memeorandum: Bush knew Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction (Sidney Blumenthal/Salon)

5:15 PM ET, September 6, 2007

Top Items:

O'Hanlon Rips GAO Report: It Is 'Flat-Out Sloppy' — Last week, Gen. David Petraeus alleged a 75 percent reduction in "sectarian violence" in Iraq and is expected to say the same before Congress. In contrast, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office recently reported that daily attacks in Iraq have …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars, The Carpetbagger Report and WTF Is It Now?!?

S.A. Miller / Washington Times:

Dems already dismissing Iraq war report — Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, talked with reporters yesterday in Washington. "We know what is going to be in it," he said of the Iraq war report next week. "I expect the Bush report to say, 'The surge is working.

Discussion: Heading Right, The Politico, Neptunus Lex, Confederate Yankee, Blogs for Bush, Argghhh!, Macsmind, Wake up America, Say Anything, Captain's Quarters, Outside The Beltway, A Blog For All, JammieWearingFool, Liberty Pundit and The Jawa Report

New York Sun:

Petraeus for President? — "Senators and distinguished guests, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to testify in respect of progress in the Battle of Iraq. Before I do however, there are a few things I'd like to get off of my chest. Although your house of Congress confirmed …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, The Atlantic Online, Wake up America and Reason Magazine

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:

Experts Doubt Drop In Violence in Iraq — Military Statistics Called Into Question — The U.S. military's claim that violence has decreased sharply in Iraq in recent months has come under scrutiny from many experts within and outside the government, who contend that some of the underlying statistics …

Fox News:

Counterterrorism Officials Analyzing Islamic Web Post Warning of 'Special Gift' — DEVELOPING STORY: Federal counterterrorism officials are analyzing a posting on an Islamic forum Web site that warns of "a special gift" to be given on the sixth anniversary of Sept. 11, FOX News has learned.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Detroit Times, Wake up America, Take Our Country Back and A Blog For All

Rusty / The Jawa Report:

Website: Soon, The Blessed Invasion of Manhattan— "Special Gift" for 9/11 — I promised myself that I wouldn't give my 'friend' Inshallahshaheed from the Wordpress hosted al Qaeda support website The Ignored Puzzle of Knowledge' any more press than he deserves.

New York Times:

Transcript of the Fox News Republican Presidential Candidates Debate — The Fox News Republican Presidential Candidates Debate in Durham, N.H. with candidates: Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas); the former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani; the former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee …

Discussion: Salon, The Hill, Weekly Standard, The Corner, The Fix, The Carpetbagger Report, Flopping Aces, Captain's Quarters, Happy Furry Puppy Story …, Fausta's blog, PSoTD, Burkean Reflections, National Review, VDARE.com and State of the Day

Rachel Dry / The Trail:
Making Sept. The Month of McCain

Discussion: Open Left and Booman Tribune

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Republican Debate: Winners and Losers

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, MSNBC and US News

Larry Neumeister / Associated Press:

Judge Strikes Down Part of Patriot Act — NEW YORK - — A federal judge struck down parts of the revised USA Patriot Act on Thursday, saying investigators must have a court's approval before they can order Internet providers to turn over records without telling customers.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Dan Eggen / Washington Post:

Judge Rules Provisions of Patriot Act Unconstitutional — A federal judge today struck down portions of the USA Patriot Act as unconstitutional, ordering the FBI to stop issuing "national security letters" that secretly demand customer information from Internet service providers and other businesses.

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister

Amanda / Think Progress: Judge strikes down part of Patriot Act.

WNBC:

FBI Makes 11 Corruption Arrests In N.J. — NEW YORK — Eleven public officials were charged Thursday in a widespread FBI corruption investigation in New Jersey, officials said. — Among those charged were Passaic Mayor Sammy Rivera and Orange Mayor Mims Hackett, investigators said.

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, CNN, Macsmind and The Van Der Galiën Gazette

Lawhawk / A Blog For All:
Name That Party: New Jersey Corruption Edition

Discussion: New Jersey Online, Associated Press, NorthJersey.com and JammieWearingFool

Jeff G. / protein wisdom:

"Muslim Student Association Harasses Women and Jews at University of Texas-San Antonio" — Happily, they shot their own video to document the occasion. — I'm interested to hear what the diversity czars and the risk-averse university bureaucrats have to say about this kind …

Little Green Footballs:
Video: Muslim Student Association Harasses Women and Jews at UTSA

Discussion: Hot Air

Associated Press:

US Democratic hopeful Kucinich meets Assad, blasts Bush — US Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich, on a Mideast visit that included a stop in Syria, said the country lambasted by the Bush administration deserves credit for taking in more than a million Iraqi refugees.

Discussion: Let Freedom Ring, Power Line, Wizbang, Burkean Reflections and Don Surber

Sidney Blumenthal / Salon:

Bush knew Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction — Salon exclusive: Two former CIA officers say the president squelched top-secret intelligence, and a briefing by George Tenet, months before invading Iraq. — (Clockwise from top left) Naji Sabri, George W. Bush, Colin Powell and George Tenet.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Crooks and Liars, Hullabaloo, Hoffmania!, Lean Left, The Raw Story, RADAMISTO, Shakespeare's Sister, Mercury Rising and Firedoglake

David S. Broder / Washington Post:

The Making of the Front-Runner — As the serious stage of the presidential campaign begins this fall, Hillary Rodham Clinton has clearly established herself in the lead of the race for the Democratic nomination. That makes her the most worthy subject for examination among all the White House prospects.

Discussion: Horses Mouth, New York Post, Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, Taylor Marsh, The Peking Duck, Stubborn Facts, NYT and TPM Election Central

L. Paul Bremer III / New York Times:

How I Didn't Dismantle Iraq's Army — "The Iraqi Army of the future cannot be an extension of the present army, which has been made into a tool of dictatorship." — Report by the Department of State's Future of Iraq Project, May 2002 — IT has become conventional wisdom that the decision …