memeorandum: The Exit and Anbar — Republicans are beginning to realize … (Andrew Sullivan/The Daily Dish)

Uneasy Alliance Is Taming One Insurgent Bastion — RAMADI, Iraq — Anbar Province, long the lawless heartland of the tenacious Sunni Arab resistance, is undergoing a surprising transformation. Violence is ebbing in many areas, shops and schools are reopening, police forces are growing and the insurgency appears to be in retreat.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Riehl World View, Redstate, Political Animal, PoliBlog (TM) and JustOneMinute

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

The Exit and Anbar — Republicans are beginning to realize that fundamental change in the current strategy in Iraq is needed if they aren't to face electoral collapse next year. My money is on John Warner forcing redeployment by the fall if only to save the U.S. military from being chewed up entirely by one war.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Cernig / The Newshoggers:

Moran, Sully And The Exit, Stage Right — The big news over on the rightwing blogs today is Rick Moran, of Right Wing Nut House, recanting his support for Bush's occupation of Iraq. Rick blames the incompetence of Bush's policy and its execution saying that waning US support for that incompetence …

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House and The Moderate Voice

Faiz / Think Progress:

Rice: 'I Don't Know What We Were Supposed To Preemptively Strike In Afghanistan' In July 2001 — This evening, 60 Minutes will air its discussion with former CIA Director George Tenet. In one exchange, Tenet elaborates on a briefing that he and his former aide Cofer Black delivered …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Mahablog, At-Largely, Taylor Marsh, Liberal Values and The Heretik

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:

So Much For That "Imminent Threat" Talking Point... No wonder Condi Rice is working so hard to avoid the subpoena from Waxman's committee for her testimony (despite having time to tape three Sunday Talking Head shows this morning). From ABC's This Week: … So...that would be a no, then?

Discussion: WTF Is It Now??

Newsweek:

Excerpt: Condi's Rescue Mission — In his forthcoming biography of Condoleezza Rice, NEWSWEEK's Marcus Mabry explains the roots—and the consequences—of her loyalty to the president. … Story continues below ↓ — advertisement — "No way, I don't want that job!"

Discussion: WSJ.com

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

George Tenet's Imaginary Encounter... With Richard Perle. — SCOTT SHANE REPORTED in Saturday's New York Times that former CIA chief George Tenet's dramatic description in his book, At the Center of the Storm, of an August 2002 presentation at the CIA by defense undersecretary Douglas Feith and his staff …

Larry Johnson / NO QUARTER:
Letter to George Tenet

Discussion: Firedoglake, The American Street and The BRAD BLOG

Michael F. Scheuer / Washington Post:
Tenet Tries to Shift the Blame. Don't Buy It.

Discussion: Balkinization, Captain's Quarters, DownWithTyranny!, American Thinker and A Tiny Revolution

Michiko Kakutani / New York Times: An Ex-C.I.A. Chief on Iraq and the Slam Dunk That Wasn't

Little Green Footballs:

Huge Crowd Protests Against Islamic Rule in Turkey — Here's some good news to start off a Sunday morning, as more than a million people took to the streets of Istanbul to protest against Islamic rule of Turkey. … Exactly right. The protesters are saying the same things we've been saying …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, NewsBusters.org, Riehl World View and Mere Rhetoric

Gateway Pundit:

One Million Protest Against Islamic Rule in Turkey! — Over one million secularist demonstrators protested in Istanbul today against the threat of Islamic rule. — Pro-secular demonstrators wave Turkish flags during a rally in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, April 29, 2007. (AP)

Greg Sargent / Horses Mouth:

The other day, an editor of The Washington Post's outlook section sent out an email soliciting opinions from a variety of experts on the question of whether Harry Reid was right in saying that the Iraq War was "lost." They promised to publish replies on the Op-ed page today.

Discussion: Angry Bear

Washington Post: Is the Iraq War Lost?

Gethin Chamberlain / Telegraph:

US aircrews show Taliban no mercy — Caught in the middle of the Helmand river, the fleeing Taliban were paddling their boat back to shore for dear life. — Smoke from the ambush they had just sprung on American special forces still hung in the air, but their attention was fixed …

Discussion: Hot Air, Captain's Quarters, EU Referendum, Wake up America, Blue Crab Boulevard and Riehl World View

Michael Finnegan / Los Angeles Times:

GOP has uphill climb for cash and candidates — The party feels the drag of investigations and minority status in Congress. And then there's Bush. — WASHINGTON — President Bush's unpopularity and a string of political setbacks have created a toxic climate for the Republican Party …

Discussion: The Next Hurrah, DownWithTyranny! and Rising Hegemon

Edward / Heading Right:

Obama the Neocon? — Is Barack Obama a neocon? Robert Kagan thinks so, and he makes his case in the Washington Post today: … Some people argued in the 2004 presidential election that the war on terror needed a Democratic president to give it non-partisan status.

Discussion: Bradford Plumer, Eunomia and Captain's Quarters

Andrew C. Revkin / New York Times:

Carbon-Neutral Is Hip, but Is It Green? — THE rush to go on a carbon diet, even if by proxy, is in overdrive. — In addition to the celebrities — Leo, Brad, George — politicians like John Edwards and Hillary Clinton are now running, at least part of the time, carbon-neutral campaigns.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Middle Earth Journal

Sue Anne Pressley Montes / Washington Post:

'I Abhor Injustice,' Alleged Madam Says — "Miz Julia" doled out a steady stream of advice, both practical and philosophical. — From her California home, she e-mailed tips to the 132 women who worked across the Washington area for the firm Pamela Martin & Associates.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Gun Toting Liberal™, Macsmind, The Vanity Press and Donklephant

John Cole / Balloon Juice:

Welcome Aboard, Rick — This is your captain speaking, and I would like to take a moment to welcome Rick Moran aboard the Defeatocrat cruise ship for his maiden voyage. Since Rick is new, I will repost the itinerary for his first morning with the Defeatocrats. The ship will board in Berkeley on May Day.

Discussion: Instapundit.com