memeorandum: Operation Baghdad Has Started! (Omar/IRAQ THE MODEL)

12:35 AM ET, February 7, 2007

Top Items:

Operation Baghdad Has Started! — Minutes after nighttime curfew began in Baghdad at 9 pm we saw breaking news on al-Hurra and al-Jazeera saying that Baghdad's security operation has just started. — The news says the first operation is currently underway in Azamiyah in the northeastern part of the city.

Discussion: Hot Air, Jules Crittenden, Redstate and alphabet city

Pajamas Media:

FLASH: OPERATION BAGHDAD HAS STARTED! — US Army soldiers from the 5-20 Infantry Division take up positions to provide cover for fellow soldiers as part of the launch of Operation Arrowhead Strike Six in the Shaab neighbourhood of northern Baghdad. — EXCLUSIVE From PJM Baghdad Editor Omar @ Iraq the Model @ 11:00 AM, PST

Discussion: Secular Blasphemy, Blue Crab Boulevard and Confederate Yankee

Agence France Presse: Iraqi and US forces launch Baghdad security crackdown

Eric Gorski / Denver Post:

Haggard says he's not gay — The Rev. Ted Haggard emerged from three weeks of intensive counseling convinced he is "completely heterosexual" and told an oversight board that his sexual contact with men was limited to his accuser. — That is according to one of the disgraced pastor's overseers …

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, The Daily Dish, The Reaction, Taylor Marsh, The Carpetbagger Report, Hot Air, Don Surber, Done With Mirrors, Gun Toting Liberal ™ and CorrenteWire

Associated Press:

Haggard now "completely heterosexual" — DENVER - One of four ministers who oversaw three weeks of intensive counseling for the Rev. Ted Haggard said the disgraced minister emerged convinced that he is "completely heterosexual." — Haggard also said his sexual contact with men was limited …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Unqualified Offerings

cbn.com:

FRC President: Giuliani 'Far Outside the Mainstream of Conservative Thought' — This just in to The Brody File. I received the following response from Tony Perkins on what he thinks about Rudy Giuliani's chances to be the next President of the United States. Let me put it this way: he's not thrilled.

Discussion: Hotline On Call, The Carpetbagger Report, TIME, CNN Political Ticker, DownWithTyranny!, The Political Pit Bull and Barone Blog

John McIntyre / TIME:
Giuliani Is In and Becomes the Immediate Favorite

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Jawa Report, The Political Pit Bull, Decision '08 and UrbanGrounds

John Podhoretz / New York Post:
RUDY'S RIGHT STUFF

Discussion: The Corner

Swopa / Firedoglake:

Libby Live: Libby Grand Jury Testimony, Three — The jury has returned, so we're back for more Libby grand jury testimony from March 2004. Don't forget the ground rules... NOTES: (1) This is not an official transcript — just a very loose paraphrase, at best — so don't treat it as one.

Discussion: JustOneMinute and Booman Tribune

Neil A. Lewis / New York Times: Libby Speaks on Tape, but May Not in Court

Washington Post:
Libby Says Cheney 'Disturbed' by Wilson's Claims

Discussion: The Daily Dish

The Politico:

GOP Views Clinton As Virtually Unbeatable — What many conservatives regard as the nightmare scenario — President Hillary Rodham Clinton — is increasingly seen by veteran Republican politicians and strategists as virtual inevitability. — In GOP circles, the Democratic front-runner is seen as so strong …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, MyDD, Macsmind and Hot Air

Matt Stoller / MyDD:
Scapegoating Immigrants in 2008 — Racism is a real problem in this country.

Discussion: Orcinus, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, The Politico and The News Blog

Arianna Huffington / The Huffington Post:

My Six-Point Reaction to Joe Klein's Seven-Point Response — I agree with Joe Klein's assessment that there are "far more important things going on in the world" than a clarification of his position on the war in Iraq. But I can't resist reacting to his seven-point response to my post on him:

Discussion: NewsBusters.org

Joe Klein / TIME: Swampland:

Slow News Day? — Arianna Huffington, the doyenne of the Hollywood left, has taken time from her busy schedule to attack me for something I said on Meet the Press three years ago. Since this lone quote has become an article of faith among the take-no-prisoners left, let me respond: — 1. Yes, I said it.

Discussion: Political Animal, The Huffington Post, Ezra Klein, Eschaton and The Daily Dish

Kevin Drum / Political Animal:

JOHN EDWARDS' HEALTHCARE PLAN....John Edwards' new healthcare proposal is, basically, an individual mandate (everyone is required to get health insurance coverage somehow) combined with community rating (private insurers have to take all comers, regardless of medical condition) and government subsidies …

Discussion: TAPPED, Matthew Yglesias, Liberal Values, Donklephant and TPMCafe blogs

Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:
In defense of vagueness and ambiguities

Discussion: Political Animal, TAPPED and Liberal Values

Christine Hauser / New York Times:

Astronaut Charged With Attempted Kidnapping — A NASA astronaut who drove hundreds of miles to confront a romantic rival, wearing diapers on the journey so that she would not have to stop to use the restroom, appeared in court today after being arrested on attempted kidnapping and other charges.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Slog, The Glittering Eye and Feministe

Mike Schneider / Associated Press:
Astronaut Charged With Murder Attemp

Discussion: La Shawn Barber's Corner, The Sundries Shack and The Corner

William M. Arkin / Early Warning:

Demonization and Responsibility — I've been making my way through the mail and online comments I've received in response to my columns last week. — The many e-mails I've gotten privately from people serving in the military are, not surprisingly, the most respectful and reflective.

Discussion: Winds of Change.NET, Power Line, Blue Crab Boulevard, Done With Mirrors, Daily Pundit, Little Green Footballs, Ed Driscoll.com, Ace of Spades HQ and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Brian C. Ledbetter / snapped shot:

Glorious Jihadi Linkage — Wow, in what's sure to be a first for the history of Snapped Shot, I'm, well, proud to announce that one of the photographs in our cache has officially been included in an online article over at al Jazeera, the Voice of the Jihadis.

Mary Katharine Ham / Townhall.com:

McCain Campaign Staff and Bloggers: The Lovers' Quarrel Conference Call — All right, so some would argue that McCain and the bloggers have never had enough of a relationship to qualify the current disagreements as "lovers' quarrels," but the call and the conversation the campaign staff is starting to have is a bit, "baby, come back.

Discussion: the david all group, Captain's Quarters, Redstate and Riehl World View

Cenk Uygur / The Huffington Post:

Democrats Should Force the Republicans to Physically Filibuster — Remember Mr. Smith Goes to Washington? When Jimmy Stewart had to stand and keep talking until he passed out. Ah, the good old days of filibustering. Well, I think the Democrats should bring that back.

Discussion: Prairie Weather, Power Line, The Caucus and The American Mind

Edward N. Luttwak / New York Times:

To Help Iraq, Let It Fend for Itself — THE sooner President Bush can get his extra troops for a "surge" in Iraq, the sooner he will be able to announce that all American troops are coming home because of the inevitable failure of the Iraqi government to "live up to its side of the bargain."

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Talking Points Memo, FP Passport and Middle Earth Journal

Amanda / Think Progress:

Popular Teen TV Show To Claim Morning-After Pill Can Cause A Miscarriage — Tonight, the CW network will air an episode of Veronica Mars that is based on misleading right-wing claims about contraception. The show is about a young woman named Veronica Mars, who is both a college student and a part-time private investigator.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money