Top Items:
Guardian:
Americans offered 'aggressive patrols' in Iranian airspace — The US offered to take military action on behalf of the 15 British sailors and marines held by Iran, including buzzing Iranian Revolutionary Guard positions with warplanes, the Guardian has learned.
Discussion:
Political Animal, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, Daily Kos, Brilliant at Breakfast and New York Times
RELATED:
Alan Cowell / New York Times:
Britons Say They Feared for Lives in Iran Captivity — Their greatest scare, they recalled, came on the second day, when they were flown to Tehran, blindfolded and backed up against a prison wall while their Iranian captors fiddled with weapons, cocking rifles and making them fear for their lives.
Discussion:
Suburban Guerrilla
Cernig / NewsHog:
Brits Told Bush To Back Off — Just when I thought I was finished blogging for the day, I came across an article from tomorrow's Guardian, already online, which claims Bush offered military action on behalf of the 15 British seamen captured by Iran - and Britain told him to back off.
Discussion:
Booman Tribune
Lara Jakes Jordan / Associated Press:
Gonzales aide who asserted Fifth resigns — WASHINGTON - A top aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales abruptly quit on Friday, almost two weeks after telling Congress she would not testify about her role in the firings of federal prosecutors. — There was no immediate reason given …
RELATED:
Michael Roston / The Raw Story:
Gonzales aide Monica Goodling to resign; still faces Congressional queries
Gonzales aide Monica Goodling to resign; still faces Congressional queries
Discussion:
Political Radar, CNN Political Ticker, News Hounds, myfoxtwincities.com and Little Thom's Blog
Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:
McCain to Stake Bid On Need to Win in Iraq — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will launch a high-profile effort next week to convince Americans that the Iraq war is winnable, embracing the unpopular conflict with renewed vigor as he attempts to reignite his stalling bid for the presidency.
Discussion:
The Osterley Times, The Gun Toting Liberal™, Middle Earth Journal, The Heretik and On Politics
RELATED:
Editor and Publisher:
McCain Regrets Remarks to Press on Baghdad Safety, But 'That's Just Life' — NEW YORK Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in a '60 Minutes' segment coming on Sunday says he misspoke in comments he made about security in Baghdad earlier this week and admitted that heavily armed troops …
Michael Young / Lebanon Daily Star:
When a dilettante takes on Hizbullah — We can thank the US speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, for having informed Syrian President Bashar Assad, from Beirut, that "the road to solving Lebanon's problems passes through Damascus." Now, of course, all we need to do is remind Pelosi …
RELATED:
Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:
Pelosi: Mideast Trip Strengthened Ties — WASHINGTON (AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, deflecting White House criticism of her trip to Syria, said Friday she thinks the mission helped President Bush because it showed the United States is unified against terrorism despite being divided over the Iraq war.
John Hinderaker / News Bloggers Blog:
Malpractice or Malice? — Yesterday the Washington Post reported on the declassification of a report by the Inspector General of the Defense Department as though it were a scoop, in an article headlined "Hussein's Prewar Ties to Al-Qaeda Discounted." The casual reader would get the impression …
RELATED:
Farhad Manjoo / Salon:
What was Charlie Crist thinking? — Why did a Republican governor just add tens of thousands of Democrats to the voter rolls in Florida? — Florida Gov. Charlie Crist talks to the media, April, 5, 2007, in Miami, about his felon rights plan. — During his campaign for the Florida governorship …
RELATED:
Raymond Hernandez / New York Times:
Democrats' Rise Has Pluses, Say G.O.P. Centrists — If the Democratic ascendance on Capitol Hill was supposed to usher in dark days for Republicans, it is hard to tell from talking to moderate ones like Mike Ferguson, who represents a suburban district in central New Jersey.
Discussion:
Firedoglake
Associated Press:
FATHER'S COMPLAINT PROMPTS U.S. MILITARY TO CHANGE HOW IT BRINGS FALLEN SOLDIERS HOME — In an about-face by the U.S. government four years into the war in Iraq, America's fallen troops are being brought back to their families aboard charter jets instead of ordinary commercial flights …
Discussion:
Little Thom's Blog
Tom Kelly / Daily Mail:
Blindfolded Britons tell of the moment the guards' guns clicked — * We were blindfolded and subjected to interrogation — * We were told we faced seven years in prison if we did not 'confess' — * Iranians entered Iraqi waters deliberately to detain us. Fighting back was not an option
Discussion:
In From the Cold, Hot Air, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Daily Dish, Wake up America, Associated Press and Wizbang
RELATED:
Charlotte Martin / Yale Daily News:
Lawyer: Fire was a 'prank' — Attorney for three students says burning of flag was not politically motivated — Three Yale students arrested for burning an American flag attached to a house were not politically motivated, their lawyer said Thursday. — The attorney, William Dow …
Discussion:
Done With Mirrors
Aaron Gould Sheinin / The State:
Giuliani downplays abortion issue in S.C. — Republican for president Rudy Giuliani is betting S.C. primary voters are more interested in his national security credentials than his moderate views on abortion. — The former New York City mayor was in South Carolina Thursday …
Discussion:
TIME
Greg Sargent / Horses Mouth:
Oh, dear. Guess who's taking the Washington Post's editorial board to task for its editorial stance against Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria? One of the Post's own Op ed columnists, Eugene Robinson. — Check out this appearance by Robinson on Hardball. Robinson defends Pelosi's trip to Syria …
RELATED:
Tom Lantos / USA Today:
Within the bounds — USA TODAY's views distort both the nature …
Within the bounds — USA TODAY's views distort both the nature …
Discussion:
Reuters, The Impolitic, The Mahablog, Daily Kos, Liberal Values, TalkLeft, Opinion Journal, USA Today, Think Progress and Wake up America