memeorandum: Iraqi leader goes own way to fill top post (Los Angeles Times)

5:45 PM ET, January 13, 2007

Top Items:

Rod Dreher: "Hadn't the hippies tried to tell my generation this"? — (updated below) — Rod Dreher is as conservative as it gets — a contributor to National Review and the Corner, a current columnist for The Dallas Morning News, a self-described "practicing Christian and political conservative."

Discussion: Norwegianity, The Impolitic, Liberal Values, Matthew Yglesias, A Tiny Revolution and Middle Earth Journal

Maha / The Mahablog:

Betrayal — Per Glenn Greenwald, don't miss this audio essay by rightie Rod Dreher. … Like so many loyal soldiers of movement conservatism, Dreher's earliest political memories are of the Carter Administration and the Iranian hostage crisis, followed by the triumphant ascension of Ronald Reagan.

Discussion: The American Street and The Sideshow

Jonathan Zasloff / The RBC: Vietnam, the Democrats and foreign policy

Anne Gearan / Associated Press:

Rice says U.S. won't pull plug on Iraq — JERUSALEM - Americans' skepticism about Iraq will not change until they see progress, but the U.S. will not "pull the plug" on the war, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said. — Rice, at the start of a Mideast trip, would not detail any backup strategy …

Carla Marinucci / San Francisco Chronicle:

Boxer comments to Rice draw fire from the right — Senator says she won't apologize for 'strong message' — Was Sen. Barbara Boxer's heated confrontation this week with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a case of "vicious" feminine politics — as some critics have suggested — or merely the politics of frank talk in tough times?

Discussion: Hot Air

Haaretz:
Rice: I am not coming to Middle East with a plan

Discussion: The Belgravia Dispatch and The Corner

New York Times:
Passing Exchange Becomes Political Flashpoint

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Althouse, The Carpetbagger Report and Feministing

60 Minutes Sunday:

Expert Admits "Big Error" In Duke Case — (CBS) The forensic expert hired by the prosecutor in the Duke rape case says he made a "big error" in judgment by not stating in his report that the only DNA he found on the accuser was from several men who were not on the Duke lacrosse team.

Discussion: protein wisdom, New York Times, PoliBlog (TM), Fox News, Captain's Quarters, Scared Monkeys, JustOneMinute, Gateway Pundit and Associated Press

Raleigh News & Observer: Nifong asks to be removed from case

Randy Barnett / The Volokh Conspiracy:
PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT: Dorothy Rabinowitz had an excellent essay …

Discussion: Abovethelaw.com

Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:

Official Attacks Top Law Firms Over Detainees — The senior Pentagon official in charge of military detainees suspected of terrorism said in an interview this week that he was dismayed that lawyers at many of the nation's top firms were representing prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Obsidian Wings, Andrew Sullivan, Prairie Weather, the talking dog, Abovethelaw.com, The Belgravia Dispatch, Balloon Juice, The Impolitic, Talking Points Memo, Law Blog and The Road to Surfdom

Jeralyn Merritt / The Huffington Post:
Keeping an Eye on Cully Stimson

Discussion: PBD

New York Times:
Round Up the Usual Lawyers

Discussion: The RBC and Washington Post

New York Times:

Military Expands Domestic Surveillance — The Pentagon has been using a little-known power to obtain banking and credit records of hundreds of Americans and others suspected of terrorism or espionage inside the United States, part of an aggressive expansion by the military into domestic intelligence gathering.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Daily Kos, Prairie Weather and Balloon Juice

Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:

EXCLUSIVE: Hillary Clinton Calls Situation in Iraq 'Heartbreaking' — Senator Spoke Out Against the President's Policy in Iraq — In an exclusive interview with ABC News in Baghdad, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., called the situation in Iraq "heartbreaking" and said she doubts Congress …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Balloon Juice, The Swamp and Gateway Pundit

Daniela Deane / Washington Post:

Bush Lashes Out at Opponents on Iraq Plan — President Bush fought back at lawmakers opposing his new plan for Iraq today, charging that simply being against the strategy without suggesting alternatives was "irresponsible." He challenged them to come up with a better plan.

Discussion: TPMCafe blogs, KnoxViews and toohotfortnr

Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:

Final Islamist Collapse In Somalia (Updated) — The final organized base of the Union of Islamic Courts fell to Ethiopian and Somali forces last night, completing the lightning rout of what had been an ascendant radical Islamist force. Ras Kamboni had been the last organized redoubt for the UIC …

Discussion: Jay Reding.com

BBC:
Last Somali Islamist base 'falls'

Discussion: ThreatsWatch

Los Angeles Times:

Iraqi leader goes own way to fill top post — He picks an unknown to lead forces in Baghdad, which raises questions about his motives. — BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has filled the top military job in Baghdad with a virtually unknown officer chosen over the objections …

Discussion: Informed Comment, Riehl World View, Washington Post and The Blotter

Opinion Journal:

The Berger Files — The case of the purloined archives gets stranger all the time. — The more we learn about Sandy Berger's brilliant career as a document thief, the clearer it becomes that there is plenty we still don't know and may never learn. On Tuesday, the House Government Reform …

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard

Thomas Harding / Telegraph:

Terrorists 'use Google maps to hit UK troops' — Royal Green Jackets provide 'top cover' from their Bulldog armoured vehicle outside Basra Palace — Terrorists attacking British bases in Basra are using aerial footage displayed by the Google Earth internet tool to pinpoint their attacks, say Army intelligence sources.

Discussion: Defense Tech and digg

Mark Kleiman / The RBC:

A coup in Baghad? — Yesterday, trying to figure out why Mr. Bush and his crew think the escalation in Iraq might have a chance to work, I speculated that replacing Nouri al-Maliki might be part of the plan. Today, that doesn't seem so speculative. — Here's John Burns on CNN (emphases added):

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and New York Times

Robert B. Reich / American Prospect:

Bad-Faith Negotiation — What's missing from the Democrats' new bill on bargaining prescription drug prices. — House Democrats are pushing a bill to require Medicare to negotiate drug prices. So far, so good. But in what appears to be a bow to the political clout of Big Pharma …

Discussion: The Impolitic, Greg Mankiw's Blog, Liberal Values, Matthew Yglesias and Angry Bear

Tom Jackman / Washington Post:

Amateur Sleuthing Lands Grisham in Real-Life Court — He's a lawyer. He's a best-selling author. Now he's The Client. — The Virginia Supreme Court ruled yesterday that John Grisham must face a jury for his actions in a real-life whodunit. — Grisham, author of "The Pelican Brief …

Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:

When Dumb Political Activism Attacks — Sometimes we all think people know where we basically stand on issues. And sometimes we learn that people either don't really know, or they don't really care. — There's smart political activism, and there's dumb political activism.

Discussion: Riehl World View