Top Items:
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 …
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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."
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, Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, My Left Wing, Prairie Weather, Fox News and Danger Room
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
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.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, New York Times, The Agonist, Taylor Marsh, Brian Beutler, TalkLeft, Open Left, The Atlantic Online and "7.62mm Justice" ™
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, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Political Radar, Taylor Marsh, The Carpetbagger Report, USA Today and D-Day
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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" …
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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Associated Press:
Report Will Be Critical of Iraq Leader — NEW YORK (AP) - A new assessment on Iraq may shed some negative light on Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The New York Times is reporting on its Web site that U.S. intelligence agencies will issue a new assessment Thursday expressing doubt …
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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.
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:
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.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, AMERICAblog, The Carpetbagger Report, The Van Der Galiën Gazette and The Raw Story
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.
Pajamas Media:
MANO A MANO: SPENCER V DERBYSHIRE — When Robert Spencer read John Derbyshire's "marvelously written and delightful to read" but "full of inconsistencies" review of his book, Religion of Peace? —Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn't, he promised Pajamas Media a response. He has delivered.
Andrew Sullivan / The Atlantic Online:
The Weimar President — His speech yesterday actually managed to shock. You might think that, in wartime, a president would acknowledge what no one denies is a terribly grim decision in front of us - whether to pursue a clearly unwinnable war in order to govern a clearly ungovernable country …
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.