memeorandum: Initial Response to Marine Raid Draws Scrutiny (New York Times)

Initial Response to Marine Raid Draws Scrutiny — WASHINGTON, June 2 — Marine commanders in Iraq learned within two days of the killings in Haditha last November that Iraqi civilians had died from gunfire, not a roadside bomb as initially reported, but the officers involved saw no reason …

Discussion: AMERICAblog, The Reality-Based Community and Amygdala

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Associated Press:

GIs at Ishaqi Cleared; Haditha Probe Open — BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A military investigation into allegations that U.S. troops intentionally killed Iraqi civilians in a March raid in a village north of Baghdad has cleared the troops of misconduct, two defense officials said Friday, despite dramatic video footage of slain children.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Andrew Sullivan, Red Hot Cuppa Politics, Left I on the News and California Conservative

Josh White / Washington Post:

Military Cleared in Raid on Iraq House — U.S. commanders used appropriate force in taking down a safe house in Iraq during a March 15 military raid that led to the deaths of as many as a dozen civilians, according to the results of an investigation announced in Baghdad yesterday.

Discussion: Rantingprofs and Informed Comment

Will Dunham / Reuters:
Troops cleared in Iraqi deaths in Ishaqi

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Liberty Street, New York Times, Sister Toldjah and Gateway Pundit

New York Times:
U.S. to Cooperate With Iraqis on Haditha Inquiry

Discussion: Washington Post and Telegraph

Tony Perry / Los Angeles Times: Murder Charges Likely for Marines in Iraq Death

Greyhawk / Mudville Gazette:
PROVOCATION — Whilst avoiding a larger discussion of what happened …

Discussion: de crapulas edormiendo

Peter Baker / Washington Post:

Bush Re-Enters Gay Marriage Fight — Two Speeches Set Pressing Senate To Vote for a Ban — President Bush plans to wade back into the emotional debate over same-sex marriage for the first time in his second term beginning today with a pair of speeches pressing the Senate to approve …

Discussion: The Anonymous Liberal, The Heretik and Bark Bark Woof Woof

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Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:

Bush to Press for U.S. Ban on Same-Sex Marriage — WASHINGTON, June 2 — President Bush is beginning a major push for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, part of a new campaign to appease cultural conservatives who say he and his party abandoned their issues after the 2004 elections.

Peter Baker / Washington Post:

White House Opens Door To Dissenters — Aversion to Criticism Appears to Be Fading — When retired Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey criticized the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war three years ago, he was lambasted as an armchair general and deemed an adversary by the Pentagon.

Discussion: Oliver Willis, The Democratic Daily, The Washington Monthly and Booman Tribune

Ashraf Khalil / Los Angeles Times:

Kerry Attacks Bush Over Iraq Policies — The administration's choice of confrontation instead of diplomacy has harmed the U.S., the senator says in a speech in Los Angeles. — Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) harshly criticized the Bush administration for "disdaining diplomacy" …

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, The Strata-Sphere and RIGHTWINGSPARKLE

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:

Rise of Lobbyist Shines a Light on House Ties — WASHINGTON, June 2 — Letitia Hoadley White arrived on Capitol Hill 25 years ago as a 22-year-old receptionist with a bachelor's degree in fashion design, fresh from a job at Women's Wear Daily. — When her boss, Representative Jerry Lewis …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Jad Mouawad / New York Times:

Eight Oil Workers Abducted From Rig Off Nigeria — Armed rebels raided an oil drilling rig 40 miles off the Nigerian coast early today and kidnapped eight foreign oil workers, in the latest of a string of violent incidents meant to disrupt oil production in the country's oil-rich Niger Delta region.

Discussion: Amygdala and Power Line

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Austin Bay Blog: A raid takes British, American, and Canadian hostages/Nigeria's …

The Big Trunk / Power Line:

NO TEACHER FOR TALIBAN MAN — In the category of "today's good news," we can report that Yale's Senior Appointments Committee voted down the appointment of Juan Cole to the faculty yesterday, and it wasn't even close. Cole will not be appointed to the Yale faculty.

Discussion: Decision '08, Blue Crab Boulevard and Jay Currie

Timothy Appleby / Globe and Mail:

Terrorism raids sweep Toronto — Police across the Greater Toronto Area launched counterterrorism raids yesterday, arresting at least eight people in a roundup expected to continue overnight and beyond. — "We anticipate more arrests, but not necessarily tonight," an RCMP source said of the arrests …

Discussion: Power Line

Jose Lambiet / Palm Beach Post:

Channel 5 reporter says ex punched her — Rough times for local TV reporter Kathleen Walter. — Walter, 32, a main on-the-scene face for WPTV-Channel 5, says she was a recent victim of domestic violence. — "I wouldn't wish this experience on anyone," she said.

Discussion: TalkLeft

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Brad / THE BRAD BLOG:
Ann Coulter 'Lawyers Up' to Face Felony Voter Fraud Charges

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Toni Locy / Associated Press:

Libby to get limited classified info — WASHINGTON - A former White House aide facing perjury charges will get only a prosecutor's summary of classified documents assessing the damage to national security from the leak of a CIA officer's identity, a federal judge ruled Friday.

Mark Sherman / Associated Press:

5 News Organizations Agree to Pay Lee — WASHINGTON (AP) - Wen Ho Lee, the former nuclear weapons scientist once suspected of being a spy, settled his privacy lawsuit Friday and will receive $1.6 million from the government and five news organizations in a case that turned into a fight over reporters' confidential sources.

Associated Press:

Cops: Couple ordered hit on grandkids — Wanted to stop testimony at son's rape trial, police say — TAVARES, Florida (AP) — A couple tried to hire a hit man to kill their three grandchildren and daughter-in-law to stop them from testifying against their son in his rape trial, authorities said.

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard

Agence France Presse:

Two arrested in London raid, police shoot one suspect — British police shot and injured one man and arrested a second in a major anti-terrorist raid on a house in east London following suspicions that it was being used to make chemical weapons. — Police sources told Sky News they expected …

Wretchard / The Belmont Club:

Counterinsurgency Theory, Sort Of — There's an interesting article by Eric P. Wendt based on counter-terrorism experience on Basilan describing operations against the Abu Sayyaf. One of the major keys to success, in the author's view is not the destruction of enemy output but it's infrastructure.

Discussion: Dr. Sanity and Ed Driscoll.com