memeorandum: Nahr El Bared returns to Lebanon (Abu Kais/From Beirut to the Beltway)

6:10 PM ET, May 22, 2007

Top Items:

Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream — War on Terror Concerns — The first-ever, nationwide, random sample survey of Muslim Americans finds them to be largely assimilated, happy with their lives, and moderate with respect to many of the issues that have divided Muslims and Westerners around the world.

Discussion: Dean's World, On Deadline, Abu Aardvark, Atlas Shrugs, The Gun Toting Liberal™, Little Green Footballs, TIME and Silflay Hraka

Alan Fram / Associated Press:

Some US Muslims say suicide attacks OK — WASHINGTON - One in four younger U.S. Muslims said in a poll that suicide bombings to defend their religion are acceptable at least in some circumstances, though most Muslim Americans overwhelmingly reject the tactic and are critical of Islamic extremism and al-Qaida.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, News Bloggers Blog, Michelle Malkin, Right Wing News, Jihad Watch, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, NewsBusters.org and theneweditor.com

Stephen Schwartz / TCS Daily:
The Myth of Muslim Silence; The Persistence of MSM Silence

Discussion: Democratic Underground … and NewsBusters.org

Laura Litvan / Bloomberg:

Lieberman, Sticking With Democrats for Now, Warns Them on Iraq — Senator Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, says his disagreement with the Democrats over the Iraq war won't prevent him from working with his former party. For now. — ``I hope the moment doesn't come that I feel …

Discussion: GregsOpinion.com, Washington Monthly, Sirotablog, The Strata-Sphere and Brian Beutler

Senator Russ Feingold / Daily Kos:

A Collapse for Democrats — I wanted to link to a couple really good posts that I've seen in the past few days about the Democrats' strategy on the Iraq supplemental spending bill. They drive home what a mistake it is to just give up and pass a supplemental that doesn't include language to stop the war:

Discussion: Baltimore Sun, Crooks and Liars, Associated Press, TalkLeft, Don Surber, Riehl World View and DownWithTyranny!

CNN:

Dems pull deadline from war funding bill … WASHINGTON (CNN) — Speaker Nancy Pelosi will present a plan to House Democrats for a war funding bill that won't include a timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq but will feature benchmarks with consequences, according to Democratic leadership aides.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Election Central, TalkLeft and Gay Patriot

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

Democrats Drop Withdrawal Dates From Iraq Bill — Congressional Democrats relented today on their insistence that a war spending measure sought by President Bush also set a date for withdrawing troops from Iraq. The decision to back down, described by senior lawmakers and aides …

Discussion: Prairie Weather and Salon

Alexander Mooney / CNN Political Ticker:
Withdrawal timetable dropped from war spending bill

Discussion: Associated Press, Comments From Left Field and AMERICAblog

Stewart M. Powell / San Francisco Chronicle:

Bush could double force by Christmas — (05-22) 04:00 PDT Washington — The Bush administration is quietly on track to nearly double the number of combat troops in Iraq this year, an analysis of Pentagon deployment orders showed Monday. — The little-noticed second surge …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Democrats.com, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, CorrenteWire, News Bloggers Blog, The Impolitic and The Populist

Stewart M. Powell / Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

U.S. quietly, dramatically increasing Iraq troop levels — WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is quietly on track to nearly double the number of combat troops in Iraq this year, an analysis of Pentagon deployment orders showed Monday. — This "second surge" of troops in Iraq …

Discussion: Firedoglake

David Ignatius / Washington Post:
After the Surge — The Administration Floats Ideas for a New Approach in Iraq

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, The Newshoggers, The Mahablog, TAPPED, Sic Semper Tyrannis 2007, Obsidian Wings, TIME: Swampland, Crooks and Liars, The Impolitic, Sadly, No!, WTF Is It Now??, The Sideshow and toohotfortnr

Bob Kerrey / Opinion Journal:

The Left's Iraq Muddle — Yes, it is central to the fight against Islamic radicalism. — At this year's graduation celebration at The New School in New York, Iranian lawyer, human-rights activist and Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi delivered our commencement address.

Discussion: Hot Air, NewsBusters.org, The American Mind, Examining Presidential …, Booman Tribune, democracyarsenal.org, Chicago Boyz, The Carpetbagger Report, Taylor Marsh, Argghhh!, Done With Mirrors, Liberty Street, TPMCafe blogs and The Jawa Report

Faiz / Think Progress: Bob Kerrey: Wrong Before Going Into Iraq And Still Wrong Today

Faiz / Think Progress:
Snow Slams Gore's Book, Says It Should Be 'Reprinted' Because It Calls …

Discussion: The Republic of T.

National Review:
Re: Kerry Lovefest

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and Brian Beutler

Scott Lemieux / American Prospect:

The group blog of The American Prospect — PRE-SUFFRAGETTE CITY. Jill Filipovic points us to this Times article about the new strategy to justify using state coercion to force women to carry pregnancies to term by claiming that women are too irrational to know what's good for them, and offers a modest proposal.

Discussion: Shakesville, Ezra Klein, Bring it On!, Brilliant at Breakfast, New York Times and MaxSpeak

ABCNEWS:

Bomb Plot Thwarted at Falwell's Funeral — Student Arrested With Homemade Bombs, Three Other Suspects Sought — Even in death, the Rev. Jerry Falwell rouses the most volatile of emotions. — Authorities arrested a Liberty University student for having several homemade bombs in his car.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters

Alan Cooperman / Washington Post:
Evangelicals at a Crossroads As Falwell's Generation Fades

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Atlas Shrugs and MSNBC

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:

Today's Must Read — OK, so you knew Duke Cunningham was dirty, but you didn't know that he was this dirty. — The Wrong Stuff: The Extraordinary Saga of Randy "Duke" Cunningham, the Most Corrupt Congressman Ever Caught, the book about Cunningham by the reporters who brought him down, hits stores this coming Monday.

Discussion: Calitics, Lawyers, Guns and Money and CANNONFIRE

Ken Silverstein / Harper's: Six Questions for Marcus Stern on Duke Cunningham

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

We're Full Up On Lunatics, Thank You — The Lebanese government has ordered its army to finish off the Fatah Islam terrorist group holed up in the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp on its northern coast. They want an end to the al-Qaeda affiliate before it has a chance to grow out of control …

Discussion: snapped shot, Gateway Pundit, QandO and Blue Crab Boulevard

Abu Kais / From Beirut to the Beltway:
Nahr El Bared returns to Lebanon

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, snapped shot and Blacksmiths of Lebanon

Justin Rood Reports / The Blotter:

U.S. Government Gave Airtime to Terrorists, Official Admits — Justin Rood Reports: — Al Hurra television, the U.S. government's $63 million-a-year effort at public diplomacy broadcasting in the Middle East, is run by executives and officials who cannot speak Arabic, according to a senior official who oversees the program.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Obsidian Wings, Scared Monkeys and Crooks and Liars

CNN:

Market blast hits rush hour shoppers … ANKARA, Turkey (CNN) — A powerful blast believed to be a bomb ripped through an Ankara shopping district Tuesday, killing at least five people and wounding dozens more. — Anti-terror squad police at the scene said they have found traces of A4 plastic explosives.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and Michael P.F. van der Galiën