memeorandum: Military chiefs give US six months to win Iraq war (Simon Tisdall/Guardian)

10:20 AM ET, March 1, 2007

Top Items:

In Newly Usual Way, McCain Says He'll Run — Senator John McCain of Arizona took the platform of a late-night talk show Wednesday and said he would formally announce his campaign for the presidency in early April. His remarks erased entirely whatever doubt could have existed about his ambitions for the Republican nomination.

Discussion: Hotline On Call, On Deadline and The Corner

CNN:

McCain announces '08 bid on Letterman … WASHINGTON (CNN) — Setting aside any doubt, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona announced Wednesday he would seek the presidential nomination. — McCain, who had a presidential exploratory committee, made the declaration on the "Late Show with David Letterman," taped earlier Wednesday.

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
McCain Says He'll Seek Presidency, Plans to Make It Official in April

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Cliff Schecter and The Moderate Voice

IAN / Hot Air:
Breaking: Video: McCain tells Letterman he's in

Discussion: Associated Press, PunditGuy, Iowa Voice and Wizbang

Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:
McCain Declares He's Running For President But Is His Campaign Collapsing?

Discussion: knx1070.com, The Gun Toting Liberal ™, Roger L. Simon and Riehl World View

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
McCain Announces On Letterman

Discussion: Macsmind

New York Times:

U.S. Concedes Uncertainty on North Korean Uranium Effort — Last October, the North Koreans tested their first nuclear device, the fruition of decades of work to make a weapon out of plutonium. — For nearly five years, though, the Bush administration, based on intelligence estimates …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Talking Points Memo, Obsidian Wings, The Mahablog, Bring it On!, TIME: Swampland and State of the Day

Helene Cooper / New York Times:

In U.S. Overtures to Foes, New Respect for Pragmatism — In the span of just two weeks, the United States has agreed to hold high-level contacts with Iran and Syria, and to start down the path toward formal diplomatic recognition of North Korea. — Has the Bush administration gone soft on its foes?

Discussion: Pacific Views and LiberalOasis

Lincoln D. Chafee / New York Times:
The Senate's Forgotten Iraq Choice

Discussion: The Washington Note, Prairie Weather and Obsidian Wings

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
New Doubts On Nuclear Efforts by North Korea

Discussion: Informed Comment, Political Animal and skippy the bush kangaroo

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Cheney's contempt for American public opinion — Since the smashing repudiation his party suffered at the hands of the American voter in the 2006 midterm elections, Dick Cheney's behavior has become palpably more secretive, combative, and scornful. The embittered interview he gave …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Post, FRAMESHOP, Norwegianity, Daily Kos, Philadelphia Inquirer, Balloon Juice, White House, CorrenteWire and Attytood

Matthias Gebauer / Spiegel Online:

The Star of Afghanistan's Jihad — The Taliban are gearing up for their "spring offensive" in Afghanistan. A series of brutal propaganda films is heralding thousands of suicide attacks. And the Taliban have a new bloodthirsty leader, whom Western intelligence agencies are taking very seriously: Mullah Dadullah.

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere and Jules Crittenden

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters: Move Over, Omar

Susan Milligan / Boston Globe:

Looking past the candidates — Conservatives shift focus to Congress — WASHINGTON — Conservative activists are shifting their 2008 focus to recapturing the House and Senate, hoping that GOP control of at least one chamber of Congress would thwart liberal policies that could come either …

Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
McCain rejects CPAC invite

Discussion: Ankle Biting Pundits

Glen Johnson / Associated Press:
Romney losing edge in New Hampshire

Discussion: AMERICAblog

Douglas Martin / New York Times:

Arthur Schlesinger, Historian of Power, Dies at 89 — Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., the historian whose more than 20 books shaped discussions for two generations about America's past, and who himself was a provocative, unabashedly liberal partisan, most notably in serving in the Kennedy White House, died last night in Manhattan.

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House and Talking Points Memo

Hillel Italie / Associated Press:
Kennedy insider Schlesinger dies at 89

Discussion: theneweditor.com

Washington Post:

Hospital Officials Knew of Neglect — Complaints About Walter Reed Were Voiced for Years — Top officials at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, including the Army's surgeon general, have heard complaints about outpatient neglect from family members, veterans groups and members of Congress for more than three years.

Discussion: The RBC, skippy the bush kangaroo, Obsidian Wings, Brilliant at Breakfast, Daily Kos, On Deadline, Unqualified Offerings, AMERICAblog, TPMmuckraker and JoeTrippi.com

Simon Tisdall / Guardian:

Military chiefs give US six months to win Iraq war — An elite team of officers advising US commander General David Petraeus in Baghdad has concluded the US has six months to win the war in Iraq - or face a Vietnam-style collapse in political and public support that could force the military into a hasty retreat.

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, The Moderate Voice, Outside The Beltway, The American Street, EU Referendum and The Reaction

Patrick Ishmael / The News Buckit:

"Seven words you can never say on television"... but which are said on the Internet. A lot. — Talk about potty-mouths. — The Net's not always a kid-friendly place; there is plenty of foul language out there. And of course, the blogosphere is no different.

Discussion: InstaPun***K.Com, PoliBlog (TM), La Shawn Barber's Corner, Blue Crab Boulevard, Classical Values, Bob Krumm, Wizbang and INSTAPUTZ

Curt Anderson / MiamiHerald.com:

Judge rules Padilla competent for trial — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that suspected al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla is competent to stand trial on terrorism support charges, rejecting arguments that he was severely damaged by 3 1/2 years of interrogation and isolation in a military brig. Padilla …

Discussion: Associated Press and Jules Crittenden

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:
Jose Padilla Ruled Competent to Stand Trial

Discussion: The Heretik, Unqualified Offerings and New York Times

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Giuliani-Appointed Judges Tend to Lean to the Left — When Rudy Giuliani faces Republicans concerned about his support of gay rights and legal abortion, he reassures them that he is a conservative on the decisions that matter most. — "I would want judges who are strict constructionists because I am …

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, PowersPoint, Outside The Beltway and The Huffington Post

Opinion Journal:

Walter Reuther's Ghost — Democrats vote to bar secret union ballots. — The House of Representatives has scheduled a vote as early as today on a bill that strips 140 million U.S. workers of the right to decide in private whether to unionize. Naturally, it's called the Employee Free Choice Act.

Discussion: Betsy's Page and Blue Crab Boulevard

Lyndsey Layton / Washington Post:

House GOP Pushes Floor Vote For Rep. Jefferson Appointment — House Republicans plan to force a floor vote on the appointment of Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.), who is the subject of a federal bribery investigation, to a seat on the Homeland Security Committee.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, NewsBusters.org and Blue Crab Boulevard

CNN:

GLENN BECK — Should Mexico Compensate U.S. for Cost of Illegals? ; Latest in Anna Nicole Case; New York Bans "N" Word — THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. — GLENN BECK, HOST: Coming up, an illegal alien tries to sell her baby for a car.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, My Two Sense and Wizbang