memeorandum: Anbar Picture Grows Clearer, and Bleaker (Washington Post)

10:00 AM ET, November 28, 2006

Top Items:

Hezbollah Said to Help Shiite Army in Iraq — A senior American intelligence official said Monday that the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah had been training members of the Mahdi Army, the Iraqi Shiite militia led by Moktada al-Sadr. — The official said that 1,000 to 2,000 fighters …

Discussion: Newsweek, Israel Matzav, Talking Points Memo, Blue Crab Boulevard, PBD, PoliBlog (TM), AMERICAN FUTURE, Secular Blasphemy, INTEL DUMP and PrairiePundit

Washington Post:

Civil War in Iraq Near, Annan Says — The Iraq Study Group began two days of intensive behind-closed-doors deliberations yesterday as the White House conceded that Iraq has moved into a dangerous new phase of warfare requiring changes in strategy. In a sign of the growing global concern about Iraq's fate …

Discussion: Editor and Publisher, The Belgravia Dispatch, TalkLeft, The Reaction, The Carpetbagger Report, First Read and War and Piece

Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters: Hezbollah Training The Mahdi Militia?

Washington Post:

Anbar Picture Grows Clearer, and Bleaker — The U.S. military is no longer able to defeat a bloody insurgency in western Iraq or counter al-Qaeda's rising popularity there, according to newly disclosed details from a classified Marine Corps intelligence report that set off debate in recent months …

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Matthew Yglesias, INDCJournal, Angry Bear, PrairiePundit, Lean Left, Taylor Marsh, Confederate Yankee, The Anchoress, Eschaton, Riehl World View, PoliBlog (TM), The Reaction, AMERICAblog, The News Blog and Oliver Willis

Saeed Ahmed / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Informant in shooting says he never bought drugs at house — Says he was asked to lie — The confidential informant on whose word Atlanta police raided the house of an 88-year-old woman is now saying he never purchased drugs from her house and was told by police to lie and say he did.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Patterico's Pontifications, Big Lizards, QandO, First Draft, Reason Magazine and The Agitator

WXIA-TV:

FBI To Lead Johnston Investigation — Officials say the FBI will lead an investigation into the fatal shooting of an elderly Atlanta woman during a drug raid last week. — The announcement was made by Police Chief Richard Pennington at a news conference Monday afternoon …

Discussion: PoliPundit.com

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Close Adviser to Rice Plans to Resign — The Sometimes Controversial Zelikow Leaving at a Challenging Time for Secretary — One of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's closest advisers said yesterday that he will resign at the end of the year, depriving her of a key sounding board …

Discussion: The Caucus

Helene Cooper / New York Times:
Bush Asking Arab Friends for Iraq Help

Discussion: Hot Air and Bill's Bites

Eli Lake / New York Sun:
Bush Edges Closer to Iran Talks

Discussion: Power Line and Atlas Shrugs

Audrey Hudson / Washington Times:

How the imams terrorized an airliner — Muslim religious leaders removed from a Minneapolis flight last week exhibited behavior associated with a security probe by terrorists and were not merely engaged in prayers, according to witnesses, police reports and aviation security officials.

Discussion: Power Line, Sister Toldjah, Stop The ACLU, PoliPundit.com, The Corner, Ed Driscoll.com, PrairiePundit and JunkYardBlog

Fox News:

STATES, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ARGUE FOR PRIMACY IN GLOBAL WARMING FIGHT — WASHINGTON — The debate over whether humans are to blame for Earth's rising temperatures isn't decided yet, but it is quickly being eclipsed by a new argument over who should manage global warming policy in the United States.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Richard Black / BBC:

Carbon emissions show sharp rise — Environment correspondent, BBC News website — The rise in humanity's emissions of carbon dioxide has accelerated sharply, according to a new analysis. — The Global Carbon Project says that emissions were rising by less than 1% annually up to the year 2000, but are now rising at 2.5% per year.

Discussion: Daily Kos

World Tribune.com:

Bolton: Future of Mideast 'may well be decided' in days — WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is facing a foreign policy crisis in Lebanon where the Iran-backed Hizbullah and Syria threaten to topple the weakened democratic government in Beirut. — "The future of the Middle East …

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard, The Belmont Club and Atlas Shrugs

Christopher Hitchens / Slate:

From Beirut to Baghdad — THE GHASTLY PREDICTABILITY OF NIHILIST VIOLENCE. — The fate of those who criticize the Syrian presence in Lebanon is rather like the fate of those who oppose Vladimir Putin. The former are shot or blown up, and the latter are victims of exotic poisons.

Discussion: Decision '08

Thomas Ferraro / Reuters:

Likability poll bad news for Kerry — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Sen. John Kerry, mulling a second bid for the U.S. presidency, finished dead last in a poll released on Monday on the likability of 20 top American political figures. — Among those placing ahead of Kerry …

Discussion: Townhall.com Blog's … and Blue Crab Boulevard

Confederate Yankee:

Drugs are Bad... Apparently, even nominal quantities of over-the-counter cold medications can cause you to see the most interesting things. — I know this, because this Reuters picture has all the earmarks of a crudely-edited PhotoShop, from the rather odd smudges and apparent artifacts around …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money

Will / Attytood:
Who's unhinged now? — You could have seen this coming a mile away.

Discussion: Jesus' General

Dan Eggen / Washington Post:

Justice Dept. to Examine Its Use of NSA Wiretaps — Review Won't Address Program's Legality — The Justice Department's inspector general yesterday announced an investigation into the department's connections to the government's controversial warrantless surveillance program …

Discussion: TalkLeft and ACLU

legion.org:

American Legion to Congressman Rangel: Apologize Now — The National Commander of The American Legion called on Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) to apologize for suggesting that American troops would not choose to fight in Iraq if they had other employment options.

Discussion: Blogs for Bush, Blue Crab Boulevard, Bill's Bites and Y.A.C.R.W.B

Faiz / Think Progress:

CQ Analyst Suggests 'Rumsfeld's Leaving Is Just The Beginning,' Cheney Might Be Next — Appearing on MSNBC this afternoon, Congressional Quarterly political analyst Craig Crawford speculated that, as "neocons are heading for the hills," Dick Cheney may be the next to leave the administration.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway and PSoTD

Fiona Macrae / Daily Mail:

Women talk three times as much as men, says study — It is something one half of the population has long suspected - and the other half always vocally denied. Women really do talk more than men. — In fact, women talk almost three times as much as men, with the average woman chalking …

Kevin Drum / Political Animal:

CENTRISM....Yes, centrism can be a tic. Yes, it's often favored by DC pundits who automatically assume that bipartisanship is an inherent good regardless of its outcome. Yes, it can sometimes be a substitute for real thought. — That said, I hope the liberal blogosphere doesn't get into the habit …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Sirotablog and TalkLeft

Jeffrey Toobin / New Yorker:

KILLING HABEAS CORPUS — President Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus in Maryland on April 27, 1861, two weeks after the Confederate attack on the Union garrison at Fort Sumter. "Lincoln could look out his window at the White House and see Robert E. Lee's plantation in Virginia," …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Prairie Weather