International:

Surprise, Surprise!

Newsweek reports, "The White House was surprised when even pro-war senators, including Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), came out against" Bush's plan for escalation in Iraq.

U.S. News adds Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has "lined up as many as a dozen Republicans for a resolution opposing what he branded 'escalation.'" With opposition in Congress growing, Bush said this weekend that he believes he has the authority to ignore the will of Congress and send more troops to Iraq. A USA Today/Gallup Poll released this week found "more than 6 of 10 people back the idea of a non-binding congressional resolution expressing opposition to Bush's plan to commit an additional 21,500 U.S. troops to Iraq." A former senior Bush aide who is still close to the White House says that if the situation in Iraq continues to slide, "a delegation of [conservative] senators could one day show up in the Oval Office to tell Bush that the party is no longer with him and the war must end -- much like Sen. William Fulbright's forcefully urging Lyndon Johnson to bring the Vietnam War to a close."

U.N. Puts ’06 Death Toll in Iraq Above 34,000

The United Nations reported Tuesday that more than 34,000 Iraqis were killed in violence last year, a figure that represents the first comprehensive annual count of civilian deaths and a vivid measure of the failure the Iraqi government and American military to provide security.

Numbers of civilian deaths have become the central indicator for the trajectory of the war and are extremely sensitive for both Iraqi and American officials. Both track the tallies but neither will release them. Read the full story here

National:

IF IT'S BROKE, FIX IT

On Thursday, the House of Representatives will take up a bipartisan bill -- The Clean Energy Act of 2007 -- "aimed at recouping lost royalties and stripping oil and gas companies of other tax incentives." The bill would also "shift $13 billion into a fund to promote energy efficiency and development of alternative and renewable energy sources."

Dow Hits Third Consecutive Record Close

Wall Street finished an erratic session mixed Tuesday with the Dow Jones industrials reaching a third straight record close despite concerns about corporate profits and the impact of falling oil prices. More here

Barack Obama Takes First Step Toward Presidential Bid

The Illinois Democrat sent a letter and posted a video on his Web site notifying supporters of his plans to join the 2008 White House race. He said he would announce updates to his plan in his home state on Feb. 10. More here

In Other News:

"The U.S. military has sold forbidden equipment at least a half-dozen times to middlemen for countries -- including Iran and China -- who exploited security flaws in the Defense Department's surplus auctions," the AP reports.

Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said in an interview that Taliban attacks surged by 200 percent in December, and a U.S. military intelligence officer said that since the peace deal went into effect Sept. 5 the number of attacks in the border area has grown by 300 percent.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "conveniently ignored Egypt's internal problems during her visit, which include charges of corruption and torture, to name a few. Rice basically thanked Egypt for its cooperation in the region making it clear that, for the United States, 'stability, not democracy' is the priority."

On Sunday, Weekly Standard editor William Kristol called Gates’ congressional testimony last week “pretty pathetic.” Gates told Congress that we “may be able to begin drawing down some of our troops later this year.” Watch it here

From The Right:

Thomas Sowell: Another Vietnam? Nothing is easier than to second-guess decisions made in wartime. Anyone who has bothered to read the history of wars knows that very few wars have been without disastrous surprises, often on both sides.

From The Left: Bill Moyers: "Big Media is Ravenous" "It Never Gets Enough. Always Wants More. And it Will Stop at Nothing to Get It. These Conglomerates are an Empire, and they are Imperial."

Quote Of The Day:

"First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me."

Pastor Martin NiemÃller on the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.

(Sources: US HouseOfRepresentatives, Slate, CQ, Newsweek, MSNBC, USNews, USAToday/ Gallup, AP, Guardian, TownHall, FOXNews, DemocracyNow, CenterForAmericanProgress, Breitbart, NYT, WilmingtonStar)