memeorandum: Obama's authorization of Iraq airstrikes isn't connected to a coherent strategy (Washington Post)

12:05 PM ET, August 9, 2014

Top Items:

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Obama on America and the World — President Obama's hair is definitely grayer these days, and no doubt trying to manage foreign policy in a world of increasing disorder accounts for at least half of those gray hairs. (The Tea Party can claim the other half.)

Discussion: Power Line, RT, NewsBusters, The Daily Caller, National Review, The Times of Israel, TalkLeft and Prairie Weather

Washington Post:

Obama's authorization of Iraq airstrikes isn't connected to a coherent strategy — PRESIDENT OBAMA was right to order military action to prevent a potential genocide in northern Iraq and to stop forces of the al-Qaeda-derived Islamic State from advancing on Baghdad or the Kurdish capital of Irbil.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, National Review, Politico, defense.gov, Yahoo! News, The Agonist, The New Republic, Hit & Run, Power Line, American Spectator, White House.gov Blog and BBC

CNN:

Obama: No timetable for Iraq airstrikes — U.S. airstrikes have “successfully destroyed arms and equipment” that terrorists with ISIS could have used against the Kurdish regional capital of Irbil in Iraq, U.S. President Barack Obama said Saturday. — “We feel confident” …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

New York Times:

Preventing a Slaughter in Iraq — The catastrophe of Iraq has been growing steadily worse for weeks, but by Thursday, it became impossible for the United States and other civilized nations to ignore it. Iraq's bloodthirsty Sunni extremists were threatening the extermination of tens …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Defense One, RedState, Guardian and The Atlantic Online

Tom Williams / Roll Call:

Feinstein Warns of Risk of ISIL Attack on America, Says Must Be Confronted — Senate Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein warned Friday of the risk that the insurgent group ISIL could be preparing fighters to attack American and European targets. — “It has become clear that ISIL …

Discussion: Hot Air, NewsBusters and NBC News

Martin Matishak / The Hill:

Feinstein: ‘It takes an army to defeat an army’ — The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Friday said the extremist group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS or ISIL) must be confronted forcefully by the U.S., though she stopped short of calling for boots on the ground.

Kristina Wong / The Hill:

Left frets over Iraq mission creep — The president's expansion of the U.S. military mission in Iraq is conjuring up two dirty little words for anti-war Democrats: Mission creep. — Just two months ago, when Obama announced he was going to send up to 300 American troops to Iraq …

Discussion: RedState

VICE News:
The Islamic State (Part 1)

Discussion: Telegraph, CNN, Business Insider, Reuters, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Western Journalism and Lawfare, more at Mediagazer »

Peter Beinart / The Atlantic Online:
America's Moral Obligations in Iraq

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Commentary Magazine and The Dish

Jacob Siegel / The Daily Beast:
Obama's Iraq Plan Has a Killer Flaw—and Airstrikes Alone May Not Save It

Discussion: The American Conservative, Hot Air, New Yorker, Business Insider, Washington Post, National Review, his vorpal sword, Democracy in America, The Moderate Voice, Informed Comment, The Dish, Spectator, Saudi Gazette, VodkaPundit and Talking Points Memo

Ben Chapman / NY Daily News:

Michael Mulgrew defends Common Core: ‘You sick people need to deal with us and the children that we teach’ — The wild remarks came during last month's American Federation of Teachers convention in Los Angeles. ‘You sick people need to deal with us and the children we teach. Thank you very much!’

Discussion: The Daily Caller and National Review

Eugene Volokh / Washington Post:

May the government try John Hinckley for James Brady's murder? — John Hinckley Jr. arrives at U.S. District Court in Washington on Nov. 18, 2003. Hinckley shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981 in an attempt to impress Oscar-winning actress Jodie Foster, who he had been writing poems …

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications and Mashable

Nick Corasaniti / New York Times:

Coroner Is Said to Rule James Brady's Death a Homicide, 33 Years After a Shooting — WASHINGTON — The death this week of James S. Brady, the former White House press secretary, has been ruled a homicide 33 years after he was wounded in an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, police department officials here said Friday.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Althouse

Eleanor Clift / The Daily Beast:

Obama Outlines His Post-Presidency — With prospects for major legislation nonexistent, Obama is looking to plant seeds that he hopes his successors can cultivate. — President Obama spent much of his first term fending off criticism that he hadn't done enough for the black community …

Lizette Alvarez / New York Times:

Florida Redraws an Election Map That Was Ruled to Be Unconstitutional — MIAMI — With Florida's election schedule in disarray after a judge ruled the state's congressional map unconstitutional, state lawmakers moved one step closer to resolving the uncertainty during a special session on Friday in Tallahassee.

Ahiza Garcia / Talking Points Memo:

Husband Of Connecticut Judicial Candidate: ‘I Am Pro-White’ — A Democratic candidate for a judicial seat in Plainfield, Conn. was forced to answer questions about her husband this week after a watchdog group exposed his ties to the white supremacist movement.

Discussion: One People's Project … and Mindweapons in Ragnarok