Top Items:
Washington Post:
Airstrike at Baghdad airport kills Iran's most revered military leader, Qassem Soleimani, Iraqi state television reports — BREAKING: It was not clear who carried out the strike, but the death of Soleimani, the Iranian Quds Force commander, seems certain to send tensions soaring between the United States and Iran.
Discussion:
Townhall, Daily Kos, Slate, Al Jazeera, Political Wire, The Gateway Pundit, Manila Bulletin News, Common Dreams, PJ Media Home, Mediaite, Fox News, Patterico's Pontifications, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Investigative Project …, Breitbart, National Review, Power Line, Politico and The National Interest
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New York Times:
U.S. Strike in Iraq Kills Qassim Suleimani, Commander of Iranian Forces — Suleimani was planning attacks on Americans across the region, leading to an airstrike in Baghdad, the Pentagon statement said. Iran's supreme leader called for vengeance. — WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. …
Discussion:
U.S. Embassy & Consulates …, Washington Post, Townhall, VICE, Redstate, HuffPost, Mediaite, Power Line, Carnegie Middle East Center, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, The Atlantic, emptywheel, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, New York Post, The Week, Quartz, Spectator USA, DNyuz, The Drive, Reason, Denver Post and Daily Kos
Qassim Abdul-zahra / Associated Press:
Iran's Gen. Soleimani killed in airstrike at Baghdad airport — Baghdad (AP) — Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, was killed in an airstrike at Baghdad's international airport Friday, Iraqi television and three Iraqi officials said.
Andrew Exum / The Atlantic:
Iran Loses Its Indispensable Man — The United States has killed Major General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps's Quds Force. The United States is now in a hot war with Iran after having waged war via proxies for the past several decades.
Discussion:
Washington Post and Gizmodo
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE:
Statement by the Department of Defense — At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, Axios, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, The Intercept, Daily Kos, Disrn, intelNews.org, MSNBC, New York Times, Quartz, Financial Times, NBC News, NPR and TheStreet
Stanley McChrystal / Foreign Policy:
Iran's Deadly Puppet Master — Gen. Stanley McChrystal explains exactly why Qassem Suleimani is so dangerous. — The decision not to act is often the hardest one to make—and it isn't always right. In 2007, I watched a string of vehicles pass from Iran into northern Iraq.
Discussion:
New York Times
Mohammad Ali Shabani / The Guardian:
Donald Trump's assassination of Qassem Suleimani will come back to haunt him — The Quds force leader had the status of national hero even among secular Iranians. His death could act as a rallying cry — The US has assassinated Qassem Suleimani, the famed leader of Iran's Quds force …
Discussion:
The Intercept and DNyuz
Zachary Basu / Axios:
Republicans celebrate death of Qasem Soleimani — The Pentagon's confirmation Thursday night that Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian military commander and one of the regime's most powerful figures, was killed in airstrike ordered by President Trump set off immediate shock waves throughout Washington.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Breitbart, One America News Network and The Hill
The Daily Beast:
U.S. Strike Kills Iran's Most Important Military Commander — Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the Iranian Qods Force, is dead in Iraq, perhaps turning a proxy war into a direct one. — In a drastic escalation of the U.S.' generation-long wars in the Middle East, a U.S. strike on Thursday …
Discussion:
Politico, Associated Press, CNN, Axios, The Hill, Algemeiner.com, The Miscellanies, One America News Network and Breitbart
Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:
Trump Calls the Ayatollah's Bluff — Column: And scores a victory against terrorism — The successful operation against Qassem Soleimani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, is a stunning blow to international terrorism and a reassertion of American might. It will also test President Trump's Iran strategy.
Discussion:
BizPac Review and Instapundit
Steve Hayes / The Dispatch:
The Morning Dispatch: Qassem Suleimani Is Dead — Happy Friday.We had a whole other, entirely different Morning Dispatch ready to go for you Thursday evening, but there were some major developments in the Middle East overnight. Our analysis of Q4 fundraising numbers will have to wait!
Discussion:
NBC News, The Daily Caller, Foreign Exchanges, DNyuz and The Drive
Daniel Byman / Vox:
Killing Iran's Qassem Suleimani changes the game in the Middle East — But has Trump really thought out what comes next? — On Thursday night, the Pentagon announced that the United States killed Maj. Gen. Qassem Suleimani, the head of Iran's paramilitary forces, in an airstrike in Iraq “at the direction of the President.”
Discussion:
FDD's Long War Journal, CNBC and New York Times
Michael Doran / New York Times:
Trump's Ground Game Against Iran — The assassination of Qassim Suleimani is a seismic event in the Middle East. — Mr. Doran is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and served in the departments of State and Defense, and on the National Security Council.
Heather Hurlburt / New York Magazine:
What Comes Next After the Killing of Qasem Suleimani
What Comes Next After the Killing of Qasem Suleimani
Discussion:
BizPac Review, Politico, Summit News and DNyuz
Jake Novak / CNBC:
Op-Ed: America just took out a man many consider the world's No. 1 bad guy
Op-Ed: America just took out a man many consider the world's No. 1 bad guy
Discussion:
Vox, Commentary and Defense One
Axios:
The U.S. takes a war footing against Iran after Soleimani strike
The U.S. takes a war footing against Iran after Soleimani strike
Discussion:
National Review, Politico, Washington Post, The Guardian, No More Mister Nice Blog and Raw Story
Washington Examiner:
Iranian malevolence justified Trump's order to kill Qassim Soleimani
Iranian malevolence justified Trump's order to kill Qassim Soleimani
Discussion:
Redstate, The Daily Wire and Washington Post
Marc Thiessen / Fox News:
Trump's Iran strategy is working. Pompeo right to call out ex-Obama team members
Trump's Iran strategy is working. Pompeo right to call out ex-Obama team members
Discussion:
Power Line, Breitbart and The Gateway Pundit
Frank Miles / Fox News:
Rockets fired toward Baghdad airport, at least 7 dead, officials say
Rockets fired toward Baghdad airport, at least 7 dead, officials say
Discussion:
Foreign Policy, BizPac Review, South China Morning Post, DNyuz, Daily Sounder, Power Line, The Captain's Journal and PJ Media Home
Jon Gambrell / Associated Press:
AP Explains: Rising Iran, US tension after general's killing
AP Explains: Rising Iran, US tension after general's killing
Discussion:
Associated Press, Florida Politics, The Daily Beast and The Gateway Pundit
Wendy R. Sherman / USA Today:
Attack on US Embassy in Iraq shows Trump is failing. He walked into Iran's trap.
Attack on US Embassy in Iraq shows Trump is failing. He walked into Iran's trap.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Breitbart and Raw Story
Jason Leopold / BuzzFeed News:
Robert Mueller's Secret Memos, Part 3: The Documents The Justice Department Didn't Want Congress To See — BuzzFeed News sued the US government for the right to see all the work that Robert Mueller's team kept secret. Today we are publishing the third installment of the FBI's summaries of interviews with key witnesses.
Discussion:
DNyuz, HuffPost, Associated Press, Contemptor and Raw Story
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Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
Manafort Said Hannity Served as His Trump Backchannel: Docs — The former campaign chairman “understood his conversations with Hannity to be a message from Trump” after he came under scrutiny by the feds, according to newly released memos. — Paul Manafort said he used Fox News host Sean Hannity …
New York Times:
Elizabeth Warren's Fourth-Quarter Total Is $21.2 Million, Her Campaign Says — Ms. Warren's fund-raising haul for the last three months of the year represented a slight dip and placed her behind three top rivals. — Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts raised $21.2 million …
Discussion:
PJ Media Home and Outside the Beltway
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Elena Schneider / Politico:
Klobuchar posts personal-best $11.4 million fundraising quarter
Klobuchar posts personal-best $11.4 million fundraising quarter
Discussion:
Fox News, Axios, Associated Press, The Hill and The Week
Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:
Amy Klobuchar Raised $11.4 Million in Fourth Quarter, Her Campaign Says
Amy Klobuchar Raised $11.4 Million in Fourth Quarter, Her Campaign Says
Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
Democrats are the ones who stand to suffer by delaying the Senate impeachment trial
Democrats are the ones who stand to suffer by delaying the Senate impeachment trial
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, NBC News and Daily Kos
Politico:
Why Democrats say they might not vote to convict Trump — Senate Dems are urging neutrality in an appeal to Republicans who want a fair impeachment trial. — Sen. Jon Tester said Democrats “are waiting for the evidence that's presented in the trial” before making a judgment on President Donald Trump.
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FiveThirtyEight:
Our Poll Finds A Majority Of Americans Think The Evidence Supports Trump's Removal
Our Poll Finds A Majority Of Americans Think The Evidence Supports Trump's Removal
Discussion:
Raw Story
John Wagner / Washington Post:
Americans roughly divided on whether voters should decide Trump's fate rather than the Senate
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Susan Collins sounds like she's covering for Trump
Susan Collins sounds like she's covering for Trump
Discussion:
CNN, Center for Public Integrity, The American Independent, DNyuz, ABC News and UPI
Richard Flanagan / New York Times:
Australia Is Committing Climate Suicide — As record fires rage, the country's leaders seem intent on sending it to its doom. — Mr. Flanagan is an Australian novelist. — BRUNY ISLAND, Tasmania — Australia today is ground zero for the climate catastrophe.
Discussion:
Common Dreams, The Courier Mail, New York Post and Raw Story
Andrew Bradford / Deep Left Field:
Congressman Accuses Trump Of Stock Market Fraud And Opens Investigation — The House of Representatives may soon be able to add a new high crime and misdemeanor to the growing list of articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. — Specifically, Trump is suspected of manipulating futures …
Wall Street Journal:
Police Tracked a Terror Suspect—Until His Phone Went Dark After a Facebook Warning — Faced with strong encryption, law-enforcement agencies in Western Europe turned to Israeli company NSO Group to pursue data on WhatsApp messaging tool — A team of European law-enforcement officials …
Discussion:
Instapundit
David Brooks / New York Times:
A Ridiculously Optimistic History of the Next Decade — A fantasy of what could come true. — Looking back at the 2020s from our vantage point in 2030, the first great event was the complete destruction of Donald Trump's Republican Party. As the former Republican consultant Mike Murphy had noticed …
Washington Post:
Trump and the RNC raised almost half a billion dollars last year — and still had nearly $200 million heading into 2020 — President Trump's political operation headed into 2020 with nearly $200 million on hand, according to party officials, giving him a financial war chest that vastly outstrips …