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

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, Redstate, Riehl World View, 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.

Ali Eteraz / Dean's World:
There is no Hope — When the Soviet Union withdrew …

Discussion: The Glittering Eye and Outside The Beltway

Cernig / The Newshoggers:
Moran, Sully And The Exit, Stage Right

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House

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?

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

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?

Larry Johnson / NO QUARTER:

Letter to George Tenet — The following was sent to George Tenet today in care of his publisher. The letter, written by a group of former intelligence officers, reflects disgust with George Tenet's effort to burnish his image with his new "tell" all book. — 28 April 2007 — Mr. 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, DownWithTyranny!, Captain's Quarters, 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

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, Blue Crab Boulevard, EU Referendum, Wake up America 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

CNN:

CNN LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER — Interview With Condoleezza Rice; Interview With Hoshyar Zebari — THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. — WOLF BLITZER, HOST: This is "Late Edition," the last word in Sunday talk. — The next steps in Iraq.

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:

For $82 a Day, Booking a Cell in a 5-Star Jail — Anyone convicted of a crime knows a debt to society often must be paid in jail. But a slice of Californians willing to supplement that debt with cash (no personal checks, please) are finding that the time can be almost bearable.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, ProfessorBainbridge.com ®, Sister Toldjah, TalkLeft, Majikthise and digg

Mark Steyn / Chicago Sun Times:

Light bulbs that don't signify ideas — Everything's difficult, isn't it? In the Democratic presidential candidates' debate, Sen. Barack Obama was asked what he personally was doing to save the environment, and replied that his family was "working on" changing their light bulbs.

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Blue Crab Boulevard and Ed Driscoll.com