memeorandum: HILLARY'S SONG....OK, I have to admit that Hillary Clinton's latest spot is pretty cute. (Kevin Drum/Washington Monthly)

3:25 PM ET, June 19, 2007

Top Items:

The Battle of Baqubah II — The Baqubah region. Click map to view. — Major offensive in al Qaeda's so-called capital of the Islamic State of Iraq — The Diyala Campaign is underway. As part of major offensive operations throughout the belts regions of Baghdad …

Discussion: New York Times, The Atlantic Online, The Newshoggers, Michael P.F. van der Galiën and Multi-National Force

Michael Yon:

Be Not Afraid … [From a prayer card I found on a base in Anbar Province, Iraq.] — Thoughts flow on the eve of a great battle. By the time these words are released, we will be in combat. Few ears have heard even rumors of this battle, and fewer still are the eyes that will see its full scope.

Discussion: Flopping Aces, CNN, Neptunus Lex, Captain's Quarters, QandO, Confederate Yankee, Jules Crittenden and shotinthedark.info/wp …

Washington Post:

U.S. Forces Target Insurgents in New Operation — U.S. troops backed by helicopters and Bradley Fighting Vehicles launched a major offensive Tuesday to clear the Sunni extremist group al-Qaeda in Iraq from its new stronghold in Diyala province north of the capital, the U.S. military said in a statement.

Discussion: TPMmuckraker, Liberty Street, Telegraph, INTEL DUMP, Macsmind and The Fourth Rail

Multi-National Force:
Task Force Lightning strikes al-Qaeda

Discussion: Mudville Gazette

Associated Press:

Fatah leadership decides to cut all contact with Hamas — Fatah's top leadership body decided Tuesday to cut off all contacts with Hamas, a participant said. — The decision was made in a meeting of the Fatah Central Committee, said Azzam al-Ahmed. — "The Fatah Central Committee decided today …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Washington Times and Israel Matzav

Associated Press:

Carter: Stop favoring Fatah over Hamas — The United States, Israel and the European Union must end their policy of favoring Fatah over Hamas, or they will doom the Palestinian people to deepening conflict between the rival movements, former US President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday.

Discussion: Power Line, Washington Post and Israpundit

Fouad Ajami / New York Times:
Brothers to the Bitter End

Discussion: Jewish World Review and Power Line

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters: Might Makes Right?

Fred Thompson / Townhall.com:

Fred Thompson's Remarks to Policy Exchange in London — Thank you very much. Charles Moore, Anthony Browne, Dean Godson, distinguished guests: I appreciate the cordial welcome to London. I always look forward to visiting the United Kingdom, and this time around I couldn't ask for a better host than the Policy Exchange.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, The Newshoggers, Redstate, Reuters, TIME and The Politico

Tim Montgomerie / Britain and America:

Fred Thompson in London — Fred Thompson was in London today - the day on which one opinion poll made him the frontrunner in the Republican race for the White House. BritainAndAmerica was present when he spoke at the Policy Exchange think tank. Four video extracts from his Q&A are posted below:

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Townhall.com, Roger L. Simon and Hot Air

Bob Geiger:

Here's How Fringe I Am, Fred Thompson — Did you know that former Senator and maybe, kinda, sorta Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson has his own column on the ABC Radio Network's web site? Neither did I until someone pointed out to me that he had written a piece bashing Senate …

Discussion: Think Progress, The Carpetbagger Report, The Atlantic Online and No More Mister Nice Blog

Richard Cohen / Washington Post:

The Runaway Train That Hit Scooter Libby — The attorney general called a meeting. He assembled all the U.S. attorneys in the Great Hall of the Justice Department and told them, in essence, that their chief responsibility was to decide whom not to prosecute.

Discussion: All Spin Zone, Heading Right, TalkLeft, Firedoglake, Captain's Quarters, A Spork in the Drawer, Daily Kos, The Next Hurrah, Booman Tribune, uggabugga, Comments From Left Field, BLCKDGRD, Blue Crab Boulevard, The American Street, The Sideshow and Brian Beutler

Craig Gordon / Newsday:

Rudy missing in action for Iraq panel — Giuliani's campaign fundraising kept him from commitment to panel studying Iraq. — WASHINGTON — Rudolph Giuliani's membership on an elite Iraq study panel came to an abrupt end last spring after he failed to show up for a single official meeting of the group …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Think Progress, The Carpetbagger Report, Washington Monthly, Power Line, The Atlantic Online, Taylor Marsh, Democratic National Committee and State of the Day

David Weigel / Reason Magazine:

The Awful Truth About 9/11 — The guerrilla reporters of Infowars—last seen being broken up and hauled out of the spin room at CNN's Republican debate—nailed Michael Moore at a screening of Sicko and got him to discuss 9/11 conspiracy theories. (Sorry, other theories of the events of 9/11.)

Charlie Savage / Boston Globe:

US agencies disobey 6 laws that president challenged — Officials regarded some as advisory — WASHINGTON — Federal officials have disobeyed at least six new laws that President Bush challenged in his signing statements, a government study disclosed yesterday.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Threat Level, Firedoglake, The Carpetbagger Report, Democratic Underground … and TIME: Swampland

The Politico:

Republican candidates begin snubbing Bush — A president with dismal approval ratings and a bitter intraparty rupture over immigration are obvious problems for Republican politicians. — In recent days, however, the combination is emerging as something less obvious: an opportunity.

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House, BuzzFlash.org, All Spin Zone and AMERICAblog

Donna St. George / Washington Post:

Getting Lost in the Great Indoors — Many Adults Worry Nature Is Disappearing From Children's Lives — Linda Pelzman appreciates the beauty of the outdoor world, sometimes pulling her children into the yard to gaze at a full moon or peer into a dense fog.

Discussion: The American Mind, Unqualified Offerings, Althouse, Outside The Beltway and Transterrestrial Musings

Kate Phillips / The Caucus:

Clinton Sings Soprano, Sort of — For a few seconds there, as the opening piano riff jolted our senses, we were getting very excited about Senator Hillary Clinton's theme-song pick, as she began thumbing through a jukebox at a diner: … Whoa! We were on a Journey back as it played softly …

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker, National Review, MSNBC, The Swamp and Mouth of the Potomac

Austin Fenner / New York Post:

KERIK'S CRY OVER RUDY — LAMENTS LOSING HIS PAL — Disgraced ex-NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik can't stop crying over his fizzled friendship with former BFF Rudy Giuliani. — "I accept the distance created by Giuliani. I understand it, but inside, it's killing me," Kerik said.

Discussion: TalkLeft, No More Mister Nice Blog and MSNBC