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U.S., U.N. Seek New Leaders for Iraq WaPo — Permalink The United States and the top U.N. envoy to Iraq have decided to exclude the majority of the Iraqi politicians the U.S.-led coalition has relied on over the past year when they select an Iraqi government to assume power on June 30, U.S. and U.N. officials said yesterday. | |
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Jeralyn Merritt: Is Chalabi on His Way Out? Kevin at Political Animal says Chalabi may be on his way out. Kevin Drum: WHO'S HOT?...WHO'S NOT?...It looks like the administration has decided to make some changes to the in-group in Iraq:... Bill @Agonist: Chalabi, other members of Iraqi Governing Council, to be left out of future govt (WaPo) - The United States and the top... |
Jeanne D'Arc: Good riddance — Maybe I'm not as nave as I feared: Josh Marshall has some interesting comments this morning on a... Steven Taylor: Disturbing — There are less than two months before the hand-over and we seem not to know to whom power will be handed? Atrios: At least someone is telling the Post that: The United States and the top U.N. envoy to Iraq have decided to exclude the... |
| Also: DemFromCT, Juan Cole, Josh Marshall | |
Kerry's Antiwar Past Is a Delicate Issue in His Campaign By / NYT — Permalink When questions were raised last month about whether a 27-year-old John Kerry had attended a Kansas City meeting of Vietnam Veterans Against the War where the assassination of senators was discussed, the Kerry presidential campaign went into action. | |
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Glenn Reynolds: THE NEW YORK TIMES has a lengthy analysis of Kerry's antiwar days, but Tom Maguire notes that once again the dates of... Captain Ed: David Halbfinger reviews the Phoenix Project in the much larger context of John Kerry's anti-war protest career but... |
Tom Maguire: John Kerry's Dates Of Service - The Confusion Spreads — Now it is the paper of record that cannot get its facts quite... |
How Original . . . By / WaPo — Permalink Everyone has quirks. Among mine is an obsession with matters nuclear: weapons, power, waste. I've been writing about little else for several years. So I was intrigued not long ago to run across an opinion piece in my hometown daily, the Austin American-Statesman headlined "Funds for nuclear waste storage should be used for just that." | |
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Kevin Drum: Specifically, it's about astroturf op-eds. It turns out that that op-ed in your local paper by a respected local... |
Robert Garcia Tagorda: Betrayal, Duplicity, Unsavory Characters... Who knew that America's op-ed pages were filled with such intrigue?! |
The Multilevel Marketing of the President By / NYT — Permalink Republicans in Clark County, Ohio, held their annual Lincoln Day fund-raising dinner in February, at a rustic golf club surrounded by an ocean of farmland. Clark County, comprising both the city of Springfield and a block of agricultural townships, is one of... | |
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DemFromCT: Update [2004-4-24 20:29:26 by DemFromCT]: Here's the link General 2004 :: Link & Discuss comment |
CJR: Matt Bai begins to remedy that deficiency in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine — which is out on the streets of New... |
More Than 40 People Killed in Bloody Day for Iraq By / Reuters — Permalink BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Five U.S. soldiers were among more than 40 people killed in a spate of attacks in Iraq on Saturday, the latest violence in the bloodiest month for U.S.-led forces since they toppled Saddam Hussein. | |
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Bill @Agonist: Iraq Update — Suicide Boat Bombers Attack Key Iraqi Oil Terminal U.S. Marines Say Kill 30 Insurgents Near Falluja More... |
Juan Cole: Reuters reported, ' "There was blood and bodies everywhere," said Bassam Abdul Rahim. |
Life Is No Life to Him That Dares Not Die By / WaPo — Permalink Pat Tillman would probably want to be commemorated by nothing more than the simple hush we devote to other lost infantrymen we didn't know. He no doubt would have preferred that we dwell instead on the photographs of those caskets draped in flags coming home from Iraq. | |
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Jon Henke: Pat Tillman — Not much else to say today, but the death of Pat Tillman really touched me this weekend, so I want to add a couple thoughts. Cori Dauber: If they want something, they are shameless, and will respect nothing. Update: This is how the story should be reported. |
James Joyner: Tillman Tribute — Sally Jenkins has a touching tribute to Pat Tillman, the Army Ranger who was killed in Afghanistan... |
Republican hardball By / Townhall.com — Permalink WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is being urged by colleagues to threaten to close down the Senate for the rest of the year unless Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle ends his disruptive tactics. | |
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Kevin Drum: TIME TO GO HOME?....I'm with Jesse: if Bill Frist wants to shut down the Senate, he should go right ahead. |
Jesse Taylor: Well, according to Robert Novak, Senate Republicans are urging Bill Frist to shut down the entire Senate in response to what they perceive to be Tom Daschle's obstructionism. |
A Family's March to Redemption By / WaPo — Permalink Four decades ago, Joannie Santoro-Griffin's mother, Gerri Santoro, bled to death on a motel room floor, the victim of a botched abortion. The photo became the icon for a movement. Tomorrow, Santoro-Griffin will walk with her own daughter and Santoro's sister Leona T. Gordon in the March for Women's Lives. | |
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Jeanne D'Arc: Why I remain more concerned about women's lives than potential lives — Because of this: Leona Gordon, 74, of... |
Tim Graham: The Metro section piece begins as expected, featuring the family of Gerri Santoro, a woman who died of a botched abortion in the sixties. |
For Abortion Rights, a Changing of the Guard By / WaPo — Permalink The voices of the abortion rights movement are changing. As young take over for the old, reason is replacing wrath and nuance, the earlier — and perhaps necessary — absolutes. | |
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DemFromCT: Open Thread/March for Women's Lives Tomorrow in DC — For Abortion Rights Cause, a New Diversity Younger Feminists... |
Tim Graham: In the Style section, often liberal Laura Sessions Stepp writes on how "Younger Feminists Introduced New Issues, More Nuanced Positions." |
Black College Women Take Aim at Rappers By / AP — Permalink ATLANTA (AP) - Maybe it was the credit card that rap superstar Nelly swiped through a woman's backside in a recent video. Here at Spelman, the most famous black women's college in the country, a feud has erupted over images of women in rap videos, sparking a petition drive and phone campaigns. | |
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Kim du Toit: Enough Ho Talk — Apparently, some Black women are getting fed up with the way rap "artists" speak about women in their "music". |
Steve Dillard: Black College Women Take Aim at Rappers: Good. These jokers have been degrading women for far too long. Get 'em. |
Guard Gives Sisters More Time to Decide on Returning to Iraq By / NYT — Permalink CHICAGO, April 23 — Rachel and Charity Witmer, members of the Wisconsin National Guard serving in Iraq, have been granted another 15 days of leave to decide whether to seek reassignment after their sister, Michelle, was killed in Baghdad. | |
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Phil Carter: Yesterday, the New York Times reported that the sisters had requested (and received) 15 additional days to make their decision. |
Cori Dauber: The Guard has extended their leave, so that they can have more time to consider whether they want to return to duty in Iraq or not. |
Is Kerry's Campaign Colorblind? By / WaPo — Permalink John Kerry, oh, John Kerry, say it isn't so. But, alas, apparently 'tis true. The Massachusetts senator, putative 2004 Democratic standard-bearer and soon-to-be leader of the party that most voting African Americans and other people of color call home, has an innermost circle of advisers that is practically as white as the driven snow. | |
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John Rosenberg: "Is Kerry's Campaign Colorblind?" ... asked Colbert King, the Deputy Editor of the Washington Post's editorial page, in his regular column today. |
Robert Garcia Tagorda: Terrible Delivery — My partisan instincts urge me to applaud Colbert King, who berates John Kerry for "assembl[ing] a... |
After Hoisting One, He's Accused of Heisting One By / LAT — Permalink A bank robbery suspect was arrested after he strolled to a bar across the parking lot, ordered a beer and started counting "a wad of money," Huntington Beach police said Thursday. | |
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Kevin Drum: PAGING TOM FRIEDMAN....Yet another example of globalization: a hometown crime story brought to my attention by a website based in Denver. |
TChris: Stupid Criminal of the Week — This poor guy really needed a drink. |
Pill Sham By / Reason — Permalink Here's a bit of legal information that may interest Rush Limbaugh: Under Florida law, illegally obtaining more than 28 grams of painkillers containing the narcotic oxycodone—a threshold exceeded by a single 60-pill Percocet prescription—automatical ly makes you the worst sort of drug trafficker, even if you never sold a single pill. | |
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Glenn Reynolds: ANOTHER REASON TO HATE THE DRUG WAR, as if we needed one. Radley Balko: This Ought to Honk You Off — This kind of thing pisses me off more than when SWAT thugs get the wrong address, beat down the wrong door, and shoot the wrong guy. |
Andrew Stuttaford: Oh, stories like this: "Although prosecutors admitted Paey was not a drug trafficker, on April 16 he received a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years for drug trafficking. Jeralyn Merritt: MS Sufferer Gets 25 Years for Drug Prescription Offenses — The outrage of the day occurs in Florida where a man seeking pain relief gets 25 years for drug trafficking. |
Leading Egyptian Journalist: The Jews are Behind Every Disaster or Terrorist Act MEMRI — Permalink "If you want to know the real perpetrator of every disaster or every act of terrorism, look for the Zionist Jews. They are behind all the violent and terror operations that have occurred everywhere in the world. | |
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Allah: CBS pinches off a decent-sized log of propaganda about Arab rage—one Pali says his hatred of Americans tripled in an... Eugene Volokh: (From MEMRI, which to my knowledge is a highly credible source, quoting an article from the Egyptian government daily... |
Steve Antler: Keep that in mind as you read this. Also note the argument emanates from a widely respected journalist published in an official government newspaper. Roger L. Simon: A very authoritative source—deputy editor Abd Al-Wahhab 'Adas of the Egyptian government daily Al-Gumhouriyya. |
Hollow Force By / Slate — Permalink With a festering insurgency claiming the lives of more than 120 soldiers just this month, the Pentagon is set to request up to 30,000 more troops for the occupation. Senior Army leaders also said this week they will ask Congress for more money to make ends meet in Iraq and rebuild their drained force. | |
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David Adesnik: In case you haven't already, take a good, long look at Phil's excellent posts on photographs of the fallen, the... |
Phil Carter: Slate just published my article looking at this issue, and the challenges facing the U.S. military should it decide to reinforce its units currently fighting in Iraq. |
Myth or Reality? By / NRO — Permalink Myth #1: America turned off its allies. According to John Kerry, due to inept American diplomacy and unilateral arrogance, the United States failed to get the Europeans and the U.N. on board for the war in Iraq. Thus, unlike in Afghanistan, we find ourselves alone. | |
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Porphyrogenitus: Myths About Iraq — Both Victor Davis Hanson and James F. Dunnigan have pieces clearing up the misinformation. Roger L. Simon: Meanwhile, Victor Davis Hanson describes the situation this way: All U.S. construction is subject to open audit and assessment. Cori Dauber: Oh, and be sure to catch the part about the first Mahdi Army. It's about time that miserable sob gave us a laugh. |
Jesse Taylor: Just take a look at this column. V.D. Hanson has a very particular way of writing that's echoed throughout many of his columns, last week's also being a sterling example of this. Glenn Reynolds: I should have also mentioned this piece by Victor Davis Hanson on the same topic. Digby: Myth Takes — On TAPPED today, Matt talks about Victor Davis Hansen's lame assertion that left wing arguments about the war are "myths." |
| Also: Charles Johnson, Nathan Hallford, David Gerstman, Matthew Yglesias | |
Former NFL Safety Is Killed in Afghanistan By / WaPo — Permalink Pat Tillman, the Arizona Cardinals safety who left a million dollar NFL career to become a U.S. Army Ranger, has been killed in Afghanistan. A spokesman for the Rangers, an elite special operations unit, confirmed Tillman's death but would provide no details. | |
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The Big Trunk: What the flag stands for — The Washington Post story on Pat Tillman's death is "Ex-NFL player Tillman killed in combat." Phil Carter: The Washington Post reports that Army SPC Patrick D. Tillman — formerly a player with the Arizona Cardinals, now a... |
Robert Garcia Tagorda: Pat Tillman, RIP — The courageous Army Ranger, who left a multimillion-dollar NFL career after 9/11, deserves unending praise for his extraordinary sacrifice. |
Good Christians By / Gadflyer — Permalink Everyone, it seems, is a Catholic theologian these days. Time magazine, the New York Times, Salon, and Slate have all run at least one article in recent weeks on the topic of whether John Kerry is a "real" Catholic. | |
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Atrios: Then, you can ask them why they aren't mentioning the fact that the leaders of George Bush's Church opposed the war in... |
Jeanne D'Arc: UPDATE: Amy Sullivan has beautifully sensible piece on the subject, and expands the issue a bit: Which is why I want to... |
Former NFL Player Killed in Afghanistan By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON (AP) - Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan after walking away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to join the Army Rangers, U.S. officials said Friday. Tillman, who served with the Army Rangers, was 27. | |
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Emperor Darth Misha I: Pat Tillman, American — It is with a heavy heart that I announce the death of yet another True American, Pat Tillman, who has fallen on the field of honor defending all of us. Kim du Toit: A Hero Falls — I see that Pat Tillman was reported killed in Afghanistan. s**t. |
The Big Trunk: He is an American hero, his death a horrible loss: "Former NFL player killed in Afghanistan." Pejman Yousefzadeh: The reason, I suppose, that Pat Tillman's death attracts media attention is because of what he gave up—a multimillion dollar NFL contract—to serve his country. |
The Professoriate and the Truth By / TCS — Permalink "The obvious and the true has got to be defended. If that is granted, all else follows." Editor's note: What follows is the Kneller Lecture delivered to the North American Philosophy of Education Society meeting in Toronto, Canada on 27 March 2004. | |
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Porphyrogenitus: Sifting and Winnowing — An excellent lecture by John Kekes on the professoriate and the state of modern higher education. Glenn Reynolds: JOHN KEKES WRITES on the professoriate and the truth. UPDATE: This OxBlog post goes interestingly with the above. |
Vanderleun: The Professoriate and the Truth — [snipped quote] — John Kekes @ Tech Central |
Latham lifted my ideas: academic By / The Australian — Permalink A LEADING academic has accused Mark Latham of lifting ideas for his major speech on citizenship and multiculturalism delivered in Sydney this week - the same speech containing phrases almost identical to US president Bill Clinton's 1997 state of the union address. | |
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Michael DeBow: The leader of Australia's Labour Party may or may not have borrowed too liberally from Australian Citizenship, a recent... |
John Derbyshire: Australian academic Prof. Brian Galligan has written a book — and look what it says (3rd paragraph). |
Privileged to Serve By / Opinion Journal — Permalink Maybe he was thinking Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Maybe it was visceral, not so much thought as felt, and acted upon. We don't know because he won't say, at least not in public. Which is itself unusual. | |
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Porphyrogenitus: Update: Check out this Peggy Noonan piece from two years ago. Every dead soldier deserves a tribute. Tbogg: But I'm one of Bush's enemies and people like me... Usually on Thursday I "do" Peggy Noonan (not in the Biblical "do"... |
Captain Ed: Please say a prayer for this American patriot and the family he's left behind, and one for all those who have died in... |
Kerry says religion shouldn't be an issue in U.S. politics By / San Francisco Chronicle — Permalink (04-23) 09:55 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign said Friday that religion should not be an issue in U.S. politics after a top Vatican official said Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should be denied Communion. | |
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Jeanne D'Arc: John Kerry does a fine job of raising the most important point in response to this nonsense — that politicians answer... |
Hesiod: LOOK FOR THE COMMUNION LABEL: The Vatican is messing with the Preisdential election, saying that catholic politicians who support abortions rights should be denied communion. |
Palestinian militants free men implicated in killing of U.S. security guards By / AP — Permalink GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Palestinian militants stormed a Palestinian police station in Gaza City and released three men with possible links to a deadly bombing of a U.S. diplomatic convoy, an American official said Friday. | |
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Fred Lapides: "An effort is being made with the Palestinian Authority to release the one who remains behind bars." >>>signonsandiego |
Bill @Agonist: USDA vets: Export certificates falsified for years — Danish defense chief quits over Iraq intelligence Bulgarian... |
Keen Focus on Lt. Kerry's Four Months Under Fire By / WaPo — Permalink As a senior at Yale, John F. Kerry harbored doubts about the war in Vietnam, and as a Navy veteran he became famous for opposing it. But in between, he fought aggressively during an extraordinary four-month tour in that country, earning some of the nation's highest commendations for valor — and then he abruptly returned to the United States. | |
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David Adesnik: THE GOP'S SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS: John Kerry's service record has become a front page story. |
David Allan Pell: Fun with John and Jane on the Mekong Delta — The release of John Kerry's military records has led to a predictable split among pundits and politicians. |
Freed From Captivity in Iraq, Japanese Return to More Pain By / NYT — Permalink TOKYO, April 22 — The young Japanese civilians taken hostage in Iraq returned home this week, not to the warmth of a yellow-ribbon embrace but to a disapproving nation's cold stare. | |
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Kieran Healy: This fascinating story is about the Japanese hostages recently released in Iraq and their subsequent reception on their return home. |
Tacitus: Not much to say about this, except that the real shame here attaches itself to the Japanese behaving so incredibly poorly toward the former hostages. |
Tillman killed in Afghanistan CNN — Permalink WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former NFL player Pat Tillman was killed Thursday while serving as an Army Special Forces soldier on a mission in southeastern Afghanistan, Pentagon officials have told CNN. He was 27. | |
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Gene @HarrysPlace: On the inequality of service — Pat Tillman, who gave up a $3.6 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals football... Phil Carter: I'll try to post notes on big stories I'm tracking (the 4th Circuit decision in U.S. v. Moussaoui, the release of photos... |
Bo Cowgill: GOD BLESS PAT TILLMAN: NFL player and Army volunteer killed in Afghanistan. Jesse Taylor: Pat Tillman — Former Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan. |
NFL Star Killed In Afghanistan CBS News — Permalink CBS News Correspondents David Martin, at the Pentagon, and Randall Pinkston, in Kabul, confirmed the death of former Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman, but do not yet know how he died. Officials said a formal announcement was expected later in the day. | |
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Cori Dauber: Players and coaches are interviewed, game clips showed. (I encourage you to play their videoclip.) |
Smash: US Army Ranger Pat Tillman was killed in an ambush yesterday in Afghanistan. He was 27 years old. Rangers Lead the Way! |
Ex-NFL Star Tillman Killed in Afghanistan AP — Permalink WASHINGTON — Former NFL defensive back Pat Tillman (search) died while serving as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan, U.S. military officials confirmed to Fox News on Friday. | |
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Sparkey: Thursday he made the ultimate sacrfice for our country in Afghanistan, excerpt from Fox News: Serving with the 75th... Captain Ed: Pat Tillman, KIABy that point, I had received several e-mails from friends around the blogosphere telling me that Pat Tillman had been killed in action in Afghanistan. Baldilocks: For now. pat_tillman.jpg "PHOENIX — Former NFL defense back Pat Tillman (search) died while serving as an Army ranger in Afghanistan, several news organizations reported Friday. |
Cori Dauber: Tillman, no doubt, was a hero, the same as they are all heroes, and there is a very fine line between truly moving,... Mitch Berg: Tillman KIA — Pat Tillman - the NFL D-back who shocked the world by turning down a multimillion dollar contract to join... |
In the Line of Duty ABCNEWS — Permalink April 23 — Pat Tillman, a former NFL player who swapped a glamorous football career to enlist in the U.S. Army, has been killed in action in Afghanistan, ABCNEWS has learned. The 27-year-old former football player was killed in direct action during a firefight in eastern Afghanistan Thursday, Pentagon sources told ABCNEWS. | |
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Bill Hobbs: Hero tillman.JPG Pat Tillman, 1976-2004 Charles Johnson: RIP, Pat Tillman — Pat Tillman, who left the NFL and joined the Army Rangers in an inspirational act of patriotism after September 11, has been killed in Afghanistan. |
Betsy Newmark: Of course every death in Afghanistan and Iraq is a tragedy, but the death of Pat Tillman seems especially sad. |
Oops! Coors' photo used in Klan story By / Rocky Mountain News — Permalink Thursday's New York Times misidentified GOP Senate candidate Pete Coors as a Ku Klux Klan member who murdered a black sharecropper. The Coors campaign found the error "so outrageous it's kind of funny," said spokeswoman Cinamon Watson. | |
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Radley Balko: Best Correction Ever — Look in the New York Times tomorrow for this correction: [snipped quote] Beer baron, murdering racist. Betsy Newmark: Here's a big Oops at the "paper of record." KJL: PETE COORS IS NOT IN THE KKK — But the New York Times looks at him and thinks of one, a murderer at that... |
Glenn Reynolds: HOW LAME IS THIS? "Thursday's New York Times misidentified GOP Senate candidate Pete Coors as a Ku Klux Klan member who murdered a black sharecropper. Taegan Goddard: Thursday's New York Times "misidentified" Colorado Senate candidate Pete Coors (R) "as a Ku Klux Klan member who murdered a black sharecropper," the Rocky Mountain News reports. Joshua Sharf: But this morning's Rocky carries an news item about a forthcoming New York Times correction. |
Pentagon Ban on Pictures of Dead Troops Is Broken By / NYT — Permalink The Pentagon's ban on making images of dead soldiers' homecomings at military bases public was briefly relaxed yesterday, as hundreds of photographs of flag-draped coffins at Dover Air Force Base were released on the Internet by a Web site dedicated to combating government secrecy. | |
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Phil Carter: Now, the Los Angeles Times, New York Times and Washington Post all have major stories on the incident. DemFromCT: Speaking of service deaths, we know now that those respectful coffin photos are all over the net, but they received prime-time discussion on the nightly news as well. Dan Gillmor: As the New York Times reports today, the firing of the civilian contractor who gave such a picture to the Seattle Times only underscores government hypocrisy. |
James Martin Capozzola: [Post-publication addendum (April 23): More information about the unauthorized release of the photographs from Dover may... Hesiod: UPDATE: The New York Times runs some of the "undignified" photos. Nominate Russ Kick of the Memoryhole for a Pulitzer Prize. Kash: (See for example the NYTimes, Washington Post, and the Boston Globe.) |
| Also: Cori Dauber, Atrios, Tbogg | |
Discrepancies noted in Kerry's record By / Boston Globe — Permalink WASHINGTON — Vietnam combat records posted on John F. Kerry's campaign website for the month of January 1969 as evidence of his service aboard swift boat No. 94 describe action that occurred before Kerry was skipper of that craft, according to the officer who said he commanded the boat at the time. | |
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McQ: You'd think they could get this right... Under the heading of "well here's a surprise": "Vietnam combat records posted... Glenn Reynolds: THIS SEEMS EMBARRASSING: [snipped quote] The Globe has more — just follow the link. Jonah Goldberg: From the Boston Globe: "WASHINGTON — Vietnam combat records posted on John F. Kerry's campaign website for the month... |
Hugh Hewitt: Here's another terrible attack on John Kerry's patriotism. And here's another! Steve Antler: After the Winter Soldier fraudulent testimony revelations, it seems fair to ask to what degree Kerry may somehow be... Betsy Newmark: The former skipper of Kerry's swiftboat says that the Kerry campaign has posted information about fighting the boat was... |
| Also: Tom Maguire | |
Saudis Support a Jihad in Iraq, Not Back Home By / NYT — Permalink RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, April 22 — On Wednesday morning, just hours before a suicide bomber demolished a Saudi police building in downtown Riyadh, the family of a young man was accepting congratulations for his death in the jihad over the border in Iraq, the one that enjoys no small support here. | |
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Bill @Agonist: U.S. tells Sharon to abide by pledge on Arafat — Bush allows U.S. businesses into Libya: Oil companies free to go back... Charles Johnson: When Saudis are murdered in the name of Islam, suddenly it's a shocking and unsettling crime: Saudis Support a Jihad in Iraq, Not Back Home. DemFromCT: With Friends Like This... Saudis Support a Jihad in Iraq, Not Back Home "In Saudi Arabia, a strategic ally of the... |
Tacitus: Jihad for thee, but not for me — I have never felt less sorry for a people in my life. Gregory Djerejian: Yes to Jihad, Just Not in My Backyard — Fascinating Riyadh dispatch from Neil Macfarquhar over at the Times. Cori Dauber: But it is a little hard to avoid at least thinking about that one looking at this marvelous headline from today's Times, "Saudis Support a Jihad in Iraq, Not Back Home." |
White House Says Iraq Sovereignty Could Be Limited By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, April 22 — The Bush administration's plans for a new caretaker government in Iraq would place severe limits on its sovereignty, including only partial command over its armed forces and no authority to enact new laws, administration officials said Thursday. | |
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John Quiggin: As this NYT story indicates, the handover is shaping up to be a complete sham (more on this from Nathan Brown, guest commentator for Juan Cole). Jeanne D'Arc: This little article from the Army News Service says as much about the heavy hand and general cluelessness of the... Edward _: Those SCREECHING Sounds: Part II — There go the goalposts.... sovereignty (svr-n-t, svrn-) n. Complete independence and self-government. |
Digby: And this may present a little problem for Junior's Freedom Crusade because even though some Americans may be, shall we... Steve Messina: Meanwhile, The New York Times suggests that the June 30 "transfer of sovereignty" will be even more of a sham than... James Joyner: Iraq Sovereignty Could Be Limited — NYT: White House Says Iraq Sovereignty Could Be Limited [RSS] [snipped quote] To put it mildly. |
Report: UN envoy to Iraq calls Israeli policy 'biggest poison' Haaretz — Permalink United Nations special envoy for Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi, claims there is a clear tie between the escalation of the situation in Iraq and Israeli policy, which he called "the biggest poison in the region," Israel Radio quoted him as saying Friday. | |
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Fred Lapides: This article from Haaretz "United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan distanced himself on Friday from comments by his... Stefan Sharkansky: The biggest poison — Days after the latest car bombing that murdered dozens of Iraqi innocents, the United Nations... Gregory Djerejian: The UN envoy, who is from Algeria, reportedly said many people both in the Mideast and outside it agree with the... |
Cori Dauber: This would be the same organization whose representative on the ground in Baghdad just told the international media (oh,... The Big Trunk: Laurie Mylroie directs us to this article from Ha'aretz in which Brahimi calls Israeli policy "the biggest poison in the region" and asks: "Is this what we want?" |
Photos of Soldiers' Coffins Revive Controversy WaPo — Permalink The Pentagon lost its tight control over the images of coffins returning from Iraq as about 350 such images were released under the Freedom of Information Act and a Seattle newspaper published a similar photo taken by a military contractor. | |
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Taegan Goddard: Hiding The Dead — [snipped quote] the Washington Post reports. Matt Drudge also posts some of the pictures. James Joyner: Coffin Controversy — WaPo: Photos of Soldiers' Coffins Revive Controversy "The Pentagon lost its tight control over... Greyhawk: As reported here earlier, lacking a wounded GI to do this they are currently fabricating them in comic strips. |
Cori Dauber: Update: A similar problem with verbs crops up in the Dana Milbank's coverage. Kevin Drum: On Thursday, though, Russ Kick of The Memory Hole forced the release of about 350 photos via a Freedom of Information... |
Kerry Says His 'Family' Owns SUV, Not He AP — Permalink PITTSBURGH April 22 — Does John Kerry, who supports higher automobile fuel economy standards, own a gas-guzzling SUV? There is one in the family, but Kerry said it's not his. | |
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Tim Blair: On SUVs, however, Kerry sets the record straight: [snipped quote] Maybe Mrs. Heinz Kerry should be the Democratic candidate. Roger L. Simon: John Kerry, however, on a rececent conference call with reporters, was having a little more trouble recalling his wife's... Taegan Goddard: The AP notes Kerry distanced himself from the gas-guzzling vehicles because he "supports increasing existing fuel... |
Hugh Hewitt: You have got to love this headline from The Guardian: "Kerry Says His 'Family' Owns SUV, Not He." The Torricelli Option looms. James Joyner: SUV Flip-Flop — I must admit to being rather bemused by the John Kerry SUV flap. Tom Maguire: It Depends On What The Meaning Of "Own" Is — Here we go again - Kerry voted for buying the SUV before he voted against it, but Theresa's vote carried the day. |
| Also: Betsy Newmark, Captain Ed, Jon Henke, Steven Taylor | |
Kerry Adrift By / WaPo — Permalink In 1952 a presidential candidate running against an administration that had gotten the United States into a debilitating and inconclusive war abroad pledged: "I will go to Korea." He won. | |
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Charles Johnson: Kerry Adrift — Charles Krauthammer turns his withering gaze on John F. Kerry's bizarre, vague proposals to get the... Deacon: Peddling dishonor — In the piece posted earlier today by Trunk, Charles Krauthammer ridicules John Kerry's proposed... Angry Bear: Three Easy Steps — Click. Read. Laugh. What a giant tool! AB P.S. Note to Chuck K. : Read this, from a source you should trust. |
Steven Taylor: Krauthammer on Kerry's Iraq "Policy" — Charles Krauthammer appears to share my incredulity at Kerry's alleged "policy"... Jeff Goldstein: Imagine there's no country... Charles Krauthammer, distilling John Kerry's Iraq policy down to vinegar |
Cardinal: No Communion for Pro-Abortion Politicians By / Reuters — Permalink VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - In remarks that could influence the U.S. presidential race, a top Vatican cardinal said on Friday that a Catholic politician who unambiguously supports abortion should be denied communion at Mass. | |
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Jeanne D'Arc: I'm with Kevin — this is outrageous: In remarks that could influence the U.S. presidential race, a top Vatican cardinal... KJL: KERRY SHOULD BE DENIED COMMUNION says a top cardinal at the Vatican...this, just as Kerry is to be embraced by the pro-abortion women rallying in D.C. this weekend. |
Kevin Raybould: Stealing From Caesar — This is an abomination: [snipped quote] Notice that the Cardinal did not say anything about those... |
Ex-NFL player Tillman killed in Afghanistan MSNBC — Permalink WASHINGTON - Pat Tillman, who gave up a lucrative NFL contract with the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army Rangers, was killed in action in Afghanistan, military officials said Friday. | |
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Hugh Hewitt: Pat Tillman, Army Ranger. Tacitus: RIP Pat Tillman. Update [2004-4-23 12:34:32 by tacitus]: Go see the Cards site. |
Jeff Goldstein: The Anti-Mercenary — American hero. For all of Michael Moore's bloated, furniture-bumping, sweatsoaked girth, he'll never be half the man this guy was. |
Going back to the U.N.? For what? By / Townhall.com — Permalink WASHINGTON — In 1952, a presidential candidate running against an administration that had gotten the U.S. into a debilitating and inconclusive war abroad pledged: ''I will go to Korea.'' He won. | |
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Steve Antler: Here, Krauthammer continues the theme: No one can understand how, with the president being pummeled daily on the front... Betsy Newmark: Charles Krauthammer eviscerates John Kerry's proposals for Iraq. [snipped quote] Kerry would deny that his proposals involve sucking up to the French. |
The Big Trunk: In straining to interpret Kerry's latest formulation of a foreign policy, Charles Krauthammer observes with painful clarity the nonsense Kerry spouts: "Going back to the UN? Jonah Goldberg: I WILL GO TO TURTLE BAY — Krauthammer shoots! He scores! |
Follow the Leader By / NYT — Permalink In this year's presidential campaign, no wisdom is more conventional than the assumption that George W. Bush's re-election effort will succeed or fail along with the American mission in Iraq. If Iraq collapses, the reasoning goes, the Bush presidency will soon follow. | |
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David Adesnik: Much less impressive are the arguments made by Ryan Lizza and Josh Marshall, whose columns appear together on today's... Ed Cone: Josh Marshall has an opinion piece in this morning's Times, for which he is identified only as a contributing writer for... |
Jeff Jarvis: Nothing for something : Josh Micah Marshall writes in the NY Times, echoing what Micah Sifry (and I) have been saying:... |
All the President's Numbers By / NYT — Permalink Polls are to Washington what box scores are to cities that have a baseball team: they are scrutinized obsessively by partisans. This week the news has been especially startling. | |
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Ezra Klein: But the story here isn't the miniscule movement in the polls, it's the lack of it. |
Taegan Goddard: Remember The Margin Of Error — Ryan Lizza notes that recent polls showing President Bush moving ahead of Sen. John... |
Unvarnished Truth?: Perception of bias undermines media Dallas Morning News — Permalink A recent survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center for the People and the Press finds that the public believes the news media are politically biased. So what else is new? Several things, actually, all of which bode ill for both journalism and democracy. | |
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Cori Dauber: NOW WHAT — Thanks to Patterico, a newspaper's editorial page admits that people aren't crazy. What he doesn't tell us is this: now what happens? |
Dave Huber: ANOTHER ADMISSION OF BIAS — A Dallas Morning News editorial has asked that journalists be honest and admit that... |
Bush Approval Hits a Low Point in State By / LAT — Permalink President Bush's popularity in California has dropped to the lowest level of his presidency amid rising public concern over his handling of Iraq and the economy, according to a new Los Angeles Times poll that found dislike of Bush driving support for his Democratic rival. | |
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David Allan Pell: The latest poll numbers out of California paint a bleak picture for the President. His approval ratings have plummeted in recent months. Taegan Goddard: Bush Losing California — President Bush's popularity in California "has dropped to the lowest level of his presidency," according to a new Los Angeles Times poll. |
Howard Kurtz: Memo to the Bush campaign: The Golden State is not looking good, at least according to the Los Angeles Times: ... |
N Korea blast kills 'at least 54' BBC — Permalink The International Red Cross says its officials in North Korea have been told that at least 54 people died in Thursday's huge train explosion. More than 1,200 people were injured, while 1,850 households were totally destroyed in the explosion in Ryongchon, 50km from China's border. | |
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Hesiod: Also, according to the BBC, the theory for what caused the explosion has changed. [snipped quote] Interesting. Jan Haugland: North Korean train blast: more questions than answers — North Korea's government is still mum about the train explosion... |
Porphyrogenitus: The tragic train disaster has, naturally, overshadowed the fact that Kim Jong Il had just returned from China discussing an aid agreement. |