Top Items:
Julian E. Barnes / Los Angeles Times:
Generals: More troops needed in Iraq — Commanders made their decision before meeting with Defense Secretary Gates. — WASHINGTON — Top U.S. military commanders in Iraq have decided to recommend a "surge" of fresh American combat forces, eliminating one of the last remaining hurdles …
Discussion:
Hot Air, New York Times, Wake up America, Angry Bear, Daily Kos, Middle Earth Journal, Think Progress, jules crittenden, Redstate and Central Sanity
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Kevin Drum / Political Animal:
ONE LAST PUSH....Guess what? Our commanders on the ground have met with their superiors and decided that we do need more troops in Iraq after all. They're now backing the "surge" plan: … So we're not quite sure what we're going to do with them, but after meeting with the new SecDef we're suddenly quite sure we need them.
Digby / Hullabaloo:
Signing On — So the generals have done the big el-foldo and are going along with the McCain escalation plan. (I'm sure we'll be hearing from these profiles in courage when they whisper in the ears of the media that they were only following orders.) — K-Drum says what I think a lot of us are reluctantly thinking:
The Talking Dog / The American Street:Kabuki of karnage — And so the American generals in Iraq …
Discussion:
Daily Kos
MSNBC:
U.N. unanimously approves Iran sanctions — Tehran immediately rejects Security Council resolution on nuke activity — UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to impose economic sanctions on Iran for refusing to end a uranium enrichment program that the United States …
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Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Mahdi Christmas: Security Council approves meaningless sanctions on Iran — Follow the timeline. It's been three and a half years since the IAEA first flagged them for noncompliance with the Nonproliferation Treaty. And still the Security Council's giving them more time …
Randy Hall / CNSNews:
Islamic Group Has Mastered Victimization Game, Critic Says — (CNSNews.com) - The Republican lawmaker who sparked a storm with comments about Muslims and the need to tighten immigration laws is the latest target of an Islamic advocacy group's "victimization game," a political analyst said Thursday.
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Qassim Abdul-Zahra / ABCNEWS:
Shiite Cleric Won't Support Coalition — Iraq's Most Revered Shiite Cleric Withholds Support for Plan to Construct Broad Coalition — BAGHDAD, Iraq Dec 23, 2006 (AP)— Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric withheld support Saturday for a U.S.-backed plan to build a coalition across sectarian lines …
Discussion:
Riehl World View
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Jason Straziuso / Associated Press:
U.S. strike kills Afghan Taliban leader — KABUL, Afghanistan - A top Taliban military commander described as a close associate of Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar was killed in an airstrike this week close to the border with Pakistan, the U.S. military said Saturday.
Times of London:
Christians suffer for Iraq, says archbishop — Christians in the Middle East are being put at unprecedented risk by the Government's "shortsighted" and "ignorant" policy in Iraq, The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, says today. — In an extraordinary attack …
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Washington Post:
How Free Trade Hurts — Fewer and fewer Americans support our government's trade policy. They see a shrinking middle class, lost jobs and exploding trade deficits. — Yet supporters of free trade continue to push for more of the same — more job-killing trade agreements …
The Big Trunk / Power Line:
THE MULLAHS AT WAR — Yesterday Michael Ledeen posted another installment of his continuing comments on the Iranian war against the West in general and the United States in particular: "The mask comes off the mullahs. Again." This installment is based on Con Coughlin's Telegraph column: "War on two fronts in Afghanistan."
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Independent:
Independent Appeal: 'What would happen if the Virgin Mary came to Bethlehem today?' — Johann Hari on the plight of pregnant women in the West Bank, where babies are dying needlessly — In two days, a third of humanity will gather to celebrate the birth pains of a Palestinian refugee in Bethlehem …
Discussion:
Yourish.com, Wizbang, Professor Bainbridge's Journal, One Hand Clapping and Shakespeare's Sister
Dave Itzkoff / New York Times:
Wars of the Worlds — When an emerging science-fiction writer's work earns him comparisons to Robert A. Heinlein, should he take them as a compliment? Don't misunderstand me: I have no reason to doubt that the old master's classic novels "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "The Cat Who Walks Through Walls" …
David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:
Democrats' Pledge to End Individual Financing of Pet Projects May Change Little — The Democrats taking over the Congressional appropriations committees next year have boldly pledged to place a moratorium on earmarks, the pet spending items that individual lawmakers insert into major spending bills behind the scenes.
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