Big Five: Reacting to Iran in Iraq

A roundup of today's Los Angles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and USA Today:

Iranian Weapons Watch: The WSJ reacts to evidence laid out by U.S. military officials that Iran is supplying weapons to insurgents in Iraq by arguing that the United States should consider military strikes on "Revolutionary Guard targets, or Iranian weapons factories" ... the NYT reacts to the same news by arguing that President Bush should learn from his mistakes during the lead up to the Iraq war and make his intentions toward Iran clear as soon as possible ... also in the NYT Valerie Lincy and Gary Milhollin argue that the recently announced European Union sanctions against Iran won't stop the country from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Putin v. the United States: The WaPo notes that Vladimir Putin's recent anti-U.S. remarks reflect his intentions for Russia's future: to rebuild the country "as a power that would 'balance' the United States" ... the LAT, on the other hand, argues that the United States should partly blame itself for Putin's remarks, noting that the decision to expand NATO to Russia's border a decade ago "was bound to color the Kremlin's view of the U.S."

The Permanent Presidential Campaign: In the WaPo, Michael Kazin challenges the conventional wisdom that the 2008 presidential campaign is starting any earlier than those that have preceded it: "In fact, the nearly permanent campaign has been a feature of American politics since before the Civil War" ... the LAT argues that the discussion of race and Barack Obama's presidential candidacy boils down to one underlying question: Is the senator really black? ... Richard Cohen, who supported the Iraq war in 2003, says Hillary Clinton owes voters an apology for her authorization of the war.

Read the rest of today's editorials and columns after the jump.

Today's Editorials:

LAT ... endorses Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's beefed-up plan to fight the city's gang violence, but argues even more should be done.

NYT ... argues that to speed up reconstruction efforts in New Orleans, Louisiana's state and local governments shouldn't be forced to match all federal funds sent to rebuild the state ... condemns the eight percent of doctors who, according to a recent study, think it's okay not to inform patients of treatments the doctors deem immoral, like birth control ... applauds the Dixie Chicks' Grammy wins on Sunday, but argues that the music industry should have given them the awards three years ago. "Had Ms. Maines been a senator at the time," the editors write, "she might now be a shoo-in candidate for president."

WaPo ... criticizes Virginia lawmakers who wish to expand legal gambling in the state to cover road-building costs ... congratulates Drew Gilpin Faust for being named Harvard University's first female president, and urges her adopt a bold vision to remake the university.

WSJ ... applauds the Democratic governor of Arkansas, Mike Beebe, for cutting taxes in his state ... cheers two rulings by federal judges exposing fraud among some trial lawyers.

USA Today ... argues that to stop many high-paying investment banking jobs from being sent overseas, Wall Street should lower fees for investors and offer smaller bonuses to bankers ... slaps military officials who have asked the writers of the hit television show "24" to stop showing torture in such a flattering light because it affects real interrogators' training and attitudes. "If there's a problem with U.S. interrogators," the editors write, "the way to stop it is not by rewriting a TV show but through training, supervision and punishment."

Today's Columns:

LAT: David Vogel argues that while ranking corporations by their commitments to ethics is now in vogue, the line between "virtuous" and "villainous" firms is often very thin ... Joel Stein mocks the lives of conservative think tankers.

Plus ... Michael Antonovich on why the taxpayers of Los Angeles shouldn't subsidize the city's massive development plan ... Karin Klein on the wildly popular book "The Secret."

NYT: While many proponents of the troop surge in Iraq argue that a quick U.S. withdrawal would lead to genocide there, Nicholas Kristof argues that a phased withdrawal might actually "make a cataclysm less likely."

Plus ... Michael Crichton on the disastrous effects of gene patents ... Stacey Schiff on the decline of reading.

WaPo: Anne Applebaum on why the United States should have supported democracy in Tunisia over a decade ago ... E.J. Dionne on politicians' cynical use of the abortion issue ... Michael Green on strengthening American influence in Asia ... Jim Hoagland on why senators shouldn't act like "would-be secretaries of state."

WSJ: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the president of Liberia, and Paul Wolfowitz ask the international community to relieve some of Liberia's $3.7 billion debt ... Joel Kotkin argues that the future of American cities does not lie in today's elite boomtowns like New York and Boston, but in "younger, more affordable and less self-regarding places" like Houston, Charlotte, Phoenix and Dallas.

Plus ... Tunku Varadarajan on the death of Anna Nicole Smith ... Quentin Letts on the scandal over whether or not Britain's opposition leader, David Cameron, smoked marijuana while at Eton College.

USA Today: Reacting to the paper's editorial, New York Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican, argue that Wall Street should increase its global competitiveness to stop the flow of investment banking jobs overseas ... Annette Fuentes argues that the media should stop commenting on female political leaders' clothes.

Plus ... DeWayne Wickham on the legal battle over Anna Nicole Smith's daughter.

By Rob Anderson |  February 13, 2007; 11:00 AM ET
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