memeorandum: ISG must stand for, uh, Inane Strategy Guesswork (Mark Steyn/Chicago Sun Times)

9:45 PM ET, December 10, 2006

Top Items:

Chile's Gen Pinochet dies at 91 — Chile's former military leader Augusto Pinochet has died, the Santiago hospital treating him after an earlier heart attack has announced. — The hospital said the condition of the 91-year-old general had suddenly worsened, AP news agency said.

Discussion: Liberty Street, Lawyers, Guns and Money and Vague Nihilism

BBC:

Chile's Gen Pinochet dies at 91 — Chile's former military leader Augusto Pinochet has died at the age of 91. — The general entered a Santiago hospital a week ago after a heart attack. He was thought to be recovering when his condition suddenly worsened on Sunday.

Discussion: Harry's Place

Associated Press:
Augusto Pinochet, Who Ruled Chile, Dies at 91

Discussion: TalkLeft

Mark Steyn / Chicago Sun Times:

ISG must stand for, uh, Inane Strategy Guesswork — Well, the ISG — the Illustrious Seniors' Group — has released its 79-point plan. How unprecedented is it? Well, it seems Iraq is to come under something called the "Iraq International Support Group."

Discussion: Flopping Aces, Yourish.com, FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog, Townhall.com Blog's …, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Wake up America, Instapundit.com, Ed Driscoll.com, Blogs for Bush, Power Line and Jessica's Well

Washington Post:

An Unlikely Offensive — THE IRAQ Study Group's recommendations for shifting U.S. military tactics in the war are specific, focused and aimed at incremental improvement over the next few months; they are also close to what the Pentagon and Iraqi government already were hoping to achieve.

Discussion: Power Line

Caroline Glick / Jerusalem Post:
Column One: Jews Wake Up!

Discussion: Dr. Sanity, FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog, Joust The Facts and Power Line

The Big Trunk / Power Line:

WHAT WOULD JIMMY DO? PART 2 — This morning Newsweek publicist Natalia Labenskyj emailed us the political stories in Newsweek's new issue. One of the items in Labeskyj's email is Eleanor Clift's softball interview with Jimmy Carter, which I happened to read. Here is one question and answer that caught my attention:

Discussion: Redstate

Newsweek:

Ideas: Presidential Provocation — President Carter has a new book out, his 23rd since leaving office and his most controversial. "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" has drawn fire for its use of the word "apartheid," and a former associate, Kenneth Stein, a professor of Middle Eastern studies …

Jimmy Carter / Washington Post:

What Would Jimmy Do? — Simon & Schuster. 264 pp. $27 — Jimmy Carter tells a strange and revealing story near the beginning of his latest book, the sensationally titled Palestine Peace Not Apartheid. It is a story that suggests that the former president's hostility to Israel is, to borrow a term, faith-based.

Discussion: The Debate Link, Power Line, Extreme Mortman, Bill's Bites, All Things Beautiful and Redstate

Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:

Did Rahm Emanuel lie about his knowledge of Mark Foley? Yes. — At the height of the Mark Foley scandal in October — when Democrats were pounding Denny Hastert and company on a daily basis for having taken no action despite knowing about the emails sent by Foley to at least one page …

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, Gateway Pundit, Booman Tribune and Decision '08

CNN:
Aide: Democrat leader heard of Foley e-mails in 2005

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Redstate and Centerfield

Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Greenwald Pounds Emanuel

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Hot Air

David Rothkopf / Washington Post:

Even If We Leave Now, We'll Be Back — Strategic redeployment. Phased drawdown. Exit strategy. However one phrases it, Washington seems to be turning a page in the story of Iraq. The midterm elections, the subsequent resignation of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the release …

Discussion: MaxSpeak and INDCJournal

Jules Crittenden / Boston Herald:
Leadership defined, Bush stays course

Discussion: Ray Robison and Bill's Bites

Richard Haass / Time:
How to Avoid Iraq Syndrome

Discussion: AMERICAN FUTURE and The Glittering Eye

Cain Burdeau / Associated Press:

Jefferson Overcomes Scandal, Wins Reelection — Voters looked past a federal bribery investigation of Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) and reelected the eight-term congressman in a runoff election Saturday. — Jefferson grabbed a commanding lead over state Rep. Karen Carter, a fellow Democrat …

Discussion: Washington Times, Gun Toting Liberal and Extreme Mortman

Times-Picayune Updates:
Jefferson swarms back to win re-election

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo, MyDD, A Blog For All and Don Surber

Cain Burdeau / Associated Press:
La. Dem incumbent wins House runoff

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, CNN.com, the talking dog and Middle Earth Journal

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:

Sen. Smith on Iraq: "...that is dereliction, that is immoral" — Republican Gordon Smith ripped Bush over Iraq on the floor of the Senate Thursday: … On THIS WEEK, Smith dug a bit deeper to clarify his remarks: — Video-WMP Video-QT … Transcript via ABC below the fold:

Payson / Think Progress:
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) Calls Bush's Iraq Policy a 'Dereliction …

Discussion: Balkinization, Matthew Yglesias, Middle Earth Journal and State of the Day

Associated Press:

Talks under way to replace Iraq PM — BAGHDAD, Iraq - Major partners in Iraq's governing coalition are in behind-the-scenes talks to oust Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki amid discontent over his failure to quell raging violence, according to lawmakers involved.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters

Jason Burke / Observer:

Britain stops talk of 'war on terror' — Foreign Office has asked ministers to ditch the phrase invented by Bush to avoid stirring up tensions within the Islamic world — Cabinet ministers have been told by the Foreign Office to drop the phrase 'war on terror' and other terms seen as liable …

Discussion: sisu, The Belmont Club, The Reaction and Hot Air

Washington Post:

Dairy Industry Crushed Innovator Who Bested Price-Control System — In the summer of 2003, shoppers in Southern California began getting a break on the price of milk. — A maverick dairyman named Hein Hettinga started bottling his own milk and selling it for as much as 20 cents a gallon less …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Redstate, The Agonist, Mark in Mexico, Cafe Hayek, EconLog, Inactivist and PointOfLaw Forum

Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:

GOP Laments Mixed Results As Control of Congress Ends — Demoralized Republicans adjourned the 109th Congress at 5 a.m. yesterday with a near-empty Capitol, closing the door on a dozen years of nearly unbroken GOP control by spending more time in the final days lamenting their failures …

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Political Animal

Nina / The Other Side of the Ocean:

a Krakow saturday — Can a Pole get a fresh perspective on her homeland by staying away for a while? You think you can, but it's a myth. You get off the train, you see X, Y and that's it. Say no more, you, dear country, are as good (or as quirky) as I remember you.

Mark Landler / New York Times:

New Radiation Traces Linked to Associate of Ex-Spy — German authorities said today that they had found traces of the radioactive substance polonium in a car and two homes in Hamburg used by a Russian business associate of the murdered ex-K.G.B. agent Alexander V. Litvinenko a few days before the men met in London.

Discussion: Hot Air and Decision '08