memeorandum: Why Israel is Unlikely to Attack Iran (Benjamin Kerstein/The New Ledger)

11:20 AM ET, September 27, 2009

Top Items:

Tuning In Too Late — ON Sept. 12, an Associated Press article inside The Times reported that the Census Bureau had severed its ties to Acorn, the community organizing group. Robert Groves, the census director, was quoted as saying that Acorn, one of thousands of unpaid organizations promoting …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Power Line, No More Mister Nice Blog, Don Surber, Riehl World View and TigerHawk

Michelle Malkin:

A welcome message for the NYT's new “opinion media monitor” — Pity the New York Times. — Even when the Fishwrap of Record is admitting how out of touch it is, its editors still can't get the story right. — Hapless ombudsman Clark Hoyt writes in his Sunday column that his paper …

Discussion: Pajamas Media and Moe_Lane's blog

Bob Woodward / Washington Post:

No Deadline Set for Decision on Troops — President Obama has not set a deadline for determining a new strategy or for committing more troops to the war in Afghanistan, despite an urgent request from his top commander, his national security adviser said Saturday.

Discussion: The Politico, ATTACKERMAN, George's Bottom Line and Commentary

Frank Rich / New York Times:

Obama at the Precipice — THE most intriguing, and possibly most fateful, news of last week could not be found in the health care horse-trading in Congress, or in the international zoo at the United Nations, or in the Iran slapdown in Pittsburgh. It was an item tucked into a blog at ABCNews.com.

Discussion: Washington Post, Macleans.ca and Prairie Weather

Rajiv Chandrasekaran / Washington Post:

Go All-In, Or Fold — In Afghanistan, Splitting the Difference May Be Obama's Most Dangerous Choice — Sitting in an air-conditioned office within this gargantuan NATO encampment in southern Afghanistan, a U.S. officer pointed to a map of Kandahar province that indicated, with small …

New York Times:
Afghanistan Troop Request Splits Advisers to Obama

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Power Line, The Page, marbury and Mudville Gazette

Thomas Joscelyn / Weekly Standard:
Déjà vu: Afghan Surge Skeptics Same As Iraq Surge Naysayers

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
McChrystal report officially backburnered now

Discussion: Pajamas Media, HotAirPundit and Weasel Zippers

Benjamin Kerstein / The New Ledger:

Why Israel is Unlikely to Attack Iran — The revelation (or non-revelation, at least as far Western intelligence agencies are concerned) of a second Iranian nuclear facility near the city of Qom is of less significance to Israel than one might immediately imagine.

Discussion: Israel Matzav and The Moderate Voice

Reuters:

Iran State Media Report Short-Range Missile Test — TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran test-fired short-range missiles as its elite Revolutionary Guards began war games on Sunday aimed at boosting the Islamic Republic's deterrent capabilities, official media reported.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, BBC, Commentary, The Page and A Blog For All

New York Times:
U.S. to Demand Inspection of New Iran Plant ‘Within Weeks’

Discussion: Politics Daily, The Caucus, Guardian and The Page

Peter S. Goodman / New York Times:

U.S. Job Seekers Exceed Openings by Record Ratio — Despite signs that the economy has resumed growing, unemployed Americans now confront a job market that is bleaker than ever in the current recession, and employment prospects are still getting worse. — Job seekers now outnumber openings six …

Discussion: The Big Picture and DailyFinance

Michael Gerson / PostPartisan:

All About Obama — I've refrained from commenting on President Obama's address to the United Nations General Assembly because the speech made me angry. And most postings — or letters, or e-mails — written while angry are better discarded or deleted. — But this address grows more disturbing on further reading.

Discussion: Maggie's Farm, Flopping Aces, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, Sense of Events and Commentary

Andrew J. Bacevich / Washington Post:

Let's Beat the Extremists Like We Beat the Soviets — America's long war, which began on Oct. 7, 2001, when U.S. bombs and missiles started falling on Afghanistan, has become the longest in this country's history. The eighth anniversary of the conflict beckons, with no end in sight.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway

Nia-Malika Henderson / The Politico:

Obama links civil rights, health care — President Barack Obama used a dinner-time address to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to make an impassioned plea for health care reform, placing it in the tradition of the civil rights struggle. — Obama, who last year addressed the group …

Discussion: Stop The ACLU, The Swamp, CNN and The Note

Binyamin Appelbaum / Washington Post:

Fed Held Back as Evidence Mounted on Subprime Loan Abuses — The visits had a ritual quality. Three times a year, a coalition of Chicago community groups met with the Federal Reserve and other banking regulators to warn about the growing prevalence of abusive mortgage lending.

Discussion: The Confluence and Calculated Risk

CBS News:

Terror in Kentucky: Census Worker's Murder — Body Found Naked, Hanging From Tree in Cemetery; Had Been Gagged, Duct Taped, ‘Fed’ Scrawled on Chest — (CBS/AP) It was a bizarre and gruesome discovery in a remote section of eastern Kentucky: Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old teacher and part …