International:
NBC: Bin Laden may have escaped in Tora Bora again.
U.S. intel officials report that just last month, one of the world’s two most wanted men — bin Laden or his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri — was sighted in Tora Bora, Afghanistan. NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski reported last night:
NBC: Bin Laden may have escaped in Tora Bora again.
U.S. intel officials report that just last month, one of the world’s two most wanted men — bin Laden or his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri — was sighted in Tora Bora, Afghanistan. NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski reported last night:
U.S. intelligence and military officials tell NBC News overhead surveillance from an unmanned U.S. drone spotted a large al Qaeda security detail, the kind of protection that would normally surround al Qaeda’s Osama bin Laden or his number two Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Intel officials say there was “a high probability” that one of the two men was there. The coalition forces launched an assault for three days on the mountains of Tora Bora, but analysts said the response “was not quick enough to get him.” Military officials admit there were unidentified “planning and coordination problems.” Watch more on this story here
Sunnis may stop work with U.S. in Diyala
A U.S. effort to recruit former Sunni insurgents north of Baghdad — considered crucial to expanding the fight against extremists — is in danger of collapse because the government has been unable or unwilling to accept the volunteers into Iraqi security forces.
The potential breakdown in Diyala — described by U.S. and Iraqi officials in interviews this week — underscores the challenges of copying the military-militia alliances that uprooted al-Qaida in Iraq and other factions from strongholds in Iraq's western desert.
It also could threaten some of the gains of the U.S.-led security crackdown in Baghdad and surrounding areas, including the important battleground of Diyala where al-Qaida in Iraq claims the capital Baqouba as its base. Read more here...
National:
Minority Debate Snubbed by Top 4 GOPers
Candidates skipping Thursday's debate set off another: whether the GOP cares enough about minorities
Minority Debate Snubbed by Top 4 GOPers
Candidates skipping Thursday's debate set off another: whether the GOP cares enough about minorities
Senate agrees to raise U.S. credit limit...
With the U.S. government fast approaching its current $8.965 trillion credit limit, the Senate on Thursday gave final congressional approval of an $850 billion increase in U.S. borrowing authority.
The Senate voted 53-42 to raise the debt ceiling to $9.815 trillion, the fifth increase in the U.S. credit limit since President George W. Bush took office in January 2001. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the higher debt limit earlier this year as part of the overall budget resolution and the legislation now goes to Bush for his signature. Details
Dollar Drops to New Low Against Euro
The dollar reached yet another low Thursday, its sixth consecutive trading day searching for, and finding, a new bottom against the euro.
The dollar made some gains later in the face of data showing that new U.S. home sales have tumbled.
The euro rose as high as $1.4189 - up from $1.4136 in New York late the previous day and above its previous peak of $1.4162, which it had reached early Wednesday.
However, it dropped back to $1.4146 in late-afternoon European trading. Get the scoop here
In Other News…
During his Senate testimony, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that despite his "intent" to move towards closing Guantanamo Bay, he has run "into several obstacles put up by lawyers within the executive branch."
Gates also asked Congress yesterday for "an additional $42.3 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," bringing the total request for 2008 to $190 billion -- "the largest single-year total for the wars so far."
A federal judge ruled yesterday that "two provisions of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional" because they allowed federal surveillance and searches of Americans without demonstrating probable cause.
Verizon Wireless is refusing to allow Naral Pro-Choice America "to make Verizon's mobile network available for a text-message program," claiming it has "the right to block 'controversial or unsavory' text messages."
Insurgents in Iraq staged six car bombings across the country yesterday, killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens. "We have seen an upturn in levels of violence in the last few days," said Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner.
"Seven months after a major investigation spelt out Europe's involvement in a murky U.S. torture and kidnapping programme, the EU's governments have claimed they are powerless to prevent such human rights abuses in the future."
From The Right: Nathan Tabor: MoveOn's Misfire It would be foolish to discount the political power of the Internet phenom known as MoveOn.org. After all, it claims 3.2 million members, and there's no denying that it has become a major player in the Democratic Party.
From the Left: William Rivers Pitt: Dan Rather's Magnum Opus The willful collusion between CBS management and the Bush administration, offered by Rather to frame his accusations, illuminate an insidious, grotesque, and altogether deadly alignment of circumstances hiding in plain sight before the entire American populace. An explanation for why the legitimate fears and anxious uncertainties of the people are never soothed or clarified by mainstream news outlets like CBS, but are instead methodically aggravated and intentionally amplified by those outlets, begins to take shape in light of Rather's inside-view revelations.
Quote Of The Day: "Childrens do learn."-- President George W. Bush, quoted by the Washington Post urging Congress to reauthorize No Child Left Behind.
(Sources: TownHall, TruthOut, Reuters, AP, FOXNews, ThinkProgress, NewsMax, MSNBC, DrudgeReport, NYT, TheHill, IPSNews, PoliticalCartoons.com, PoliticalWire)
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