memeorandum @ 1:20 PM ET, March 21, 2006

1:20 PM ET, March 21, 2006

RELATED ITEMS:

An Iraq Success Story's Sad New Chapter — Bush's Struggle in Reassuring U.S. Is Illustrated by City's Renewed Strife — CLEVELAND, March 20 — As President Bush tells the tale, the battle for Tall Afar offers a case study in how U.S. and Iraqi forces working together can root out insurgents and restore stability.

Discussion: The Heretik, Penraker, The Carpetbagger Report, White House and Air America Radio

Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
Bush Defends His Iraq Record, but Concedes Some Setbacks

Discussion: NewsBusters.org

Christopher Hitchens / Opinion Journal:

The Stone Face of Zarqawi — Iraq is no "distraction" from al Qaeda. — In February 2004, our Kurdish comrades in northern Iraq intercepted a courier who was bearing a long message from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to his religious guru Osama bin Laden. The letter contained a deranged analysis …

Discussion: Slate, Hugh Hewitt, The Belmont Club, Betsy's Page, Decision '08 and TigerHawk

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Fred Kaplan / Slate:
If Only ... The lessons of our Iraqi bungles.

Discussion: TAPPED, Lawyers, Guns and Money and The Reaction

New York Times:
Iraqi Insurgents Storm Police Station, Killing 18 Officers

Discussion: Norwegianity

Washington Post:

FBI Was Warned About Moussaoui — Agent Tells Court Of Repeated Efforts Before 9/11 Attacks — An FBI agent who interrogated Zacarias Moussaoui before Sept. 11, 2001, warned his supervisors more than 70 times that Moussaoui was a terrorist and spelled out his suspicions that the al-Qaeda operative …

Discussion: Associated Press, Obsidian Wings, Mia Culpa and Below The Beltway

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Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:
F.B.I. Agent Testifies Superiors Didn't Pursue Moussaoui Case

Discussion: firedoglake

Faiz / Think Progress:

Bush Falsely Claims He Never Linked Hussein To September 11 … Olbermann: … Bush [from SOTU]: … Olbermann: … Comment by scarlett — March 21, 2006 @ 2:50 am — Red and Karly Pyoub, — You sound like a whacko tarot card reader. Where did you learn to 'speculate', the tinfoil hat convention?

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, MSNBC, Happy Furry Puppy Story …, BlondeSense, The Reaction, The Left Coaster, The Democratic Party and Associated Press

RELATED ITEMS:

Washington Post:
Freedom, Yes, Iraqis Say, But at Great, Grave Cost

Discussion: BlondeSense, BrothersJudd Blog and Daimnation!

David W. Chen / New York Times:

Cheney at Fund-Raiser, but Not With the Candidate — NEWARK, March 20 — In the biggest campaign fund-raiser yet on behalf of State Senator Thomas H. Kean Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney traveled to New Jersey on Monday and praised Mr. Kean as someone with "the experience …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, State of the Day, Wonkette, Air America Radio and AMERICAblog

Kenneth R. Bazinet / NY Daily News:

I'm boss, Hil tells Bill — Senator's word is now 'final,' says the ex-Prez — WASHINGTON - After being surprised by her husband's role in the Dubai ports deal, Sen. Hillary Clinton has insisted that Bill Clinton give her "final say" over what he says and does, well-placed sources said.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Daily Pundit and BrothersJudd Blog

Priya Jain / Salon:

The battle to ban birth control — Ever since she was in her early teens, Mary Worthington has been vehemently opposed to contraception, which she regards as immoral and dangerous. To spread her anti-birth-control gospel, this month she launched No Room for Contraception …

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister, Brilliant at Breakfast, Pandagon, Bitch Ph.D. and Air America Radio

Washington Post:

President Discusses War, Economy, Politics — SPEAKER: GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES — BUSH: Yesterday, I delivered the second in a series of speeches on the situation in Iraq. I spoke about the violence that the Iraqi people had faced since last month's bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra.

Discussion: Suburban Guerrilla and Hugh Hewitt

Charles S. Johnson / helenair.com:

Poll: Burns struggling in race — HELENA - If U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns drops out of the race, either Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg or former Gov. Marc Racicot would instantly hold big leads over the top two Democrats against whom Burns is struggling, a poll released Monday shows.

Discussion: Left in the West

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:

Pastors' Get-Out-the-Vote Training Could Test Tax Rules — WASHINGTON, March 20 — Weeks after the Internal Revenue Service announced a crackdown on political activities by churches and other tax-exempt organizations, a coalition of nonprofit conservative groups is holding training sessions …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Pam's House Blend, MyDD and The All Spin Zone

Stephen Bates / Guardian:

Archbishop: stop teaching creationism — Williams backs science over Bible — The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has stepped into the controversy between religious fundamentalists and scientists by saying that he does not believe that creationism - the Bible-based account …

Discussion: The Panda's Thumb and Pacific Views

New York Times:

2 Years After Soldier's Death, Family's Battle Is With Army — SAN JOSE, Calif. — Patrick K. Tillman stood outside his law office here, staring intently at a yellow house across the street, just over 70 yards away. That, he recalled, is how far away his eldest son, Pat …

Discussion: Air America Radio, Rising Hegemon, Brilliant at Breakfast and Rook's Rant

Michelle Malkin:

THE UNITED NATIONS SMEARS LEGO — ***scroll for updates*** — Today is The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is celebrating the day with this vile poster portraying Denmark's most famous company as racist:

Discussion: Rantings of a Sandmonkey, Elephants in Academia, The American Thinker, Vital Perspective and RedState

Andrew Ross Sorkin / New York Times:

Banker Granted Retrial in a Case From 90's Boom — A federal appeals court yesterday overturned the obstruction-of-justice conviction of Frank P. Quattrone, the investment banker who rose to prominence in the 1990's technology boom, and granted him a new trial.

Discussion: Houston's Clear Thinkers, Ideoblog, TalkLeft and Dan Gillmor's blog

Robert F. Worth / New York Times:

New Business Blooms in Iraq: Terror Insurance — BAGHDAD, Iraq — Twice in the past year, Muhammad Said has survived assassination attempts that left his car riddled with bullets. He works part time as a bodyguard for his father, a Baghdad city councilman, and helps a friend who has contracts with the American military.

Discussion: The Heretik

Ben Domenech / Red America:

Pachyderms in the Mist: Red America and the MSM — This is a blog for the majority of Americans. — Since the election of 1992, the extreme political left has fought a losing battle. Their views on the economy, marriage, abortion, guns, the death penalty, health care, welfare, taxes …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Brad DeLong's Semi … and The American Thinker

Sfarber / the talking dog:

TD Blog Interview with Dr. David Nicholl — On March 11, 2006, an explosive letter appeared in Britain's prestigious medical journal, The Lancet, decrying the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and in particular, the practice of force-feeding hunger-striking detainees.

Discussion: Majikthise