Top Items:
Peter Baker / Washington Post:
NIE: Iraq 'Unable to Govern' Itself Effectively — Iraq remains "unable to govern" itself effectively and hobbled by the absence of strong leadership, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's inability to broker political accord continues to make him vulnerable, according to a new U.S. intelligence report released today.
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, Heading Right, My Left Wing, Prairie Weather, Gateway Pundit and Fox News
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New York Times:
Report Cites Grave Concerns on Iraq's Government — The government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki will become "more precarious" over the next six months to a year, and while its security forces have improved they are not strong enough to operate without outside help …
Discussion:
The Belgravia Dispatch, Right Wing Nut House, Los Angeles Times, Flopping Aces, Associated Press, Weekly Standard, MSNBC, Wake up America, Time, Obama HQ, SWJ Blog, Daily Kos, Danger Room, NewsBusters.org, Wizbang, Connecting.the.Dots, INDCJournal, Macsmind, The Democratic Daily, MoJoBlog and Washington Post
Satyam / Think Progress:
NIE: Violence To 'Remain High' In Iraq Over Next 'Six To Twelve Months' — Today, the Bush administration released an update to the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), entitled, "Prospects for Iraq's Stability: Some Security Progress but Political Reconciliation Elusive."
Rich Lowry / The Corner:
Here Are the Key Judgments of the NIE (Sorry for the Long Post) — There have been measurable but uneven improvements in Iraq's security situation since our last National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq in January 2007. The steep escalation of rates of violence has been checked for now …
Discussion:
Wake up America
Horses Mouth:
Okay, it's admittedly not hard to have fun at Joe Lieberman's expense, but this one's too good to pass up. — This morning Lieberman and his chief flack Marshall Wittmann put out a press release containing Lieberman's usual attacks on Democrats over Iraq. The duo faulted "Congressional critics" …
Democrats.senate.gov:
Reid: NIE Highlights Need For Urgent Change In Iraq Policy
Reid: NIE Highlights Need For Urgent Change In Iraq Policy
Discussion:
CNN, Associated Press, The Carpetbagger Report, ePluribus Media Community, AMERICAblog and The Gavel
Associated Press:
Fox-Backed Democrat Debate Called Off — Sept. 23 Debate Will Not Be Held; Major Candidates Had Been Planning To Skip — (AP) Fox News and a black political group say they will not hold a Sept. 23 Democratic presidential debate in Detroit, which the leading candidates already were planning to skip.
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John Edwards for President:
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery: "To Build One America, End the Game" — Hanover, New Hampshire — August 23, 2007 — This election is unlike any we have faced before. The stakes are higher. And the challenges we face as a nation are greater than at any time in memory.
CNN:
Sen. Warner: Start bringing troops home by Christmas — WASHINGTON (CNN) — One of the Senate's top Republicans has called on President Bush to start bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq by Christmas, telling reporters Thursday that a pullout was needed to spur Iraqi leaders to action.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Hullabaloo, Political Radar, The Carpetbagger Report, Taylor Marsh, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, D-Day and USA Today
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Faiz / Think Progress:
Sen. Warner Calls On President Bush To Begin Iraq Withdrawal In September — Sen. John Warner (R-VA), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, recently returned from a visit to Iraq. Today, he held a press conference to discuss his impressions from that trip.
James L. / Swing State Project:
AZ-01: Under Fire, Renzi Will Retire — With the retirements of Reps. Hastert (IL-14), Pryce (OH-15), and Pickering (MS-03) last week, the Republican caucus has been bracing itself for more surprises. Today brings another retirement: embattled Rep. Rick Renzi (AZ-01). From Roll Call:
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Rusty / The Jawa Report:
NYC Muslim Calls Korean Hostages "Terrorists", Smiles at thought of Daniel Pearl Style Beheading — American Muslim convert and New York City native Yousef al-Khattab outdoes himself and compares the Korean hostages to "terrorists" and suggests that because they are guilty of the "crime" …
USA Today:
Giuliani out to win a state 'made for him' — DERRY, N.H. — Rudy Giuliani was telling a roomful of voters about a dream he had three times, when he interrupted himself. "Any psychiatrists here? Want me to lay down and tell you this? You do dream analysis, right?"
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New York Times:
Obscure Company Is Behind 9/11 Demolition Work — The John Galt Corporation of the Bronx, hired last year for the dangerous and complex job of demolishing the former Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty Street, where two firefighters died last Saturday, has apparently never done any work like it.
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Juan Cole:
Military Coup Planned for Iraq? — A rumor is circulating among well-connected and formerly high-level Iraqi bureaucrats in exile in places like Damascus that a military coup is being prepared for Iraq. I received the following from a reliable, knowledgeable contact.
Chris Bowers / Open Left:
Two General Election Maps — Taking the most recent poll from each state in the country from sources like Polling Report, Rasmussen and Survey USA, I have been able to piece together maps showing the state by state general election between both Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, and also between Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney.
John M. Broder / New York Times:
Rule to Expand Mountaintop Coal Mining — The Bush administration is set to issue a regulation on Friday that would enshrine the coal mining practice of mountaintop removal. The technique involves blasting off the tops of mountains and dumping the rubble into valleys and streams.
Associated Press:
Arizona School Suspends 13-Year-Old Boy for Drawing Gun — MESA, Arizona — Officials at an Arizona school suspended a 13-year-old boy for sketching what looked like a gun, saying the action posed a threat to his classmates. — The boy's parents said the drawing was a harmless doodle and school officials overreacted.