memeorandum: Iraq: The Battle of September Has Already Begun (Arianna Huffington/The Huffington Post)

Zachary Goldfarb / blog.washingtonpost.com:

June 17: Petraeus hints Iraq "surge" may be needed longer — Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said he does not expect the "surge" of 30,000 additional troops to Iraq to finish their job by September, a critical month when lawmakers expect a clear read on whether …

Discussion: Comments From Left Field, AMERICAblog, Redstate and Connecting.the.Dots

MSNBC:

'Meet the Press' transcript for June 17, 2007 — U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker discusses the war and progress — MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: a new Pentagon report says despite the military surge, the overall levels of violence in Iraq have not decreased.

New York Times:

Hamas May Find It Needs Its Enemy — ISLAMIST fighters of Hamas seized control of Gaza last week. For the first time in the history of the Palestinians' fight for nationhood, there seemed a real possibility that two Palestines rather than one might emerge — one in Gaza, dominated by Hamas, the other in the West Bank, led by Fatah.

Discussion: Washington Post and Talking Points Memo

Agence France Presse:

PLO lashes out at Al-Jazeera over conflict coverage — RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - A senior Palestinian official on Sunday accused pan-Arab Al-Jazeera television of favouring Hamas in its coverage of the battles between the Islamists and rival Fatah. — "Al-Jazeera is an accomplice …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and NewsBusters.org

Arianna Huffington / The Huffington Post:

Iraq: The Battle of September Has Already Begun — According to the White House — and to the dwindling number of Congressional dead-enders still backing the war in Iraq — we have to wait until September to be able to judge whether President Bush's escalation strategy has been a success.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Matt / Think Progress: Petraeus: Escalation Not Done By September, 50-Year Iraq Presence …

New York Times:
Fatah, Routed in Gaza, Reinforces Hold on West Bank

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, NewsBusters.org and National Review

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:

Sy Hersh on Taguba's Abu Ghraib investigation — Sy Hersh joined Wolf on CNN this morning to talk about his new piece in The New Yorker: "How Antonio Taguba, who investigated the Abu Ghraib scandal, became one of its casualties." It's another important story that Sy has brought to our attention.

Discussion: NION and Washington Monthly

Washington Post:
Abu Ghraib Investigator Points to Pentagon

Discussion: The Washington Note and Corrente

Think Progress:
Abu Ghraib Investigator Details Pentagon Cover-Up: 'I Thought I Was In The Mafia'

Discussion: At-Largely and Talking Points Memo

Nicholas Kulish / New York Times:

End Looms for Iraq Arms Inspection Unit — The search for Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction appears close to an official conclusion, several years after their absence became a foregone one. — The United States and Britain have circulated a new proposal to the members …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Les Blumenthal / Real Cities:

SC poll has Obama, Thompson as frontrunners — WASHINGTON - South Carolina appears poised to shake up the 2008 presidential race, with Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Fred Thompson the frontrunners in a new state survey by Mason-Dixon. — With strong support from the African American community …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Comments From Left Field, Hot Air, Macsmind and Mouth of the Potomac

Jason Steck / The Moderate Voice:

"Liberal Hawks", Moderates, Iraq, and Iran — Oh My! — Ezra Klein condemns what he calls "liberal hawks" for embracing vagueness in their desire to avoid responsibility for their pro-war stance on Iraq and their enabling rhetoric towards a potential showdown with Iran.

Discussion: Liberal Values and Kevin Sullivan

Ben Macintyre / Times of London:

Bias at the Beeb - official — There are some things you do not need an official report to tell you - that John Prescott thinks he is a babe magnet, that President Mugabe is not entirely in favour of white farmers and that Al-Qaeda takes a pretty dim view of the West.

Gary Cleland / Telegraph:
BBC report finds bias within corporation

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Captain's Quarters, Redstate, Biased BBC and JammieWearingFool

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:

Russert falls down on Scooter — Timmeh forgot to mention his role in the Scooter Libby case today during the panel discussion that featured two-free Scooter loving NRO'ers...What's the deal, Meet the Press? And is the Republican base against the rule of law now? — Download (1205) |

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake: Meet The Compromised — UPDATE: Crooks and Liars has the clip …

Pachacutec / Firedoglake:

Why Republicans Recruit House Boys — Eureka! I think maybe something snapped into place for me today, though I'm not sure. I'll let you decide. — Here's the question: why does the Republican Party recruit and promote so many closeted gay men? — I came to the question …

Discussion: Kevin Sullivan

Uzi Mahnaimi / Times of London:

Israel plans attack on Gaza — ISRAEL's new defence minister Ehud Barak is planning an attack on Gaza within weeks to crush the Hamas militants who have seized power there. — According to senior Israeli military sources, the plan calls for 20,000 troops to destroy much of Hamas's military capability in days.

Discussion: Observer, Captain's Quarters, Yourish.com, Israel Matzav, Anything They Say, Secular Blasphemy, Maggie's Farm, Hot Air, Jerusalem Post, Gateway Pundit, Booman Tribune and Power Line

Mark Lavie / Associated Press:
2 rockets fired at Israel from Lebanon

Discussion: Jihad Watch

Hope Yen / Associated Press:

Brownback aide chided on anti-Mormon bid — WASHINGTON - An aide to GOP presidential candidate Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record) has been reprimanded for sending e-mail to Iowa Republican leaders in an apparent attempt to draw unfavorable scrutiny to rival Mitt Romney's Mormonism.

Associated Press:

Administration pushes for mandatory sentences — WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is trying to roll back a Supreme Court decision by pushing legislation that would require prison time for nearly all criminals. — The Justice Department is offering the plan as an opening salvo …

Discussion: The Impolitic, The Newshoggers, The Next Hurrah and Obsidian Wings

New York Times: Don't Listen to What the Man Says — If the Supreme Court …

Roger Rubin / NY Daily News:

O'Reilly a non-factor in Mets clubhouse — Bill O'Reilly's right-wing politics may rub a lot of people the wrong way in New York, but his views had nothing to do with his ejection from the Mets' clubhouse yesterday before their game against the Yankees at the Stadium.

Discussion: The Radio Equalizer

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:

BUBBLE, BUBBLE...Interest rates are going up: … This really demonstrates what a bubble we've been living in. My first thought when I see a 30-year fixed rate of 6.74% is that it's an incredible bargain. Until about 2002, I hadn't seen a rate that low in my entire adult life.

Discussion: Angry Bear

Nell Henderson / Washington Post: Home Buyers: A Borrowed Dime Grows More Costly

Mark Steyn / Chicago Sun Times:

Immigration bill is a fraud — I forget where I was when I first heard the phrase ''undocumented worker.'' Possibly it was after swimming the Rio Grande and emerging dripping on the northern shore to be handed a fake Social Security number and a driver's license.

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard and NewsBusters.org

Diana Costello / Journal News:

Senior pranks become serious busts — Sure, the championship trophies and standing ovations are nice. — But when it comes to leaving a high school legacy that's talked about for years, nothing seems to measure up - at least in students' minds - to the perfect senior prank.

Discussion: New York Times and TalkLeft

Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:

Sunday Discussion Group — Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was interviewed the other day and asked for his opinion about former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), who, of course, is a leading Republican presidential candidate. — "The real Romney is clearly an extraordinarily ambitious man …

Discussion: Firedoglake and The Crossed Pond

Chicago Tribune:

POINTING THE WAY FOR PROSECUTORS — Under fire, not in retreat — Gonzales' plan for attorney reviews would further politicize process — Atty Gen. Alberto Gonzales so far has survived a political crisis over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, a rare potential vote of no-confidence …

Discussion: Comments From Left Field, Talking Points Memo, The Carpetbagger Report and Brilliant at Breakfast

Juan / Informed Comment:

Kurds and Turks: Will they or Won't They? — Joshua Partlow has a good article in WaPo on the military friction at the Turkish-Iraqi border. It is based on interviews in Iraqi Kurdistan and with US military officials, however, and oddly lacks the perspective from Ankara.

Discussion: Washington Post