memeorandum: We're doing some things just right. (Argghhh!)

1:10 PM ET, November 27, 2008

Top Items:

Sophisticated Attacks, but Al Qaeda Link Disputed — HONG KONG — They came wearing black hoods, firing automatic weapons and throwing grenades. They took hostages and attacked two hotels, a movie theater, a café, a train station and other popular and undefended “soft targets.” — Who are they?

CNN:

Mumbai toll climbs as hotel standoffs continue — MUMBAI, India (CNN) — Indian police are still battling to release hostages the morning after gunmen carried out brazen attacks across southern Mumbai, killing more than 100 people and taking hostages in multiple locations.

Discussion: Hot Air, Wake up America, Pajamas Media, Times of London, Associated Press, Danger Room, Times of India, The Other McCain, Counterterrorism Blog, Weekly Standard and The Radio Equalizer

Jerusalem Post:

‘Eight Israelis held by terrorists in Mumbai Chabad House’ — Indian commandos and police were evacuating civilians and cordoning off the area apparently in preparation to storm the Chabad House in Mumbai, India, where a rabbi, his wife and several other Israelis were being held hostage, according to IBN, an Indian news agency.

Discussion: Ynetnews, Atlas Shrugs, Right Wing News, Israel Matzav, Dean's World, The Moderate Voice and Jihad Watch

Amit Varma / The India Uncut Blog:

A Night Out In Mumbai (Updated) — This is turning out to be one crazy night. A friend of mine had an opening of her art exhibition a few hours ago, so we ventured to South Bombay for that. We attended the exhibition, sipped the litchee juice, nibbled on party snacks, and then six of us headed out for dinner.

Discussion: Sky News, ZEENEWS.COM, Times of London, CNN, Telegraph, Guardian, Israel Matzav, BuzzMachine and Ultrabrown

New York Times:

Some Hostages Free After Indian Attacks — MUMBAI, India — Indian police commandos rescued some hostages on Thursday as standoffs continued against heavily armed militants who a day earlier had swept into Mumbai, India's commercial capital, in a shocking series of coordinated and bloody attacks.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, DownWithTyranny!, The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, The Lede, Gothamist, Los Angeles Times and On Deadline

Haaretz:

Foreign Ministry: Israeli hostages in Mumbai may be dead — Senior officials at Israel's Foreign Ministry said Thursday that the hostages held by terrorists at the Chabad headquarters in Mumbai may be dead, as the gunmen holed up at the center urged the Indian government to negotiate with them over the hostages' release.

Discussion: Power Line, Chabad Lubavitch, Guardian, Ynetnews, Agence France Presse, The Lede, Tim Blair and Writes Like She Talks

BBC:
Mumbai rocked by deadly attacks

Discussion: Guardian, Biased BBC and Harry's Place

Associated Press:
Multiple attacks kill and wound scores in Mumbai

Discussion: Washington Post, Mumbai Metblogs, LT Nixon Rants and Taylor Marsh

New York Times:

Iraqi Parliament Approves U.S. Security Pact — BAGHDAD — The Iraqi Parliament ratified a long-delayed security agreement on Thursday that lays out a three-year timetable for the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq. — For Iraq and the United States, the pact's passage through Parliament …

Discussion: rubber hose, Swampland and FP Passport

Sudarsan Raghavan / Washington Post:

Iraqi Lawmakers Extend Agreement With U.S. Military for 3 Years — The Iraqi Parliament on Thursday approved a security pact that charts the way for the U.S. military to end its presence in Iraq eight years after the invasion by a U.S.-led coalition led to the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Discussion: The Daily Dish

Reuters:
Iraq parliament passes U.S. security pact

Discussion: ATTACKERMAN, Informed Comment and The Washington Independent

Qassim Abdul-Zahra / Associated Press:
Iraqi parliament OKs US troops for 3 more years

Discussion: Agence France Presse, PoliGazette, Take Our Country Back, Washington Monthly, Associated Press and Gateway Pundit

Spencer Ackerman / ATTACKERMAN:
Career Opportunities, The Ones That Never Knock

Discussion: democracyarsenal.org

Associated Press:
Iraqi factions haggle ahead of US pact vote

Discussion: Commentary and Democrats.com

Argghhh!:

We're doing some things just right. — Us Mercenary Bastid War Profiteer Contractor Parasites got a break from teaching Iraqi kaydets how to stay alive after slipping the surly bonds of earth at about noon today. I stopped to chat with two of the Kurdish kaydets in Class 70.

Discussion: Mudville Gazette

Jules Crittenden:

Things To Be Thankful For In A Troubled World — The war in Iraq is looking more and more like peace. Afghanistan, while reportedly in flux and seeing more violence, is not the conflagration some reports suggest it is. There have been 17 American military deaths in Iraq so far this month …

Discussion: Neptunus Lex, Fausta's Blog and Gateway Pundit

American Thinker:
Obama on the ‘urgency’ of combating ‘global warming’

Discussion: PoliGazette

David S. Broder / Washington Post:

Good Time For a Brainy President — When I started covering the White House more than 50 years ago, I believed that the smarter a president was, the better he would be. That was wrong. — Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan were certainly not intellectuals, but they understood the power …

Discussion: marbury

Klaus Marre / The Hill:

Bush: ‘I will miss being Commander-in-Chief’ — In his last Thanksgiving address in the White House, President Bush said Thursday that he will miss being the leader of the U.S. armed forces. — “During this holiday season, we give thanks for those who defend our freedom.

Discussion: Dependable Renegade and Booman Tribune

Scott / Power Line:

A WORD FROM TOM COTTON — Readers may recall Tom Cotton as the Harvard Law graduate who clerked with a federal appellate judge and worked with two Washington law firms before enlisting in the Army to become an infantry officer. The late, already missed Dean Barnett included Tom among …

Marcia Kramer / WCBS-TV:

Sources: Al Qaeda Targets Amtrak N'east Corridor — Heightened Security Presence In Place At Penn Station; Attack Could Cripple Transit Between Boston, Washington — Cops, Feds Armed With M16s On Patrol For Forseeable Future — CBS News Interactive: America On Guard