International:
Crisis of 'Grave Concern': U.N. statement calls on Iran to release 15 Brits
After marathon negotiations, the U.N. Security Council agreed late Thursday afternoon on a watered-down press statement expressing "grave concern" at Iran's capture of 15 British sailors and marines and calling for an early resolution of the problem, including their release.

Primarily because of Russian opposition, Britain failed to win council support for a stronger statement that would "deplore" Iran's detention of the Britons and call for their immediate release.

'Outrageous And Cruel'
The Foreign Secretary has criticised Iran for releasing a letter purportedly from a captive British sailor calling for the UK to withdraw its forces from Iraq. Margaret Beckett said: "We have not seen this letter but we have grave concerns about the circumstances in which it was prepared and issued. This blatant attempt to use Leading Seaman Turney for propaganda purposes is outrageous and cruel."

"It is cruel and callous to do this to someone in this position, and to play games like this is a disgrace," Downing Street added. The letter also asks why the Government allowed 15 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines, currently in Iranian custody, to stray into the Muslim state's waters.

Saudi king hits U.S. in Iraq

Saudi King Abdullah, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, yesterday slammed what he termed the "illegitimate foreign occupation" of neighboring Iraq and called for an end to the "unjust" U.S.-backed financial blockade of the Palestinian government.

In a rare public spat, both the White House and State Department quickly rejected the king's description of the U.S. mission in Iraq. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said flatly the king was "wrong" in questioning the legitimacy of the U.S. troop presence in Iraq.

Abdullah spoke at the opening of a two-day summit in Riyadh in which Arab leaders formally revived a 2002 Saudi peace plan, under which Arab governments would recognize Israel in return for the creation of a Palestinian state and Israeli concessions on borders, control of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees with claims on property inside Israel.

National:

Dems Edge Closer to Showdown Over Iraq

A defiant, Democratic-controlled Senate approved legislation Thursday calling for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq within a year, propelling Congress closer to an epic, wartime veto confrontation with President Bush.

The 51-47 vote was largely along party lines, and like House passage of a separate, more sweeping challenge to Bush's war policies a week ago, fell far short of the two-thirds margin needed to overturn the president's threatened veto. It came not long after Bush and House Republicans made a show of unity at the White House.

"With passage of this bill, the Senate sends a clear message to the president that we must take the war in Iraq in a new direction. Setting a goal for getting most of our troops out of Iraq is not - not, not - cutting and running," said Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., shortly before the vote. Passage cleared the way for negotiations on a compromise with the House. Read more here

Conservatives shut down Sampson hearing?
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) interrupted Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) <listen here> A Senate Judiciary Committee source says that conservatives objected to the hearing lasting beyond two hours, but then backed down after realizing it was a huge strategic blunder.

Leahy explains: “Just so people can understand what’s going on here. The lack of permission going forward has now been changed. I had raised questions and the — whatever objection there was on the Republican side has been withdrawn, so that we can continue. When Mr. Sampson comes back, we will start with Sen. Durbin. Somebody here just asked me if this all could have just been all an accident, that we had this lack of concurrence by the Republicans to go forward. I grew up in a faith that believes in miracles, and it’s conceivable as an accident, I’ve been here 33 years and I’ve never seen it happen before. So maybe it was, but I suspect it was not.”

Ex-Aide: Gonzales Signed Off on Firings

Contrary to his public statements, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was deeply involved in the firing of eight federal prosecutors, his former top aide said Thursday, adding that the final decision on who was to be dismissed was made by Gonzales and President Bush's former counsel.
"I don't think the attorney general's statement that he was not involved in any discussions of U.S. attorney removals was accurate," Kyle Sampson, who quit this month as Gonzales' chief of staff, told the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I remember discussing with him this process of asking certain U.S. attorneys to resign."

Responding to questions from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Sampson rejected the notion that the dismissals were ordered by young or inexperienced Justice Department officials. "The decision makers in this case were the attorney general and the counsel to the president," he told the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I and others made staff recommendations but they were approved and signed off on by the principals." The White House response was notably muted. "I'm going to have to let the attorney general speak for himself," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. Read full story

From The Right: Paul Greenberg: Attaway, Mr. President
Was that George W. Bush or the shade of Harry S Truman speaking immediately after the House of Representatives voted (218 to 212) to order American combat troops out of Iraq? They would have until September of next year to leave. The president's response: Hell, No!

From the Left: Jonathan Martin, Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei: Republicans Fear 2008 Meltdown Polling data released this month confirms what GOP officials are picking up anecdotally: swing voters are swinging away from Republicans at high velocity. Most alarming to GOP strategists is a new survey by the non partisan Pew Research Center that found 50 percent of those interviewed consider themselves a Democrat or leaning that way; only 35 percent tilt Republican.

Quote Of The Day: "I'm going to hand everybody in America a shovel and we're going to start digging our way out." Sen. Hillary Clinton, on what she'll do after being elected president.

(Sources: Townhall, CenterForAmericanProgress, FOXNews, TruthOut, SkyNews, Breitbart, WahsingtonTimes, PoliticalWire)