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NATO's role in Afghanistan may have been the top topic at the alliance summit in Latvia but it did not top the networks' agenda. All three White House correspondents filed the night's lead on Iraq. All previewed the talks in Amman between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President George Bush. ABC's Martha Raddatz did not even travel to Riga with the press corps. She went straight ahead to Jordan.

The President's speech in Riga inspired the three leads. NBC's David Gregory emphasized Bush's refusal to withdraw US troops: "He blamed the violence not on civil war but on Sunni terrorists." ABC's Raddatz reported "serious doubts" among unnamed defense officials as to whether al-Maliki is "willing or able" to quell the violence. "The Iraqi government could collapse within weeks," she was told. CBS' Jim Axelrod speculated that al-Maliki may pressure Bush to withdraw US troops.

Andrew Tyndall 11/30/06 3:19:39 pm

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