Top Items:
Washington Post:
Chalabi Lacks Votes Needed to Win Spot in Iraqi Assembly — BAGHDAD, Dec. 26 — Unexpectedly low support from overseas voters has left Ahmed Chalabi — the returned Iraqi exile once backed by the United States to lead Iraq — facing a shutout from power in this month's vote for the country's …
RELATED ITEM:
Bill Roggio / ThreatsWatch.Org:
Disinformation Operations — Monday's Washington Post featured an article written by Jonathan Finer and Doug Struck titled Bloggers, Money Now Weapons in Information War - U.S. Recruits Advocates to the Front, Pays Iraqi TV Stations for Coverage, of which my embed in Iraq was the subject of scrutiny as a military information operation.
Discussion:
Daily Pundit, Hugh Hewitt, tapscottscopydesk.blogspot.com, Debsweb, The Military Outpost and News Dissector Blog
RELATED ITEM:
Wretchard / The Belmont Club:
Who is a journalist? — A Washington Post story about information warfare in Iraq mentions Bill Roggio. The WP article said: … The article occasioned a lot of commentary in the blogosphere. Blogger Scout Prime says "Blogging isn't journalism. I am not a journalist.
New York Times:
Unwarranted Complaints — SHORTLY after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush ordered surveillance of international telephone communications by suspected members of Al Qaeda overseas, even if such calls also involved individuals within the United States. This program was adopted …
Deborah Howell / Washington Post:
The Whole Story on Military Recruiting? — Numbers aren't just facts. They can be interpreted in many ways, even if they come from the same or similar sources. — Ann Scott Tyson, a respected military reporter just back from Iraq, wrote in a front-page story Nov. 4 that …
RELATED ITEM:
Thomas Sowell / Townhall.com:
Cheap politicians — I don't make a million dollars a year but I think every member of Congress should be paid at least that much. It's not because those turkeys in Washington deserve it. It's because we deserve a lot better people than we have in Congress.
C.J. Karamargin / Arizona Daily Star:
McCain brings his message to MTV audience — "Let the student decide." With those well-chosen words John McCain summed up his view on the teaching of "intelligent design" along with evolution in public schools. — Even — or perhaps especially — with controversial topics …
Discussion:
The Washington Monthly, The Carpetbagger Report, ProfessorBainbridge.com, MyDD and Daily Kos
Washington Post:
Policy Adrift on Darfur — For two years the Bush administration has made commendable efforts to improve the lives of people in Darfur. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick has become personally invested in the crisis, recently completing his fourth trip to the region in the past seven months.
BBC:
'Worst' historical Britons named — Historians have put together a list of the 10 "worst" Britons of the last 1,000 years. — They chose one rogue from each century of the last millennium to compile the list for the BBC History Magazine. — Jack the Ripper, King John and Oswald Mosley …
Discussion:
All Things Beautiful, Betsy's Page, The Glittering Eye, protein wisdom and The Anchoress
Jason Leopold / rawstory.com:
Rice authorized National Security Agency to spy on UN Security Council in run-up to war, former officials say — President Bush and other top officials in his administration used the National Security Agency to secretly wiretap the home and office telephones and monitored private email accounts …
Juan / Informed Comment:
Top Ten Myths about Iraq in 2005 — Iraq has unfortunately become a football in the rough and ready, two-party American political arena, generating large numbers of sound bites and so much spin you could clothe all of China in the resulting threads. — Here are what I think are the top ten myths …
Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:
Power That Bush Can't Just Take — Since the holiday season is a time of generosity and goodwill toward all — even those who torture the Constitution and hoodwink the nation into ill-advised wars — let's do a little thought experiment. — Let's assume that George W. Bush's claim …
Reuters:
Secret surveillance up since 9/11 — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal applications for a special U.S. court to authorize secret surveillance rose sharply after the September 11, 2001, attacks, and the panel required changes to the requests at a even greater rate, government documents show.
Evelyn Nieves / Washington Post:
S.D. Makes Abortion Rare Through Laws And Stigma — Out-of-State Doctors Come Weekly to 1 Clinic — SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The waiting room at the Planned Parenthood clinic was packed by the time the doctor arrived — an hour late because of weather delays in Minneapolis.
