memeorandum: Murtha in Command — After 16 undistinguished terms in Congress … (Robert D. Novak/Washington Post)

1:20 PM ET, February 19, 2007

Top Items:

Al Qaeda Chiefs Are Seen to Regain Power — Senior leaders of Al Qaeda operating from Pakistan have re-established significant control over their once battered worldwide terror network and over the past year have set up a band of training camps in the tribal regions near the Afghan border …

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross / Counterterrorism Blog:

N.Y. Times: Al-Qaeda Gaining Strength in Pakistan, Waziristan Accord Has Failed — A report in today's New York Times discusses American intelligence and counterterrorism officials' view that al-Qaeda's senior leadership has "re-established significant control" over the worldwide terror network.

Discussion: INSTAPUTZ

StrategyPage:

Why Al Qaeda Central is Immune from Attack — Al Qaeda is fighting back against the Pakistani tactic of bombing terrorist camps along the Afghan border. In the last few weeks, terrorists bomb attacks have killed over a hundred people. Police have also prevented several additional bombings …

Muneeza Naqvi / Associated Press:

66 die in India-Pakistan train attack — DEWANA, India - A pair of explosions on a train headed for Pakistan set off a fire that killed at least 66 people, some of whom became trapped when a train door was fused shut by the heat of the flames. Officials said the attack was aimed at disrupting improving relations between the rivals.

Discussion: NewsHog and Gateway Pundit

Allahpundit / Hot Air: NYT: Everything comin' up roses for Al Qaeda in Waziristan

Michael van der Galien / The Moderate Voice: Al Qaeda Leaders Regaining Power

Jim Davenport / Associated Press:

McCain: Roe v. Wade should be overturned — SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Republican presidential candidate John McCain (news, bio, voting record), looking to improve his standing with the party's conservative voters, said Sunday the court decision that legalized abortion should be overturned.

Discussion: TAPPED, MyDD, Roger L. Simon, Captain's Quarters, Taylor Marsh, The Moderate Voice, Sister Toldjah, The Reaction, DownWithTyranny!, digg, Gold-Plated Witch on Wheels, The Right's Field, Gun Toting Liberal ™, Street Prophets, Shakespeare's Sister, Liberal Values and CorrenteWire

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
In Limbo in Washington, McCain Comes Alive in Iowa

Discussion: The Caucus and Power Line

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
McCain Runs a Different Race

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Power Line and New York Times

Bushra Juhi / Associated Press:

Two Soldiers Killed in Iraq Base Attack — BAGHDAD, Iraq — Insurgents launched a brazen coordinated attack on a U.S. combat post Monday, sending in a suicide bomber and clashing with American troops. Two U.S. soldiers were killed and 17 wounded, the military said.

Discussion: TIME: Swampland, Obsidian Wings and skippy the bush kangaroo

Washington Post:
Rice tells Iraq U.S. patience is limited

Discussion: Think Progress and Once Upon a Time

Associated Press:
Explosions Rattle Baghdad Neighborhoods

Discussion: The Political Pit Bull

Robert D. Novak / Washington Post:

Murtha in Command — After 16 undistinguished terms in Congress, Rep. John P. Murtha at long last felt his moment had arrived. He could not keep quiet the secret Democratic strategy that he had forged for the promised "second step" against President Bush's Iraq policy (after the "first step" …

Discussion: Confederate Yankee, Salon, Daily Kos, Norwegianity, Decision '08, PrairiePundit and The Political Pit Bull

CNN:

Reid: Iraq war 'worst foreign policy mistake' in U.S. history … WASHINGTON (CNN) — After months of heated rhetoric slamming President Bush's Iraq policy, the Senate's top Democrat moved into new terrain by declaring the Iraq war a worse blunder than Vietnam. — "This war is a serious situation.

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Decision '08 and Angry Bear

Scarecrow / Firedoglake:
Debating The Delusion of Victory

Discussion: Reuters

Michael Slackman / New York Times:
Iran's Chance: U.S. Troubles in Iraq Create Opening for Regional Shift

Discussion: NewsHog

William Wan / Washington Post:

Maryland to Unveil the Page That Began a New Chapter — George Washington's Resignation Speech Left the U.S. Military in Civilians' Hands — It was a speech so moving the crowd wept. It was a speech so personally important George Washington's hand shook as he read it until he had to hold the paper still with both hands.

Discussion: Betsy's Page, Gold-Plated Witch on Wheels and Blue Crab Boulevard

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:

As Clinton Runs, Some Old Foes Stay on Sideline — Back when Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was first lady, no one better embodied what she once called the "vast right-wing conspiracy" than Richard Mellon Scaife. — Mr. Scaife, reclusive heir to the Mellon banking fortune …

Discussion: The Sideshow, Is That Legal?, CNN Political Ticker, Political Animal, PrairiePundit, Brendan Nyhan and Brilliant at Breakfast

Bill Sammon / Examiner:
Some mull idea of Sen. Bill Clinton

Discussion: Hot Air, The Right Angle, The Political Pit Bull, PoliPundit.com, Wizbang, Macsmind, Fausta's blog and Gun Toting Liberal ™

James Glanz / New York Times:

Iraqi Sunni Lands Show New Oil and Gas Promise — In a remote patch of the Anbar desert just 20 miles from the Syrian border, a single blue pillar of flanges and valves sits atop an enormous deposit of oil and natural gas that would be routine in this petroleum-rich country except for one fact: this is Sunni territory.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Prairie Weather, TPMCafe blogs, rubber hose, Dean's World and PrairiePundit

John Linder / Washington Times:

Global-warming theory and the eugenics precedent — "Global Warming" had a precursor in capturing the hearts and minds of the world. Michael Crichton, in his novel "State of Fear," brilliantly juxtaposes the world's current political embrace of "global warming" with the popular embrace of the "science" of eugenics a century ago.

Discussion: She Flies With Her Own Wings, PrairiePundit and Redstate

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

Diane Sawyer, On the Ground And in High Gear — Eight days ago, amid shouts of "Death to America!," Diane Sawyer waded into a huge demonstration in Tehran and asked a group of boys, "Do you not like me?" They thought for a moment and switched to "Death to George Bush!"

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Romenesko

Peter Lauria / New York Post:

HEAVENLY DEAL — SIRIUS, XM SET TO CONFIRM MERGER PLAN TODAY — Satellite radio operators Sirius and XM are expected to announce their long-awaited merger today, according to a source familiar with the deal. — The two sides were locked in negotiations over the weekend trying to hammer …

Discussion: Reason Magazine

New York Times:

Making Martial Law Easier — A disturbing recent phenomenon in Washington is that laws that strike to the heart of American democracy have been passed in the dead of night. So it was with a provision quietly tucked into the enormous defense budget bill at the Bush administration's behest …

Discussion: NewsHog and TigerHawk

John Solomon / Washington Post:

Romney Supports 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' — Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R), who once advocated allowing gays to serve openly in the military, said yesterday that he does not think the Pentagon should change its "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the midst of the Iraq war.

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!