Tuesday, September 11, 2007

How should we mark 9/11 six years after the attacks?
If actions speak louder than elegy, it tells you where we are that the team coverage on the eve of the sixth anniversary of 9/11 alternated between General Petraeus' performance on Capitol Hill and Britney Spears' performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. Osama returned to prime time, only to be mocked for his "impotence" and apparent need for Grecian Formula. A New Jersey community that lost 100 people that day has had to delay expansion of its memorial because fundraising fell short. September 11 falls once again on a Tuesday, we are six years away from the fire, and wondering what that means.

A USA Today poll found that more than two thirds of Americans view 9/11 as the most memorable news event of their lifetime. Far from pressing it neatly between the pages of a heavy book, to be retrieved only on special occasions, the day in memory has gained in power and urgency. Nearly one third said the event changed the way they lived - which is up from 18% five years ago, as though it was possible to see the change, or at least safe to admit it without having to swat away charges that "the terrorists win" if you do anything differently.

International:
Envoy: Iraq government 'dysfunctional'
Iraq's government is dysfunctional, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq told a Senate hearing Tuesday -- but he added the fact that Iraqi leaders recognized that was a sign of progress. full story

Oil Hits New Record
Oil prices rose to a new record settlement price Tuesday as traders turned their attention to a government inventory report expected to show tight supplies and shrugged off OPEC's decision to boost output. Details

Direct Hit on Troops
Rocket fired by militants in Gaza lands in Israeli army base, wounding 40 soldiers as they slept in tents.

Putin dissolves Russian government on prime minister's request

National:
Chertoff: We're Preparing for Nuclear Attack

Weapons of mass destruction, small boats packed with explosives and Islamic radicalization are the greatest terrorist threats facing the country, top U.S. security officials said Monday on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

U.S. Officials Begin Crafting Iran Bombing A recent decision by German officials to withhold support for any new sanctions against Iran has pushed a broad spectrum of officials in Washington to develop potential scenarios for a military attack on the Islamic regime, FOX News confirmed Tuesday. More here

National Review: Don’t. Ever. Leave.
In its May 9, 2005 issue, the National Review featured a cover proclaiming, “We’re Winning,” accompanied by a breathless cover story by National Review editor Rich Lowry.

Safer? At the Senate Armed Services hearing on progress in Iraq today, Sen. John Warner (R-VA) asked Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, “if we continue what you have laid before the Congress, this strategy, that if you continue, you are making America safer?”Sir, I don’t know actually,” replied Petraeus, adding that he is solely focused on the mission in Iraq. Watch it here

In Other News… Six years after 9/11, just three in 10 Americans "believe that the U.S. and its allies are winning the war on terrorism," according to a new CNN poll. That number is down from 41 percent "when the same question was asked at the beginning of last year."

A group of Baghdadis watching the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker yesterday were "unimpressed." "I don't think this will change anything in our country because the Americans will never leave Iraq," said Saleh Adnan, a car mechanic. "For me, the main report will be the one which announces the American departure."

Contradicting President Bush's homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend, who recently called Osama bin Laden "virtually impotent," "U.S. intelligence and law enforcement chiefs and a Cabinet member said Monday that Osama bin Laden remained the most dangerous terrorist threat to the United States six years after the 9-11 attacks."

9/11/07: Longing for a Shorter War On September 11, 2001, America changed in ways we still struggle to accept. The pain of loss may fade to a dull ache, but it never really goes away. And the rage triggered by senseless acts hardens into resolve to make sense of a world in which innocents die in the name of a perverse version of God.

From the Left: Dean Baker:
Recession Time! The Housing Bubble Bursts the Economy "The downturn in jobs reported last month by the Labor Department provided evidence of an economic downturn that even the economy's greatest cheerleaders could not ignore. Healthy economies do not shed jobs."

Quote Of The Day: We will get bin Laden --White House (more here)
BONUS - Clip Of The Day: Please click here (+/-9 min video) (use headphonesa)

(Sources: TownHall, TruthOut, AP, FOXNews, ThinkProgress, NewsMax, DrudgeReport, NYT, USAToday, CNN, PoliticalCartoons.com, PoliticalTracker, WashingtonTimes, Forbes, Breitbart, McClatchy, AFP, SmokingGun, NationalReview, YouTube)

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