memeorandum @ 1:20 AM ET, February 12, 2007

1:20 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: Larisa Alexandrovna's …, the talking dog, Jules Crittenden, 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, All Spin Zone and Unclaimed Territory

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: Gateway Pundit, The Belmont Club and Winds of Change.NET

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Even Our Friends Should Butt Out Of Our Politics

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Jules Crittenden, Liberty Street, The Strata-Sphere, All Spin Zone, Riehl World View, AMERICAblog, Larisa Alexandrovna's …, 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

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

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

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

Discussion: driftglass

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, Taylor Marsh, Booman Tribune, THE CUNNING REALIST, 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

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, Secular Blasphemy, Middle Earth Journal, Flopping Aces, Blue Crab Boulevard, Liberal Values, Blogs for Bush, The Strata-Sphere, Think Progress, NewsBusters.org, The Mahablog, Jay Currie, Weekly Standard and Telegraph

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, PoliPundit.com and Liberal Values

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

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

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: Redstate, Blue Crab Boulevard and Tim Worstall

MSNBC:

MTP Transcript for Feb. 11, 2007 — Steny Hoyer, John Boehner, David Broder, Gwen Ifill, Howard Kurtz, Roger Simon — MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: the Senate delays a vote on the troop increase in Iraq as the debate now shifts to the House. With us, the House majority leader …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, protein wisdom and Demagogue

Washington Post:

GOP Expects Defections as House Debates Iraq Resolution — Three days of intense debate over the Iraq war begins in the House today, with Democrats planning to propose a narrowly worded rebuke of President Bush's troop buildup and Republicans girding for broad defections on their side.

Discussion: The Blue State