Top Items:
Bill Roggio / The Fourth Rail:
The Battle of Baqubah II — The Baqubah region. Click map to view. — Major offensive in al Qaeda's so-called capital of the Islamic State of Iraq — The Diyala Campaign is underway. As part of major offensive operations throughout the belts regions of Baghdad …
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Michael Yon:
Be Not Afraid … [From a prayer card I found on a base in Anbar Province, Iraq.] — Thoughts flow on the eve of a great battle. By the time these words are released, we will be in combat. Few ears have heard even rumors of this battle, and fewer still are the eyes that will see its full scope.
Discussion:
CNN, Flopping Aces, Neptunus Lex, QandO, Confederate Yankee, Captain's Quarters, GINA COBB, Jules Crittenden and shotinthedark.info/wp …
Washington Post:
U.S. Forces Target Insurgents in New Operation — U.S. troops backed by helicopters and Bradley Fighting Vehicles launched a major offensive Tuesday to clear the Sunni extremist group al-Qaeda in Iraq from its new stronghold in Diyala province north of the capital, the U.S. military said in a statement.
Discussion:
New York Times, TPMmuckraker, Liberty Street, Telegraph, INTEL DUMP, Macsmind and The Fourth Rail
Associated Press:
Carter: Stop favoring Fatah over Hamas — The United States, Israel and the European Union must end their policy of favoring Fatah over Hamas, or they will doom the Palestinian people to deepening conflict between the rival movements, former US President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday.
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Fred Thompson / Townhall.com:
Fred Thompson's Remarks to Policy Exchange in London — Thank you very much. Charles Moore, Anthony Browne, Dean Godson, distinguished guests: I appreciate the cordial welcome to London. I always look forward to visiting the United Kingdom, and this time around I couldn't ask for a better host than the Policy Exchange.
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway, The Newshoggers, Redstate, Reuters, TIME, Say Anything and The Politico
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Bob Geiger:
Here's How Fringe I Am, Fred Thompson — Did you know that former Senator and maybe, kinda, sorta Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson has his own column on the ABC Radio Network's web site? Neither did I until someone pointed out to me that he had written a piece bashing Senate …
Tim Montgomerie / Britain and America:
Fred Thompson in London — Fred Thompson was in London today - the day on which one opinion poll made him the frontrunner in the Republican race for the White House. BritainAndAmerica was present when he spoke at the Policy Exchange think tank. Four video extracts from his Q&A are posted below:
Richard Cohen / Washington Post:
The Runaway Train That Hit Scooter Libby — The attorney general called a meeting. He assembled all the U.S. attorneys in the Great Hall of the Justice Department and told them, in essence, that their chief responsibility was to decide whom not to prosecute.
Craig Gordon / Newsday:
Rudy missing in action for Iraq panel — Giuliani's campaign fundraising kept him from commitment to panel studying Iraq. — WASHINGTON — Rudolph Giuliani's membership on an elite Iraq study panel came to an abrupt end last spring after he failed to show up for a single official meeting of the group …
David Weigel / Reason Magazine:
The Awful Truth About 9/11 — The guerrilla reporters of Infowars—last seen being broken up and hauled out of the spin room at CNN's Republican debate—nailed Michael Moore at a screening of Sicko and got him to discuss 9/11 conspiracy theories. (Sorry, other theories of the events of 9/11.)
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Dan Froomkin / Washington Post:
Casual Lawbreaking at the White House — New evidence unearthed by House Democrats establishes that White House political adviser Karl Rove and many of his colleagues used Republican National Committee e-mail accounts for official business — even though White House policy is clear that doing …
Gregg Goldstein / Hollywood Reporter:
'Sicko' leaks have studios crying malpractice — Clips uploaded to YouTube in 14 chunks — NEW YORK — YouTube has removed clips of Michael Moore's U.S. health-care expose "Sicko" that appeared on the site during the weekend, two weeks before the film's June 29 opening.
Austin Fenner / New York Post:
KERIK'S CRY OVER RUDY — LAMENTS LOSING HIS PAL — Disgraced ex-NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik can't stop crying over his fizzled friendship with former BFF Rudy Giuliani. — "I accept the distance created by Giuliani. I understand it, but inside, it's killing me," Kerik said.
PittsburghLIVE.com:
Santorum involved in movie project — Rick Santorum is in early talks on a movie project with Hollywood producer Stephen McEveety. — Rumors have been buzzing throughout Harrisburg that Santorum was connecting with McEveety, who produced Mel Gibson blockbusters such as "Braveheart," …
Charlie Savage / Boston Globe:
US agencies disobey 6 laws that president challenged — Officials regarded some as advisory — WASHINGTON — Federal officials have disobeyed at least six new laws that President Bush challenged in his signing statements, a government study disclosed yesterday.
Discussion:
TalkLeft, Threat Level, Firedoglake, The Carpetbagger Report, Democratic Underground … and TIME: Swampland
Kate Phillips / The Caucus:
Clinton Sings Soprano, Sort of — For a few seconds there, as the opening piano riff jolted our senses, we were getting very excited about Senator Hillary Clinton's theme-song pick, as she began thumbing through a jukebox at a diner: … Whoa! We were on a Journey back as it played softly …
The Politico:
Republican candidates begin snubbing Bush — A president with dismal approval ratings and a bitter intraparty rupture over immigration are obvious problems for Republican politicians. — In recent days, however, the combination is emerging as something less obvious: an opportunity.
Donald L. Horowitz / Opinion Journal:
Unifying Iraq — Partition is the path to more war—multiple wars, in fact. — Many people seem to think that if the Iraq war was a mistake, it follows that we should undo the mistake and withdraw our forces—a questionable syllogism at best. Meanwhile, popular sentiment against the war …
Discussion:
The Volokh Conspiracy