memeorandum: The Cheney presidency — GEORGE W. BUSH has been faulted … (Robert Kuttner/Boston Globe)

4:05 PM ET, August 27, 2006

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Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Centanni, Wiig freed (Update: Conversion video added) (Update: A Gilad Shalit connection?) — The boss never sleeps. — "Khaled" celebrates his freedom: — There'll be some sort of video here soon. Stand by for updates. — Update: There are four different video clips in the sidebar of Fox's article on this.

Discussion: The Indepundit, Riehl World View, Wizbang and Suitably Flip

Ibrahim Barzak / Associated Press:

Kidnapped Fox News Journalists Freed — GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Militants freed two Fox News journalists on Sunday in the Gaza Strip, ending a nearly two week hostage drama in which one of the former captives said they were forced at gunpoint to make statements, including that they had converted to Islam.

DEBKAfile:

A Hostage Affair in Gaza is Ended by a Three-Part Ransom — DEBKAfile Exclusive Report — On the face of it, conversion to Islam would appear to provide a painless escape device for any hostage who happens to fall into fundamentalist terrorist hands. After all, once free …

Discussion: A Blog For All and The American Princess

Michelle Malkin:

Fox crew: Freed, forced to convert at gunpoint; "Halec" and "Yaco"..."Inshallah" — ***scroll for updates...Fox News Sunday interviewing Centanni...Allah with all the latest and the conversion vid (thanks to Rusty)...we've YouTubed the conversion video...embedded below...*** — Thank God.

Discussion: Dr. Sanity, Sister Toldjah and Cold Fury

Jules Crittenden / Boston Herald:

The War Tourists — My profession is an easy one to kick around.It isn't brain surgery: going places, asking questions, taking pictures, writing it up, broadcasting it.There are some skills.There are some things you have to learn.But it isn't hard for anyone, looking at what we do, to say, "I could do that."

Discussion: Captain's Quarters

Reuters:

Kidnapped Fox journalists convert to Islam on video —Text+GAZA (Reuters) - Two kidnapped Fox journalists appeared on a new videotape released by their captors on Sunday in the Gaza Strip, in which the reporters said they had converted to Islam, the Fox News Channel said.

Discussion: The Corner and The Democratic Daily

Doug Struck / Washington Post:

Fox News Journalists Released in Gaza — Two Fox Television journalists held for 13 days in the Gaza Strip were released Sunday after they were shown on a videotape saying they converted to Islam. — The two journalists, American Steve Centanni, 60, and New Zealand cameraman Olaf Wiig …

Discussion: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Romenesko

CNN:

Kidnapped Fox journalists released — GAZA CITY, Gaza (CNN) — Two Fox journalists kidnapped by militants two weeks ago in Gaza have been released and appear to be in good health. — Fox reporter Steve Centanni and photographer Olaf Wiig were released shortly after noon Sunday and dropped off …

Discussion: The Jawa Report and Hyscience

Ms Underestimated: Breaking News: FREE AT LAST! Centanni & Wiig Released! (VIDEOS)

Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters: Centanni, Wiig Released After 'Conversion'

Rick Moran / Right Wing Nut House: FOX REPORTERS FREED AFTER "CONVERTING" TO ISLAM

Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters: Prisoner Swap Deal In Progress?

Michael Isikoff / Newsweek:

The Man Who Said Too Much — A book coauthored by NEWSWEEK's Michael Isikoff details Richard Armitage's central role in the Valerie Plame leak. — Katsumi Kasahara / AP (l.) ; Lawrence Jackson / AP — According to a new book, the State Department has known for years that Armitage (left) outed Plame

Discussion: The Political Pit Bull, The Next Hurrah, USS Neverdock, The American Thinker, The Moderate Voice, Flopping Aces, Booman Tribune, Sister Toldjah, The Democratic Daily, Althouse, TPMmuckraker, The Heretik, Liberal Values and The Nation

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Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

The 'Hubris' Of Richard Armitage — Newsweek sneak previews an upcoming Isikoff/Corn book confirming the non-news that then-deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was Bob Novak's primary source for the Plame leak: … David Corn has more at his blog: … Well - one mystery solved, other mysteries unresolved.

Discussion: Angry Bear

Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
Just A Plame Waste Of Time — Michael Isikoff and David Corn …

Discussion: Ace of Spades HQ

David Corn: HUBRIS: The Armitage Leak and What It Means (Plus More Info on the Book)

Swopa / Needlenose:
The trapping of the accidental leaker

Discussion: PBD

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake: Something's Missing... Michael Isikoff has an intriguing glimpse …

TalkLeft: Richard Armitage Named as Plame Leaker

Jerusalem Post:

Nasrallah: Contacts underway for possible prisoner swap — Hizbullah's leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed in the first post-war interview on Sunday that contacts were being held to bring about a prisoner swap between Israel and Hizbullah. — Nasrallah, who spoke with Lebanese NTV television …

Discussion: Power Line and Liberty and Justice

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Zeina Karam / Associated Press:
Hezbollah head didn't foresee such a war

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard and The Big Pharaoh

Adam Entous / Reuters:
Key US legislator says will block aid to Lebanon

Discussion: Pajamas Media

Lori Lowenthal Marcus / Weekly Standard:

What did you do in the war, UNIFIL? — DURING THE RECENT month-long war between Hezbollah and Israel, U.N. "peacekeeping" forces made a startling contribution: They openly published daily real-time intelligence, of obvious usefulness to Hezbollah, on the location, equipment, and force structure of Israeli troops in Lebanon.

Discussion: Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Hot Air, Texas Rainmaker and protein wisdom

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Telegraph:
UN will not stop Syria sending weapons to Lebanon

Discussion: Argghhh!

Jeffrey McMurray / Associated Press:

Ky. plane crash kills 49 of 50 on board — LEXINGTON, Ky. - A commuter jet crashed during take off early Sunday and burst into flames, killing 49 people and leaving the lone survivor in critical condition. Investigators were trying to determine if the plane was on the wrong runway and ran out of pavement.

Discussion: NewsHog

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Holly / The Moderate Voice: Local Airplane Disaster

Washington Post:

Democrats Split Over Timetable For Troops — In Close Races, Most Reject Rapid Pullout — Most Democratic candidates in competitive congressional races are opposed to setting a timetable for pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq, rejecting pressure from liberal activists to demand a quick end to the three-year-old military conflict.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Captain's Quarters, Daily Kos and Blue Crab Boulevard

Robert Kuttner / Boston Globe:

The Cheney presidency — GEORGE W. BUSH has been faulted in some quarters for taking an extended vacation while the Middle East festers. It doesn't much matter; the man running the country is Vice President Dick Cheney. — When historians look back on the multiple assaults …

Discussion: Middle Earth Journal, Liberal Values, The Left Coaster and The Gadflyer

Scott Lemieux / Lawyers, Guns and Money:

Dancing On Parody's Grave — Shorter Verbatim Mark Steyn: … The fact that a third-rate theater critic who knows nothing about foreign policy (or anything else) is taken as a foreign policy guru by the right-blogosphere makes perfect sense; after all, a fusion jazz musician …

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, The American Street and Say Anything