memeorandum: Democrats Seek to Interview Gonzales Aide (David Johnston/New York Times)

3:10 PM ET, April 4, 2007

Top Items:

Iran president to free UK sailors … TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has pardoned 15 British military personnel being held in Iranian custody and vowed to set them free shortly. — "I declare that the people of Iran and the government of Iran …

Discussion: NewsHog, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, Dr. Sanity, Political Animal, The Carpetbagger Report, AfterDowningStreet.org, PrairiePundit, Shakesville, Shadow of the Hegemon, The Mahablog, Macsmind, Connecting.the.Dots, My Two Sense and Blue Girl, Red State

Sky News:

Iran To Free UK Captives — Iran is to free the 15 UK sailors and marines taken captive in the Shatt al Arab waterway as a "gift" to Britain. — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the group would be released promptly and handed over to the British embassy in Tehran.

Discussion: PoliPundit.com, neo-neocon, Daimnation! and Ace of Spades HQ

Nasser Karimi / Associated Press:

Iranian leader says he'll free Britons — TEHRAN, Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran would free the 15 detained British sailors and marines Wednesday as an Easter holiday "gift" to the British people. — He said the captives, who were seized while on patrol in the northern Persian Gulf …

Discussion: Pottersville, The Jawa Report, In From the Cold, Power Line, Counterterrorism Blog, All Spin Zone and Ace of Spades HQ

Howard Schneider / Washington Post:

Iranian Leader Says He Will Free Britons — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today said he had "pardoned" 15 British sailors and marines seized by the Iranian military two weeks ago and would free them to be with their families. — Ending a diplomatic crisis with a bit of political theater …

Discussion: The Corner, Obsidian Wings, PoliPundit.com and State of the Day

Roger Kimball / Armavirumque:

A gift? — OK, we are told not "to look a gift horse in the mouth": someone gives you a present, you don't start investigating the state of its dentition to estimate is worth. So I suppose we should be simply rejoice that Iranisn President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has decided to release …

Discussion: Austin Bay Blog

Fox News:

AHMADINEJAD SAYS BRITISH TROOPS WILL BE FREED — TEHRAN, Iran — Fifteen British sailors and marines seized by Iranian naval personnel have been pardoned and will be freed, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at a press conference Wednesday, but he vowed his country would not tolerate invasions of its borders by any country.

Discussion: This isn't writing …, Redstate, The Right Angle, GINA COBB and Balloon Juice

BBC:

Iranians release British sailors — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says 15 British naval personnel captured in the Gulf are free to leave. — He repeated Iran's view that the British sailors and marines "invaded" Iranian waters, but said they were being released as a "gift" to Britain.

Discussion: digg

MSNBC:
Iran to free seized British sailors

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Sister Toldjah and Middle Earth Journal

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Breaking: Ahmadinejad says British sailors will be released …

Discussion: protein wisdom, On Deadline, Wizbang, Confederate Yankee, Secular Blasphemy and PoliBlog (TM)

New York Times:
Iran to Release 15 Britons Held Since March 23

Discussion: Daily Intelligencer

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Iran 'Pardons' Captured British Sailors, Marines

Discussion: In From the Cold, Right Wing Nut House and AfterDowningStreet.org

Associated Press: Report: Envoy to meet detained Iranians

Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:

Obama rivals Clinton in fundraising — DAVENPORT, Iowa - Democrat Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) raked in $25 million for his presidential bid in the first three months of 2007, placing him on a par with front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton and dashing her image as the party's inevitable nominee.

Discussion: MyDD, Hot Air, The Democratic Daily, The Mahablog and Cliff Schecter

Anne E. Kornblut / Washington Post:

Obama Raises $25M for Presidential Campaign — Sen. Barack Obama raised at least $25 million for his presidential campaign in the first quarter of the year, putting him just shy of Sen. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, who made a splash with her announcement Sunday that she had drawn a record-breaking $26 million.

Discussion: NewsHog, Captain's Quarters, The Daily Dish, Daily Kos, Obsidian Wings, BlueOregon and Oliver Willis

Chicago Tribune:

Obama fundraising rivals Clinton — Sen. Barack Obama raised at least $25 million dollars during the first quarter for his presidential campaign, a total surprisingly close to the $26 million collected by his chief rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, Sirotablog, TalkLeft, TIME, workingforchange.com …, Cliff Schecter and Left in the West

Mike Allen / The Politico:
Chastened McCain Relaunches Campaign

Discussion: New York Times, Hotline On Call, TIME, CNN Political Ticker, Donklephant, Balloon Juice, On Politics, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Influence Peddler, Think Progress, Kiko's House and Wonkette

Hotline On Call:
Obama Raised More Primary Cash Than HRC

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker, eyeon08.com and Taegan Goddard's …

Michael Roston / The Raw Story:

Blogs accuse CNN reporter of disrupting McCain press conference again — A group of conservative political weblogs offered new evidence in continuation of their allegation that CNN reporter Michael Ware disrupted a Sunday press conference in Baghdad with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and other Congress members.

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, The Carpetbagger Report, Redstate, Power Line, The Right Angle, The Impolitic, Say Anything, AMERICAblog and Majikthise

Al Kamen / Washington Post:
On Iraq, Reporters May Be Missing Their Mark(et)

Discussion: Think Progress, The Corner, Cliff Schecter and PrairiePundit

Michael Goldfarb / WorldwideStandard.com:
McCain's Trip to Baghdad

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:

Bush Blames Democrats for Impasse Over Iraq Bills — The political brinkmanship over Iraq war spending intensified Tuesday, as President Bush said Congressional Democrats had "undercut the troops" by passing legislation that ties continued war financing to mandated timelines for the withdrawal of American combat units.

Discussion: White House Watch, DownWithTyranny!, Firedoglake, Brendan Nyhan, Connecting.the.Dots, Don Surber, Shakesville and Political Radar

Peter Baker / Washington Post:
For Bush, Fighting Democrats And Doubts

Discussion: TAPPED and Prairie Weather

Maha / The Mahablog:

Pelosi Wears Scarf; Righties Bark at Moon — Of all the dumb things to get worked up into a snit about, this one is almost as dumb as Ann Althouse's boob post. — The jolly folks at Little Green Footballs have gone bats**t bleeping crazy because Nancy Pelosi wore a headscarf to visit a mosque in Syria.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, TAPPED, The Belgravia Dispatch, SCSUScholars, Outside The Beltway, Althouse, PoliBlog (TM), No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air, theneweditor.com, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Unfogged, Shakesville and politburo diktat 2.0

Media Matters for America:
CNN reported on Pelosi's "bad trip" to Syria

Discussion: Reuters, The RBC, Matthew Yglesias and Pacific Views

Rick Maze / Military Times HOME:

No more GWOT, House committee decrees — The House Armed Services Committee is banishing the global war on terror from the 2008 defense budget. — This is not because the war has been won, lost or even called off, but because the committee's Democratic leadership doesn't like the phrase.

Discussion: Hot Air, Redstate, The Swamp, Sister Toldjah, Don Surber, Outside The Beltway, Confederate Yankee, The Strata-Sphere, PoliPundit.com, Jihad Watch, PrairiePundit and Clayton Cramer's BLOG

David Johnston / New York Times:

Democrats Seek to Interview Gonzales Aide — House Democrats on Tuesday requested a private interview with an aide to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales who has asserted her constitutional right not to testify at a public hearing about the dismissals of United States attorneys.

Discussion: leahy.senate.gov, The Moderate Voice, Norwegianity, WSJ.com and Bark Bark Woof Woof

Toby Harnden / Telegraph:

Briton 'could stage another September 11' — Interview: America's new homeland security chief tells Toby Harnden of his fears of 'clean skin' terrorists — The United States fears that the next September 11-style attack on America could be launched by Muslims from Britain or Europe who feel …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Captain's Quarters, Shakesville and PrairiePundit