memeorandum: Exclusive: Bergdahl Explains in Prison Letters Why He Vanished (Kimberly Dozier/The Daily Beast)

4:10 PM ET, June 13, 2014

Top Items:

Fareed Zakaria / Washington Post:

Who lost Iraq? The Iraqis did, with an assist from George W. Bush — It is becoming increasingly likely that Iraq has reached a turning point. The forces hostile to the government have grown stronger, better equipped and more organized. And having now secured arms …

Discussion: The Dish, The Mahablog, The Week and National Review

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:

On Iraq, let's ignore those who got it all wrong — At noon today, President Obama issued his first statement on the deteriorating situation on Iraq. “This is not solely or even primarily a military challenge,” he said. “The United States will do our part, but understand that ultimately it's …

Discussion: American Prospect, Weekly Standard, Politico, AEIdeas and Hit & Run

Parisa Hafezi / Reuters:
Exclusive: Alarmed by Iraq, Iran open to shared role with U.S. - Iran official

Discussion: Bloomberg View, Blazing Cat Fur, Informed Comment and Hot Air

Shane Harris / Foreign Policy:
Jihadist Gains in Iraq Blindside American Spies

Discussion: National Review, ThinkProgress, The Week, Hot Air, The Daily Signal, Institute for the Study …, American Spectator, Vox Popoli, The Long War Journal, Business Insider, The Dish and TalkLeft

Washington Post:
Obama says he will not send troops to Iraq but is considering ‘other options’

Discussion: TalkLeft, Little Green Footballs, Guardian and Weekly Standard

Daily Mail:
ABU DUA: IMPRISONED BY THE US, THE MAN WHO HATES THE WEST MORE THAN OSAMA BIN LADEN AND IS THE DRIVING FORCE BY ISIS

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, The Federalist, CANNONFIRE, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Riehl World News, TalkLeft and Reuters, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:
Iraqi Shiite Cleric Issues Call to Arms Against Sunni Militants

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Gawker

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Obama Says He Will Decide on Military Support for Iraq in ‘Days Ahead’

Discussion: Politico, CNN and JustOneMinute

Leslie H. Gelb / The Daily Beast:
Iraq Is Vietnam 2.0 And U.S. Drones Won't Solve The Problem

Discussion: New York Times, National Review and CNN

New York Times:
U.S. Scrambles to Help Iraq Fight Off Militants as Baghdad Is Threatened

Discussion: The Huffington Post and JustOneMinute

Brian Umana / Washington Post:

I'm a Democrat and I helped the tea party unseat Eric Cantor — People are baffled today that Rep. Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, lost his job when he lost his GOP primary Tuesday night. A common refrain is, how could this have happened? (Sample headline: “Why Did Cantor Lose?

Discussion: TheBlaze.com

Kyle Rothenberg / Fox News:

Cochran campaign says senator just joking when claimed ignorance of Cantor loss — Two days after Eric Cantor's primary loss received national attention, Mississippi GOP Sen. Thad Cochran — who's caught in a tight primary race of his own — said he had no idea what happened in Virginia …

Discussion: Politico, CNN, MSNewsNow.com, Talking Points Memo, WJTV and The Week

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:

The absurdity of electing Kevin McCarthy to replace Eric Cantor as House majority leader — HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2014 ELECTIONS ERIC CANTOR KEVIN MCCARTHY DAVE BRAT — If House Republicans respond to the shocking primary defeat of Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va. …

Discussion: The New Republic, Hot Air, New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, RedState and Wall Street Journal

New York Times:

David Brat and Jack Trammell show unease in the spotlight — ASHLAND, Va. — Before the two professors became overnight political rivals in one of the most improbable, high-profile races in memory, they knew each other best as basketball teammates. — David Brat, the economics professor …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Daily Kos and Washington Post

Peter Baker / New York Times: Obama's Odds With Congress: Bad to Worse

Jonathan Topaz / Politico:

McCain Iraq interview gets heated — Sen. John McCain continued his blistering attack on President Barack Obama's handling of Iraq on Friday, again calling for his entire national security team to be replaced and saying his decisions have been very costly. — “The president wanted …

Discussion: ABC News, The Daily Beast, Daily Kos, No More Mister Nice Blog and Shakesville

CNN:

Obama: ‘We will not be sending U.S. troops to Iraq’ — [Adds breaking news update 12:05 p.m.] — President Barack Obama said Friday that the United States “will not be sending U.S. troops back into combat in Iraq,” but that he would be reviewing a range of other options to support …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo, The Lead with Jake Tapper, Liberaland, Hot Air and KFOR-TV

Reihan Salam / Slate:
We Never Should Have Left Iraq

Discussion: Washington Post, Commentary Magazine, The Daily Beast, Reuters, alicublog, The Dish, AEIdeas, Hinterland Gazette, National Review, Hullabaloo, RedState, Telegraph, Hot Air, Foreign Policy and Gawker

JSOnline:

Scott Walker declines to define stand on gay marriage today — For years, Gov. Scott Walker has been a rock-solid proponent of traditional marriage between one man and one woman. — As Milwaukee County executive, he opposed efforts to provide health care benefits to the gay partners of county employees.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Beast and Daily Kos

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
Hillary Clinton's Gay-Marriage Problem

Discussion: The Dish, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, NY Daily News, Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Week Magazine and Mediaite

Jonathan Allen / Bloomberg:
Clinton's Popularity Drops to 52% as 2016 Edge Shrinks

Discussion: Hot Air, Bloomberg View, Weekly Standard and Fox News

Politico:
Hillary Clinton gets testy over gay marriage

Discussion: CNN, Poynter and BuzzFeed

Politico:

Chelsea Clinton paid $600K by NBC — Chelsea Clinton earned an annual salary of $600,000 at NBC News before switching to a month-to-month contract earlier this year, sources with knowledge of the agreement told POLITICO. — Clinton, who joined NBC News as a “special correspondent” …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Congressman Raul Labrador:

LABRADOR ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY FOR HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER — “I want a House Leadership that reflects the best of our Conference” — BOISE, ID - Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-ID) announced his candidacy today to serve as House Majority Leader. He released the following statement:

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, OnPolitics, Daily Kos, Washington Post, The Week and National Review

ABC News:
House GOP Conservative in Long-Shot Leadership Bid

Discussion: Politico and Outside the Beltway

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Wrongness, OK and Not — USA! USA! NYC! Back from Oxford, but still — as you can see from the posting time — jet-lagged. I have a steakhouse dinner tonight with some business economists; we'll see if I end up face down in my tenderloin. — One of the people I expect to see is Barry Ritholtz …

Discussion: The Big Picture

Tyler Cowen / New York Times:

The Pitfalls of Peace: The Lack of Major Wars May Be Hurting Economic Growth — It's not because war spending itself is so good. It's because the threat of war can inspire countries to do great things. — Mexico, the World Cup's Luckiest Country — Mexico finished far behind …

Discussion: The Raw Story, Althouse and Marginal REVOLUTION

Fazel Hawramy / Guardian:

Kurdish peshmerga seize a chaotic victory in Kirkuk — Police loyal to Nouri al-Maliki are powerless to stop looting after Iraqi Kurds gain control of the oil-rich north-eastern city of Kirkuk — Looting at K1 Iraqi army base near the city of Kirkuk, which is under the control of Kurdish Peshmerga forces.

Discussion: Washington Post, Business Insider, Washington Monthly, The Dish and RedState