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Iraqi PM disputes report on withdrawal plan — (CNN) — A German magazine quoted Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as saying that he backed a proposal by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq within 16 months.
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New York Times, Hot Air, Blue Girl, Red State, Gateway Pundit, RADAMISTO and Harry's Place
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White House Accidentally E-Mails to Reporters Story That Maliki Supports Obama Iraq Withdrawal Plan — The White House this afternoon accidentally sent to its extensive distribution list a Reuters story headlined “Iraqi PM backs Obama troop exit plan - magazine.”

PRETTY WEAK — The McCain campaign has just come out with their response to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki's endorsement of Obama's withdrawal plan. I think the clotted, dodging-the-issue nature of the response communicates very clearly the box this has placed the McCain camp in.

Al-Maliki's Announcement: A Big Deal — This could be one of those unexpected events that forever changes the way the world perceives an issue. Iraq's Prime Minister agrees with Obama, and there's no wiggle room or fudge factor. This puts John McCain in an extremely precarious spot …
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Matthew Yglesias, The Raw Story, Emptywheel, Centerfield, The Moderate Voice, The Daily Dish, The Jed Report and rubber hose

McCain Campaign Responds To Al-Maliki — “His domestic politics require him to be for us getting out,” said a senior McCain campaign official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “The military says ‘conditions based’ and Maliki said ‘conditions based’ yesterday in the joint statement with Bush.
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Buck Naked Politics, The Road to Surfdom, Abu Aardvark, Ben Smith's Blogs, Eunomia, democracyarsenal.org, Think Progress and TIME.com

Maliki Backs Obama's Troop Withdrawal Plan — The policies and whims of American leaders have played a major role in politics in Iraq and elsewhere. And now, it's Iraqi President Nouri Kamal al-Maliki's turn to dip his toes in the United States's race for the White House.

BIG DEAL? NO ... BIGGER — I've spent a couple hours now trying to process the probable impact of Prime Minister al Maliki's explicit endorsement of Barack Obama's 16 month timetable for withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. My first instinct is always to try not to overstate the impact of momentary developments.

Maliki: Obama's 16-month timetable sounds good; Update: Spiegel changes quote

Brown Says No ‘Artificial Timetable’ for Iraq Troop Withdrawal
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Iraqi PM backs Obama troop exit plan: report
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American Power, The Field on the Narcosphere, protein wisdom, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The Impolitic, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, VetVoice, Donklephant, RADAMISTO, rochesterturning.com, The Anonymous Liberal, Macsmind, PoliBlog (TM), Polimom Says, Whiskey Fire, The Volokh Conspiracy, Political Machine, Spin Cycle, the talking dog, Think Progress, Washington Monthly, Corrente, www.redstate.com, pandagon.net, The Moderate Voice, Pajamas Media, Matthew Yglesias, TalkLeft, No More Mister Nice Blog, CNN, The Political Carnival, New York Times, Gateway Pundit and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Bush Accepts Time Horizon for US Troop withdrawal
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Newshoggers.com

Top Dem Party Officials Send Sharply-Worded Email Demanding That Hillary Donors And Supporters Get Behind Obama — In a sign that senior Democratic officials remain deeply concerned that post-primary bitterness could imperil Barack Obama's chances, two top Democratic officials have emailed …

Gore compares offshore drilling to invasion of Iraq — In a surprise appearance at Netroots Nation — which apparently was the worst-kept secret in Austin, Texas — former Vice President Al Gore followed up a speech by Nancy Pelosi by laying out a narrative on climate change and the energy crisis …
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Immigrant, Pregnant, Is Jailed Under Pact — It started when Juana Villegas, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who was nine months pregnant, was pulled over by a police officer in a Nashville suburb for a routine traffic violation. — By the time Mrs. Villegas was released …
Discussion:
Lonewacko

From Argentina's Clarin newspaper: Resurrected U.S. Fourth Fleet Creates Suspicion Across South America — Why has the United States decided to resurrect the U.S. Navy's Fourth Fleet, which has been in mothballs since the 1950s? And why has it chosen to do so now?
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Newshoggers.com

Lawmakers Could Consider Gas Tax Hike, After Gas Tax Holiday Fails — WASHINGTON — The political vision of a summer gas tax holiday died a quick death in Congress, losing to a view that federal excise taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel — far from dropping — will have to go up if they go anywhere.

Commercial bankruptcies soar, reflecting widening economic woes — WASHINGTON — Driven by a sour economy and skittish consumers, U.S. business bankruptcies saw their sharpest quarterly rise in two years, jumping 17 percent in the second quarter of 2008, according to an analysis by McClatchy.

Nancy Pelosi: “Two oil men in the White House” are responsible for high oil prices — Who knew Nancy Pelosi was such a straight-shooter? When Wolf Blitzer tries to pin part of the blame for the current energy crisis on the Democratic Congress, Pelosi shoots back by saying her House …
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Macsmind


Texas Approves a $4.93 Billion Wind-Power Project — Texas regulators have approved a $4.93 billion wind-power transmission project, providing a major lift to the development of wind energy in the state. — The planned web of transmission lines will carry electricity from remote western parts …