memeorandum: Kerry Scours Mideast for Aid in ISIS Fight (New York Times)

1:35 PM ET, September 14, 2014

Top Items:

Greg Botelho / CNN:

ISIS executes British aid worker David Haines; Cameron vows justice — (CNN) — British aid worker David Haines has been executed by ISIS militants, according to a video posted Saturday to a website associated with the group, making him the third Western captive to be killed by the Islamist extremist group in recent weeks.

Discussion: New York Times, Telegraph, CANNONFIRE, BBC, No More Mister Nice Blog, Guardian, American Thinker, Althouse, Scared Monkeys, The Daily Banter, Hinterland Gazette, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and NBC News, more at Mediagazer »

David Cameron / Mirror.co.uk:

Chilling: ISIS militants threatened to kill David Haines if their demands were not met — Islamic State militants have released footage claiming to show the beheading of British hostage David Haines. — The aid worker, 44, was captured by ISIS in Syria in March 2013.

Discussion: protein wisdom, Telegraph, Reuters, The Gateway Pundit, The PJ Tatler and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »

Rebecca Kaplan / CBS News:

John Kerry: “We are at war” with ISIS — Shares - — Secretary of State John Kerry backtracked on the language he had used to describe the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS, also known as ISIL), saying in an interview on CBS' “Face the Nation” Sunday that, “we are at war” with the group.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Business Insider

Thomas Tracy / NY Daily News:

Alan Henning, shown in alleged ISIS video as next victim, is British aid worker who was helping Syrian refugees — Henning is seen at the end of the video that reportedly shows the execution of fellow Brit David Haines. He's a humanitarian worker from the Manchester area who was abducted …

New York Times:
Kerry Scours Mideast for Aid in ISIS Fight

Discussion: Sic Semper Tyrannis, Fox News and Globe and Mail

Wall Street Journal:
Islamic State Video Claims Beheading of British Man

Discussion: National Review

Natasha / The Young, Black, and Fabulous:

THAT'S UNFORTUNATE: “Django Unchained” Star Daniele Watts & Husband Claim Cops ARRESTED Her...After Being Horribly Mistaken For A Prostitute — In what seems to be yet another case of police prejudice and brutality, Django Unchained star Daniele Watts and her husband are speaking out about a wrongful arrest …

Discussion: Liberaland and Raw Story

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Senator: ‘We All Get Killed Back Here At Home’ If Obama Doesn't Send Combat Troops Back Into Iraq — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) blasted President Barack Obama's plan to defeat ISIS during an appearance on Fox News Sunday, calling the commander-in-chief “disingenuous and delusional” …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post and Scared Monkeys

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:

Mark Sanford's Breakup Post Caught His Fiancée Off Guard — Representative Mark Sanford of South Carolina surprised the political world on Friday with his announcement that he was ending his engagement to the woman with whom he had an extramarital affair, the revelation of which stunted his rising-star career five years ago.

Discussion: Liberaland, Talking Points Memo, Wonkette, Guardian, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Beast, Congressman Mark Sanford and Politico

David Kihara / Politico:

Mark Sanford's fiancée surprised by break-up — The very public break-up between Rep. Mark Sanford and his fiancée came as a surprise to his fiancée, who told the New York Times on Saturday that she learned about it from the media. — Maria Belen Chapur told the Times …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and New York Times

New York Times:

A Risky Bet on Syrian Rebels — President Obama's new strategy for routing ISIS, the extremist Sunni group that controls large areas of Iraq and Syria, rests substantially and precariously on having rebels in Syria fight ISIS, even as they battle the forces of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, emptywheel and Sic Semper Tyrannis

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Paths to War, Then and Now, Haunt Obama — WASHINGTON — Just hours before announcing an escalated campaign against Islamic extremists last week, President Obama privately reflected on another time when a president weighed military action in the Middle East — the frenzied weeks leading up to the American invasion of Iraq a decade ago.

Discussion: Business Insider, MichelleMalkin.com, The Gateway Pundit, Althouse and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Building Legacy, Obama Reshapes Appellate Bench — WASHINGTON — Democrats have reversed the partisan imbalance on the federal appeals courts that long favored conservatives, a little-noticed shift with far-reaching consequences for the law and President Obama's legacy.

Alexandra Jaffe / The Hill:

GOP congressman's campaign slams opponent for ‘promoting’ Bill Maher — Rep. John Kline's (R-Minn.) campaign slammed his Democratic opponent for welcoming support from liberal comedian Bill Maher, who named Kline the target of his “Flip a District” campaign Friday night.

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Bill Maher announced he's targeting Rep. John Kline. He picked the wrong guy.

Discussion: Mediaite, his vorpal sword, ABC News, Power Line, Washington Monthly, Booman Tribune and The Hill

Tim Ross / Telegraph:

Scottish independence: polls show it's too close to call — ICM survey for The Telegraph suggests Yes campaign is in the lead but a Survation poll for Better Together puts the No vote ahead — Polling experts said the Scottish independence referendum was “too close to call” …

Discussion: Joe. My. God., Pat Dollard and Washington Post