two bloggers hired by John Edwards' presidential campaign, CNN aired a clip of Catholic League president Bill Donohue criticizing the bloggers for their …
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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.
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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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:
Right Wing News, Financial Times, Don Surber, The Sundries Shack, The Corner, Sister Toldjah, The Intersection and Framing Science
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.
Michael Fumento / fumento.com:
CODE OF SILENCE — Another source of useful stem cells has been found - and the media and the cloning crowd are trying keep it quiet. — While the Democratic-controlled House voted 253-174 to expand federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, it fell far short of the 290 votes needed …
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
Redstate:
Daring to Dream: Why I support R-B in '08 — In his end-of-year reflections, Jed Babbin captured the mixed sentiments of many conservatives these days—a rueful wound-licking after the November "thumpin'" exacerbated by a bemused distaste for the current crop of 2008 Republican presidential candidates.
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 …
Associated Press:
Gates describes Iraq evidence against Iran — Info on explosives shows Tehran 'very much involved,' Pentagon chief says — German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung, right, and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates listen to questions from journalists at a NATO gathering Friday in Seville, Spain.