memeorandum: At Walter Reed, Bush Offers an Apology (Peter Baker/Washington Post)

12:15 PM ET, March 31, 2007

Top Items:

Govt denies it sweetened Hicks' sentence — The federal government denies it sweetened David Hicks' sentence for its election convenience. — Hicks will walk free from an Adelaide jail next New Year's Day, even though the confessed terrorist was recommended a seven year sentence by a US military commission.

Discussion: Kiko's House and The Moderate Voice

Lexington Herald-Leader:

Terror suspect gets 9 months in plea deal — AUSTRALIAN WILL SERVE HIS SENTENCE IN HOMELAND, CAN'T ALLEGE ABUSE — Australian David Hicks pleaded guilty at the Guant‡namo Bay Navy Base yesterday to supporting terrorism in exchange for a nine-month prison sentence under a plea deal …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Michael Melia / Associated Press:

Australian Gitmo Detainee Gets 9 Months — AP Photo JHX103 — GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) - An American military tribunal sentenced an Australian to nine months in prison Friday after he pleaded guilty to supporting terrorism - in the first conviction at a U.S. war-crimes trial since World War II.

Discussion: The Huffington Post

William Glaberson / New York Times:

Australian to Serve 9 Months in Terrorism Case — David Hicks, the Australian high-school dropout whose detention became an international issue, will serve nine more months in custody, most of it in Australia, under the terms of a plea deal unsealed here Friday.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Moderate Voice, TalkLeft and Tim Blair

Peter Spiegel / Los Angeles Times: Gates is pushing to move terror trials from Guantanamo

Washington Post:

Ex-Partner Of Giuliani May Face Charges — Kerik Counts Said To Include Deception During Cabinet Bid — Federal prosecutors have told Bernard B. Kerik, whose nomination as homeland security secretary in 2004 ended in scandal, that he is likely to be charged with several felonies …

Discussion: PoliBlog (TM), On Deadline, TIME, Brilliant at Breakfast, All Spin Zone and Mia Culpa

Associated Press:

Giuliani: Wife won't be Cabinet member — WASHINGTON - Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani said Friday his wife will not be a member of his Cabinet or attend most high-level meetings as he sought to clarify his previous statements suggesting she would play a significant role in his administration.

Guardian:

Europe threatens action as Iran airs new 'confession' — EU foreign ministers support British position and warn of 'appropriate measures' if 15 sailors and marines not released — The EU threatened to act against Iran last night if it did not immediately and unconditionally release …

Discussion: Riehl World View, Blue Crab Boulevard and Michael P.F. van der Galiën

Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:
Pelosi Going to Syria Despite Objections

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and Roger L. Simon

Eli Lake / New York Sun:
Tensions Grow Over Iran on Britons Held Hostage

Discussion: Jay Currie, Telegraph, Hot Air and Little Green Footballs

Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:
House Silent on British Hostage Crisis

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere and Gateway Pundit

Think Progress:
Exclusive: Republican Delegation Currently Visiting Syria …

Discussion: JURIST, White House, Cliff Schecter and Tennessee Guerilla Women

Larry McShane / Associated Press:

Gallery told to shut down chocolate Jesus display — NEW YORK — A planned Holy Week exhibition of a nude, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ was canceled Friday after Cardinal Edward Egan and other outraged Roman Catholics complained.

Discussion: Sydney Morning Herald and Reuters

Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:
Chocolate Jesus Meltdown As Controversial Exhibit Cancelled

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and Kansas City Star

Michelle Malkin:
How would the MSM cover "Chocolate Mohammed" at Ramadan?

Discussion: At-Largely and The Jawa Report

Peter Baker / Washington Post:

At Walter Reed, Bush Offers an Apology — After Touring Hospital and Visiting Patients, He Vows to 'Fix the Problem' — President Bush yesterday paid his first visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center since the uproar over shoddy conditions at the facility and emerged after a two-hour tour …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and The Caucus

White House:
President Bush Visits Troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Discussion: INTEL DUMP, Daily Kos and First Draft

Bill Hess / svherald.com:

Kurd describes 'traumatized' Iraq, why his people worry about U.S. — SIERRA VISTA — The Kurds in Iraq are afraid they will again be left in a lurch if American troops are forced to leave next year, the Kurdistan representative to the United States said Thursday.

Discussion: The Belmont Club and Redstate

Don'T Miss This / Associated Press:

Imams removed from flight may sue passengers — Lawyers step up to defend fliers who voiced concerns; chilling effect feared — Pat Snelson of suburban Minneapolis recalls on March 29, the concern he and his wife had about alleged suspicious behavior by six Muslim imams before the men …

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard and The Moderate Voice

Popular Mechanics:

Rosie O'Donnell 9/11 Conspiracy Comments: Popular Mechanics Responds — Recently, Rosie O'Donnell, a co-host of ABC talk show The View, made comments on the show that renewed controversy over the collapse of World Trade Center 7. — While saying she didn't know what to believe …

Discussion: Chicago Boyz and Hot Air

Laura Rozen / American Prospect:

The First Contract — New questions arise concerning Mitchell Wade's first White House contract — and his connections to the vice president. — From 1991 to 1993, a young lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserve was working as a program manager in a Pentagon intelligence office.

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Thomas Harding / Telegraph:

Without America's might the options are few — The Government has few options if it wants to pressure Iran into releasing the captured Britons. — Military action is unfeasible without American support and so is a military blockade of the Gulf. Unless the United Nations shows more rigour …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Verum Serum and Outside The Beltway

Cernig / NewsHog:

Yet More On Blogroll Purges — Terrance at the Republic of T comes late to the other PurgeGate controversy, the one about blogroll "amnesties" by key A-List progressive bloggers which turned out to be purges of the littler guys. Still, in a long and thoughtful post he takes a lucid look …

Discussion: The Debate Link

Libby Purves / Times of London:

Olmert: Arab peace plan "revolutionary" — David Byers and Richard Beeston of The Times, in Riyadh — The Israeli Prime Minister today described an Arab plan to make peace with the Jewish State as "revolutionary" and said the region could sign a final deal within five years.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Michael P.F. van der Galiën