Daily Briefing: Cracking Open the Door to Freedom

•Senators, by vote of 79 to 19, pass a resolution marking next year as "a period of significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty. . . thereby creating the conditions for the phased redeployment of United States forces from Iraq." Sen.Harry Reid(D-Nev.): "Staying the course will not do." Sen.Bill Frist(R-Tenn.): "It's a continuation of the oversight we've been conducting for years in the United States Senate." WP , NYT , WSJ , USAT ]

•Senators from both parties "are demanding that the administration show that it has a strategy to turn the conflict over to the Iraqis and eventually bring U.S. troops home." [ WP ]

•Sen.Chuck Hagel(R-Neb.) defends critics of the war: "[T]heBushadministration must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them. . . to not question your government is unpatriotic." [ WP ]

•Oil executives did meet withCheney's energy task force in 2001. Sen.Frank Lautenberg(D-N.J.): "The White House went to great lengths to keep these meetings secret, and now oil executives may be lying to Congress about their role in theCheneytask force." [ WP ]

• Alitotries to downplay conservative remarks from 1985. [ WP , NYT , LAT ]

• Ricereaches deal on access to the Gaza Strip. [ WP , NYT , NYT , USAT ]

• Lewis Libbyplans to "seek testimony from journalists beyond those cited in the indictment and will probably challenge government agreements limiting their grand jury testimony." [ NYT ]

• Bushtells Chinese leaders, "once the door to freedom is opened even a crack, it cannot be closed." [ WP , NYT , WSJ , USAT ]

• Alito's decisions are "more subtle and less dismissive of precedent." [ WSJ ]

•American views on Iraq echo views on Vietnam. [ USAT ]

•Senate Finance Committee lets go of cuts to dividend and capital gains rates; another setback forBush. [ WP , WSJ ]

• Ben Bernankepledges to be "strictly independent of all political influences." [ WP ]

• David Safavianwas up-and-coming until he was indicted. [ WP ]