memeorandum: The man who knew too much — He was the CIA's expert … (Guardian)

9:10 PM ET, October 14, 2007

Top Items:

Better Numbers — NEWS COVERAGE and debate about Iraq during the past couple of weeks have centered on the alleged abuses of private security firms like Blackwater USA. Getting such firms into a legal regime is vital, as we've said. But meanwhile, some seemingly important facts …

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, Weekly Standard, Hot Air, The Atlantic Online, Donklephant, Right Voices, Don Surber, The Jawa Report, Take Our Country Back, Redstate, Macsmind, Outside The Beltway, Wizbang, Sweetness & Light and PrairiePundit

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

WaPo: Petraeus Was Right — The Washington Post's editorial board noticed something over the last few weeks that many of us have pointed out all along. They discover that General David Petraeus told the truth about the improving situation in Iraq. They have also found out that hardly …

Discussion: BitsBlog and Middle Earth Journal

Associated Press:
Iraq Sees Dramatically Low Death Toll

Discussion: QandO and Wake up America

Bill Roggio / The Long War Journal:
Violence in Iraq drops dramatically

Discussion: PoliPundit.com

Gateway Pundit: MORE GOOD NEWS... Casualties Continue to Drop in Iraq

Jillian / Sadly, No!:

This Must Be That "Compassionate Conservatism" We Keep Hearing About — First it was twelve year old boys, and now it's injured Iraqi war vets: … Of course, when you read the article, it's hard to see how someone could come to the conclusion that this vet is faking illness:

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The American Street and Firedoglake

Washington Post:

A Wife's Battle — When Her Soldier Returned From Baghdad, Michelle Turner Picked Up the Burden of War — M ichelle Turner's husband sits in the recliner with the shades drawn. He washes down his Zoloft with Mountain Dew. On the phone in the other room, Michelle is pleading with the utility company to keep their power on.

Discussion: And Rightly So!, Macsmind, Flopping Aces and TIME: Swampland

Nicole Belle / Crooks and Liars:

Fox & Friends: If WE could select the Nobel Prize... Play (614) (h/t Bill W.) — Ah, you have to love the predictability of [Pravda] FOX News Channel. When Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize, you KNOW they started scrambling to find ways to diminish him.

Discussion: Think Progress

Opinion Journal:
Not Nobel Winners — Some nominees for next year.

Discussion: Heading Right, New York Times, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, Boston Globe, Argghhh! and Sadly, No!

Steve Lytte / Sydney Morning Herald:
Gore gets a cold shoulder

Discussion: Power Line, Let Freedom Ring, Macsmind, NewsBusters.org, Daily Pundit and Wizbang

Sebnem Arsu / New York Times:

Turkish General Warns U.S. on Resolution — The chief of the Turkish armed forces has warned that military relations with the United States would take a negative turn if Congress approved the Armenian genocide resolution that was passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Charles / Mercury Rising:

An unwise moment for the Armenian genocide resolution? — At this moment, US-Turkish relations are at a low, since the US is harboring Kurdish terrorists to serve as insurgents against Iran. Unfortunately, they also have a habit of attacking Turkey, inflaming the easily-ignited nationalists.

Curt / Flopping Aces:

Hyperventilating Liberals On Torture — Frank Rich, the always hyperventilating liberal, is at it again today in this column inside the New York Times. As usual with most of the far left he calls Bush another Hitler, and the CIA his Gestapo. This time he also calls those Americans …

Discussion: Chuck Adkins, Balloon Juice, BitsBlog, PrairiePundit, New York Times and The Agonist

Frank Rich / New York Times:
The 'Good Germans' Among Us

George F. Will / Washington Post:

Code of Coercion — In 1943, the Supreme Court, affirming the right of Jehovah's Witnesses children to refuse to pledge allegiance to the U.S. flag in schools, declared: "No official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion or other matters of opinion …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Lawyers, Guns and Money, PrairiePundit and The Van Der Galiën Gazette

Washington Post:

Washington Post Correspondent Dies in Iraq — A veteran Washington Post special correspondent was shot to death Sunday in southwest Baghdad while on assignment, the first reporter for the newspaper to be killed during the Iraq war. — Salih Saif Aldin, 32, was reporting on the violence …

Discussion: mediabistro.com

Philip Shenon / New York Times:

White House Is Leaning on Interim Appointments — For now, the most powerful law-enforcement official in the federal government is a 47-year-old lawyer little known outside Washington. — Or inside Washington, for that matter. — He is acting Attorney General Peter D. Keisler …

The Atlantic Online:

The Epistemology of Kausfiles — Mickey Kaus' long post here about John Edwards' alleged affair with Rielle Hunter is almost self-refuting. Basically, we have an anonymous source saying Hunter said she had an affair with Edwards, versus Hunter, on the record, saying that's not the case.

Discussion: Eschaton and Sadly, No!

Fox News:

Rush Limbaugh Earns Big Money From Senate Letter Chastising Him — WASHINGTON — A letter sent to Rush Limbaugh's boss demanding he be chastised for comments he made on the air about "phony soldiers" is now on the auction block, and the latest bid is a cool $41,400.

Discussion: Wake up America and Cliff Schecter

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

The Beltway Establishment's contempt for the rule of law — The Washington Post's Editorial Page, in the establishment-defending form of Fred Hiatt, today became but the latest Beltway appendage to urge the enactment of a special law providing amnesty to our nation's poor, put-upon, lawbreaking telecoms:

Discussion: Grasping Reality …, Shakespeare's Sister, Booman Tribune and The American Street

New York Times:
Spies, Lies and FISA

Discussion: Booman Tribune, The Strata-Sphere, Truthdig, Mercury Rising and The American Street

Washington Post:
Surveillance Update — WHEN IT comes to updating the Foreign …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Carpetbagger Report, Corrente, TalkLeft and War and Piece

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Who Will Succeed Al Gore? — Seeing Al Gore so deservedly share the Nobel Peace Prize, it is impossible not to note the contrast in his leadership and that of George W. Bush. — Mr. Gore and Mr. Bush each faced a crucible moment. For Mr. Gore, it was winning the popular vote and having …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Sister Toldjah, Washington Post, The Van Der Galiën Gazette and Matt Ortega

Jules Crittenden:
King Al the Green

Discussion: PrairiePundit and The Mahablog

Greg B. Smith / NY Daily News:

Bernard Kerik probe: When did Rudy Giuliani know? — Shortly before Bernard Kerik was appointed police commissioner by then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani, one of his top aides was made aware that Kerik had defended a contractor being investigated by the city for mob ties, the Daily News has learned.