memeorandum: Syria and the ‘Lessons’ of Iraq (Matthew Continetti/Washington Free Beacon)

3:15 PM ET, August 30, 2013

Top Items:

Julian Pecquet / The Hill:

Unclassified Syria briefing exposes rifts among key lawmakers — Thursday night's briefing by top Obama administration officials exposed divisions among key lawmakers on what to do in Syria. — Lawmakers on the unclassified conference call said the officials made it clear that President Obama …

Discussion: Reuters, Politico and USA Today

Ernesto Londoño / Washington Post:

U.S. military officers have deep doubts about impact, wisdom of a U.S. strike on Syria — The Obama administration's plan to launch a military strike against Syria is being received with serious reservations by many in the U.S. military, which is coping with the scars of two lengthy wars …

Discussion: CBS News, Hit & Run, New York Times, Post Politics, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler, Sense of Events, Politico, Israel Matzav and All Foreign Affairs Content

Politico:

Nancy Pelosi the hawk tells President Obama to act on Syria — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi pressed top administration officials Thursday night to take military action to punish Syrian President Bashar Assad in response to reports that he used chemical weapons in his nation's ongoing civil war.

Discussion: CNN, Hit & Run, Hullabaloo, Guardian, The PJ Tatler, Weekly Standard, Weasel Zippers, ThinkProgress, New York Times, Goppers and Reuters

Kevin Liptak / CNN:

As Obama considers Syria strikes, Bush and Carter weigh in — (CNN) - Two of President Barack Obama's White House predecessors offered their views of his impending decision on Syria Friday as global support for strikes in the country faltered. — Former President George W. Bush …

Discussion: Politico, Hullabaloo and Washington Monthly

Washington Post:

FULL TRANSCRIPT: Secretary of State John Kerry's remarks on Syria on Aug. 30 — Secretary of State John Kerry delivered the following remarks Aug. 30 at the State Department on the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government. — KERRY: President Obama has spent many days …

Discussion: New York Times, Firedoglake, ThinkProgress, BBC, The Week, Hot Air, NBCNews and Weasel Zippers

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:

George W. Bush Talks Syria on Fox: ‘I Was Not a Fan of Mr. Assad’ — President George W. Bush appeared on Fox News Channel on Friday where he discussed his recovery from a recent heart surgery and his charitable works for veterans. Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade asked Bush for his thoughts …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and BizPac Review

Mark Murray / NBCNews:
NBC poll: Americans skeptical of U.S. intervention in Syria

Discussion: New York Times, Politico, Weasel Zippers, The Huffington Post, National Review and CNN

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:
Aim of U.S. Attack: Restore a ‘Red Line’ That Became Blurred

Discussion: Via Meadia, The Daily Caller and emptywheel

David E. Sanger / New York Times:
After British Vote, Unusual Isolation for U.S. on Syria

Discussion: NPR

Liam Stack / The Lede:
Facebook Post Said to Be by Assad's Son Dares Americans to Attack

Discussion: Guardian, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Gawker, AL.com and FP Passport

Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon: Syria and the ‘Lessons’ of Iraq

Politico:
The lonely president — President Barack Obama had hoped for a quick …

Discussion: Guardian, The New Republic, Daily Express, Weekly Standard, Taegan Goddard's …, Associated Press and Reuters

Katie Glueck / Politico:
Bush vets split on Syria

Discussion: Mediaite, Business Insider, NPR, Reuters, Hot Air, The Hill and Lawfare

Mark Murray / NBCNews:
NBC poll: Nearly 80 percent want congressional approval on Syria

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway, NewsMax.com, AL.com, The BRAD BLOG, Scared Monkeys, FITSNews, msnbc.com, Lawfare and New York Times

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:
Rand Paul: Syria ‘objective is stalemate’

Discussion: CNN and Reuters

Devin Dwyer / ABC News:
Obama's Off-the-Cuff ‘Red Line’ Creates Syria Dilemma

Discussion: ABC News, Hot Air, Associated Press and NetRight Daily

Max Fisher / WorldViews:
9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Mark Landler / New York Times:
Obama Set for Limited Strike on Syria as British Vote No

CNN:
Kerry places blame on Syria

Discussion: AL.com, The Hinterland Gazette, Business Insider, KDVR.com and Here & Now

Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Prepares for Solo Strike On Syria After Britain Balks

Discussion: Washington Wire, Business Insider, Hot Air, AEIdeas and The Volokh Conspiracy

David Barrett / Telegraph:

David Miranda was carrying password for secret files on piece of paper — A journalist's partner who was detained carrying thousands of British intelligence documents through Heathrow airport was also holding the password to an encrypted file written on a piece of paper, the government has disclosed.

Discussion: Politico, BuzzFeed, Business Insider, Joe. My. God. and The Verge, more at Mediagazer »

Robert Booth / Guardian:
UK took three weeks to act over data at New York Times, says Guardian

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Switch, more at Mediagazer »

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:

White House, Republican senators give up on budget talks — The Obama administration and a group of Republican senators abandoned efforts Thursday to hammer out a budget deal and avoid a showdown over the national debt, saying they had failed to resolve their long-standing dispute over taxes.

Discussion: Hot Air and Hullabaloo

Ben Terris / NationalJournal.com:

Pelosi: I Don't Want to Be Speaker Again — “No, that's not my thing. I did that.” — D.C. is a wait-and-then-hurry-up kind of town. After more than a month away, Congress returns to a full plate. Legislators need to find a way—and quickly—to pass some kind of short-term budget and deal with the debt ceiling.

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Weasel Zippers and Taegan Goddard's …

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:
A Test of GOP Resolve on ObamaCare

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Washington Post:

What ‘The Butler’ gets wrong about Ronald Reagan and race — Steven F. Hayward, Paul Kengor, Craig Shirley and Kiron K. Skinner are Ronald Reagan historians. — One cold evening in Dixon, Ill., in the early 1930s, a young man known as Dutch Reagan brought home two African American teammates from his Eureka College football team.

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, Power Line and Ed Driscoll

IC ON THE RECORD:

DNI Clapper Directs Annual Release of Information Related to Orders Issued to Telecom Providers Under National Security Authorities — August 29, 2013 — In June, President Obama directed the Intelligence Community (IC) to declassify and make public as much information as possible …

Discussion: Lawfare, The Verge, The Switch, AL.com, Hillicon Valley, emptywheel, GigaOM, Techdirt and epic.org

Washington Post:
NSA paying U.S. companies for access to communications networks

Discussion: Firedoglake, BBC, Prairie Weather, Secrecy News and emptywheel

Bryce Covert / ThinkProgress:

Poverty Has Same Effect On The Brain As Constantly Pulling All Nighters — The mental strain of living in poverty and thinking constantly about tight finances can drop a person's IQ by as much as 13 percent, or about the equivalent of losing a night of sleep, according to a new study.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

sciencemag.org:
Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function

Discussion: Washington Post, NPR and Gawker

Allie Jones / The Atlantic Wire:

Alabama Republican Wants to Ban Toni Morrison's ‘The Bluest Eye’ from Schools — Bowing to Tea Party pressure, Alabama State Senator Bill Holtzclaw said this week that he thinks The Bluest Eye, Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison's novel about a little black girl who wishes for blue eyes, should be banned in schools.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

John Eligon / New York Times:

New Neighbor's Agenda: White Power Takeover — LEITH, N.D. — The bearded man with thinning, gray-and-bleach-blond hair flapping down his neck first appeared in this tiny agricultural town last year, quietly and inconspicuously roaming the crackly dirt roads.

Discussion: The Week, Global Grind and Althouse

New York Times:

Leading Democrats, de Blasio Has Broad Support as Primary Nears — Frustration with New York City's unaffordability and its aggressive police tactics is elevating Bill de Blasio, once dismissed as a left-leaning long shot, into the lead of the Democratic mayoral primary field …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Newsday, No More Mister Nice Blog, Politico, Capital New York and Taegan Goddard's …

Alex Morales / Bloomberg:

Global Warming Slowdown Data Sought in Leaked UN Climate Report — U.S. and European Union envoys are seeking more clarity from the United Nations on a slowdown in global warming that climate skeptics have cited as a reason not to “panic” about environmental changes, leaked documents show.