memeorandum: Giuliani praises Bush's Iraq policy, foresight (Michael Finnegan/Los Angeles Times)

12:35 AM ET, February 12, 2007

Top Items:

Iran Sending Explosives to Extremist Groups in Iraq, Officials Say — Iranian security forces, taking orders from the "highest levels" of the Iranian government, are funneling sophisticated explosives to extremist groups in Iraq, and the weapons have grown increasingly deadly for U.S.-led troops …

Discussion: the talking dog, Larisa Alexandrovna's …, alphabet city, Blue Crab Boulevard, War and Piece and The News Blog

James Glanz / New York Times:

U.S. Presents Evidence of Iranian Weapons in Iraq — After weeks of internal debate, senior United States military officials today literally put on the table their first public evidence for the contentious assertion that Iran is supplying Shiite extremist groups in Iraq with deadly weaponry …

Discussion: Political Animal, Ezra Klein, Decision '08, Whiskey Fire and Is That Legal?

Tina Susman / Los Angeles Times: U.S. officials offer evidence of Iran's hand in Iraqi unrest

Steven R. Hurst / Associated Press:
U.S. military: Iran arming Iraq militias

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Ibon Villelabeitia / Reuters:
U.S.-led forces show evidence of Iranian arms in Iraq

Discussion: Daily Pundit and The Impolitic

Cernig / NewsHog:
Breaking: US "Reveals Iran Evidence"

Discussion: Associated Press, Agence France Presse, Taylor Marsh, CorrenteWire, Unclaimed Territory and All Spin Zone

Sydney Morning Herald:

Obama blasts Howard on Iraq — US presidential hopeful Barack Obama has blasted as "empty rhetoric" Australian Prime Minister John Howard's attack on Obama's plan to bring US troops home from Iraq. — The 45-year-old senator waded into a major foreign policy row just one day after formally announcing …

Discussion: The Belmont Club and Winds of Change.NET

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

Even Our Friends Should Butt Out Of Our Politics — Am I the only conservative with misgivings regarding John Howard's proclamation about Barack Obama? Howard, the Prime Minister of Australia and a great friend to the United States, wants to wage an aggressive war against al-Qaeda and radical Islamist terrorists.

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, Liberty Street, The Strata-Sphere, All Spin Zone, Riehl World View, Taylor Marsh, Cadillac Tight and Little Green Footballs

Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice: Note To Australia's Prime Minister: We Don't CARE Who You Want

Faiz / Think Progress:
WSJ's Paul Gigot: 'We Didn't Go To War Because Of Al Qaeda Links'

Discussion: driftglass

Sandra O'Malley / NEWS.com.au:
Al-Qaeda 'praying for Obama win'

Discussion: The Road to Surfdom, Associated Press and Talking Points Memo

Andrew Sullivan / Times of London:

An experiment that hints we are wrong on climate change — Nigel Calder, former editor of New Scientist, says the orthodoxy must be challenged — When politicians and journalists declare that the science of global warming is settled, they show a regrettable ignorance about how science works.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, QandO, The Road to Surfdom, Middle Earth Journal, Flopping Aces, Secular Blasphemy, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Strata-Sphere, Think Progress, NewsBusters.org, The Mahablog, Jay Currie, Weekly Standard and Telegraph

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:

U.S. Keeps Pressure on Iran But Decreases Saber Rattling — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates insisted again Friday that, despite persistent reports to the contrary circulating in Washington and around the world, the United States is not planning military action against Iran.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Once Upon a Time, A Tiny Revolution and CorrenteWire

Newsweek:

Rumors of War — Jalal Sharafi was carrying a videogame, a gift for his daughter, when he found himself surrounded. On that chilly Sunday morning, the second secretary at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad had driven himself to the commercial district of Arasat Hindi to checkout the site for a new Iranian bank.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, AMERICAblog, Booman Tribune, Taylor Marsh, Discourse.net, Political Animal, Hullabaloo, CorrenteWire, King of Zembla, Brilliant at Breakfast and The Supreme Irony of Life

Matthew Yglesias:
Worst Speech Ever

Discussion: Unfogged

Michael Finnegan / Los Angeles Times:

Giuliani praises Bush's Iraq policy, foresight — He disparages a Senate nonbinding rebuke on a visit to California to build a GOP campaign base for the presidency. — SACRAMENTO — Republican presidential hopeful Rudolph W. Giuliani praised President Bush's war leadership on Saturday …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Booman Tribune, The Mahablog and The Heretik

Patrick Healy / New York Times:
Searching for Mr. Right — HAVING lost Congress and faith …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Richard B. Schmitt / Los Angeles Times:

Libby's dilemma: testify or not? — His memory defense would seem to require him to take the stand, but some say the risk is too great. — WASHINGTON — Starting Monday, lawyers for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby will begin their defense of the indicted former White House aide with a parade of witnesses …

Discussion: TalkLeft and The Huffington Post

New York Times: At Libby's Defense Table, a Tough but Deft Lawyer

Linton Weeks / Washington Post:
Where'd We Leave That Darn Fact?

Discussion: Roger Ailes

David Blair / Telegraph:

Pentagon blames Iran for 170 US deaths — America today blamed Iran for the deaths of 170 US troops inside Iraq, accusing Teheran of supplying insurgents with increasingly sophisticated bombs. — Senior defence officials in Baghdad said that Iranian-supplied "explosively formed projectiles" …

Sean-Paul Kelley / The Agonist:
Doesn't Look Like Farsi To Me? — Look, I admit, I don't know much about bomb-making.

Discussion: NewsHog, rubber hose and Brilliant at Breakfast

Dean Goodman / Reuters:

Dixie Chicks could bring political edge to Grammys — LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Grammys could take a rare step into the political arena on Sunday if the Dixie Chicks win the coveted album-of-the-year award, as observers of the music industry's biggest honors are predicting.

Discussion: Wizbang and PoliPundit.com

Chad Graham / Arizona Republic:

New wage boost puts squeeze on teenage workers across Arizona — Employers are cutting back hours, laying off young staffers — Oh, for the days when Arizona's high school students could roll pizza dough, sweep up sticky floors in theaters or scoop ice cream without worrying about ballot initiatives affecting their earning power.

Discussion: Stubborn Facts

Thom Shanker / New York Times:

Gates Counters Putin's Words on U.S. Power — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, disputing a lengthy critique of American power by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, said Sunday at a European security conference here, "One cold war was quite enough." — Government leaders …

Discussion: Redstate and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Jose Orozco / Telegraph:

Middle classes escape from Chavez socialism — Middle-class Venezuelans are queuing to leave the country amid fears that its president, Hugo Chavez, is laying the ground for a dictatorship. — Opponents of his "20th century socialism" are so desperate to escape that they have resorted …

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard, Redstate and Tim Worstall

Nico / Think Progress:

Kristol: Obama Is 'The Opposite Of Lincoln,' Would Have Been Pro-Slavery — Yesterday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) announced his candidacy for president in Springfield, IL, where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous "House Divided" address. In his speech, Obama reiterated his call to redeploy U.S. forces out of Iraq by March 2008.

Discussion: Chicago Tribune, Crooks and Liars, The Poor Man Institute, No More Mister Nice Blog, Liberty Street and AMERICAblog