In the ArenaUncategorized
This, from Juan Cole:
Only 2,000 of the expected 8,000 extra troops PM al-Maliki ordered to Baghdad had shown up by the beginning of February. The two Kurdish brigades coming from Irbil and Sulaymaniya, which were supposed to have 3,000 troops each, are not actually coming at full strength. One showed up with only 1500 troops. The other
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One commenter to an earlier post wants to know where things stand with the debate over the Senate Iraq resolution. Good question. Here’s the read I get from Harry Reid’s office:
Absent what a Reid aide calls “a stunning turn of events,” it’s over for the time being, although the House expects to take it up next week. This, of course, …
You may think you’ve heard and read all you care to about the presidential candidate “cattle call” at last weekend’s Democratic National Committee winter meeting (I sure did), but Harold Meyerson adds his typically insightful analysis in today’s Washington Post op-ed, where he explains how the presentations of the three leading …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Here’s what I like about the Edwards health care plan:
–it’s universal and mandatory.
–it imposes needed reforms on the insurance industry, like community rating (which means that everyone has to be covered at similar rates, regardless of pre-existing conditions).
–it opens the door to a fascinating competition: private insurers would …
Senate Republicans find themselves in a world of hurt over today’s headlines declaring that they have blocked debate over Iraq policy. They are still getting the hang of being in the minority, and it is dawning on them that when the subject at hand is an unpopular war, it’s not a good idea to shut things down with an argument over …
After Roger Simon raised the possibility that Obama and Clinton would skip some of the early candidate forums and debates, Hotline now reports that Clinton will indeed attend the first of them, a Carson City, Nevada, forum on Feb 21. It’s going to be a long, long campaign season for the 2008 hopefuls, who will be seeing a lot of each …
I received a voicemail from Chris Matthews last week (that I only got around to listening to yesterday, sorry) asking me if I really thought it was fair to characterize his statements in June 2003 about Wilson and the Vice President as “attacks.” He raised a good point in that he was not “attacking” the Vice President in any personal way …
Terry Jeffrey’s article in National Review is a sign of what’s ahead for Rudy Giuliani in the GOP primary.
In the ArenaUncategorized
Arianna Huffington, the doyenne of the Hollywood left, has taken time from her busy schedule to attack me for something I said on Meet the Press three years ago. Since this lone quote has become an article of faith among the take-no-prisoners left, let me respond:
1. Yes, I said it. It was a moment of stupid weakness on the brink of …
The Libby trial unfolded verrrry sllooooowly this morning, with a return visit to the question of the government’s evidence and a debate over releasing the audio of the Libby grand jury testimony. The debate was between the defense and the Associated Press, and the Press won, though Judge Walton gave a nice passive-aggressive threat …
In the ArenaUncategorized
I’m not sure what’s been happening for the past hour, but right now–4:05pm–Senator Warner is arguing furiously against the surge, adding up 332,000 Iraqis trained in the past 4 years and argues that they should be the people policing the civil war…but will there be a vote or not?
4:23–Boy, is this confusing! Arlen Spector is …
In the ArenaUncategorized
I just spoke with a prominent Democratic member of the Senate who is worried that the anti-surge forces won’t be able to muster the 60 votes necessary to open debate this evening on the Warner resolution to oppose the President’s policies in Iraq.
If so, the Republicans are going to have to explain what they have against free …
Today’s Washington Post has a preview of the Bush budget, in which the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are projected at $145 billion in the coming year, drop to $50 billion in 2009 and $0 after that. Does OMB have a secret plan to end the war? Hope they tell the Pentagon about it.
