Quick hits:

• Suspect in Newark triple murder of college students is an illegal alien;
  Update: Was out on bail after child rape, assault charges
• Suspect's status as illegal goes unflagged Murder case
  - A man now held in a Milwaukie killing stayed off agents' radar despite several arrests

• NY Madrassa principal resigns…now how about nixing the school?
  Update: Stop the Madrassa to file for injunctive relief against Khalil Gibran academy
• Breaking: Principal of NYC Arabic-themed school resigns over “Intifada” t-shirts
• Bloomberg:Islamist Principal at NY Public School Madrassa Forced to Resign

• Generals Don’t Need a Watchdog

• Your Black Muslim Bakery ordered to liquidate…Plus: Rep. Barbara Lee expresses regret; Rep. Ron Dellums leads pep rally, attacks media; black elite get a wake-up call

Hot Air Audio: Rep. Murtha’s office hangs up
when asked about the Haditha Marines
Bryan Preston (H/T:MM)

When he wasn’t busy over the past year or so arguing that we ought to fight al Qaeda in Iraq from our bases in Okinawa and Diego Garcia, Rep. Jack “Abscam” Murtha has been busy stuffing his face with pork, behaving questionably over appropriations and smearing US Marines. Now that three of the Marines Murtha prejudged to be guilty of cold-blooded murder have been cleared of all charges, Murtha ought to answer for what he has been saying about them.

Today, I called up his office in DC to see if he was planning on issuing any statements. For some reason, his staff is less than forthcoming on that point. [audio link]

See also:

• Murtha stands mute
• Still Running for Cover

Stephen Glass Goes to War
Why did The New Republic run it?
By Charles Krauthammer

For a month, the veracity of The New Republic’s Scott Thomas Beauchamp, the Army private who has been sending dispatches from the front in Iraq, has been in dispute. His latest “Baghdad Diarist” (July 13) recounted three incidents of American soldiers engaged in acts of unusual callousness. The stories were meant to shock. And they did. ...

After some commentators and soldiers raised questions about the plausibility of these tales, both the Army and The New Republic investigated. The Army issued a statement saying flatly that the stories were false. The New Republic claims that it had corroboration from unnamed soldiers. The Weekly Standard quoted an anonymous military source as saying that Beauchamp himself signed a statement recanting what he had written. ...

See also:

• Breaking: TNR returns serve re Beauchamp
• Don't Beauchamp that joint, part 2

Bush to order new crackdown on U.S. border 
By: Mike Allen

The Bush administration on Friday will announce plans to enlist state and local law enforcement in cracking down on illegal immigrants, which previously was largely a federal function, according to congressional sources.

The administration is unveiling a series of tough border control and employer enforcement measures designed to make up for security provisions that failed when Congress rejected a broad rewrite of the nation’s immigration laws in June. The plans are scheduled to be announced at 10:30 a.m. by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez.

Details were provided to Capitol Hill on Thursday. As part of the new measures, the secretary of Homeland Security will deliver regular “State of the Border” reports beginning this fall.  ...

See also:

• Bush Finally Orders Crackdown on Illegal Aliens
• The new Bush immigration enforcement plan: Color [Michelle] underwhelmed

Is the Good Ship Fred Righting Its Course?
Jim Geraghty

The mood within Team Fred is a bit more optimistic with yesterday’s news that William Lacy will be taking the reins of the not-quite campaign.

While friends of Fred will try to make the case that the troubles of the past weeks were minor bumps in the road, I’m told the mood within Fred-land was gloomy, as suggested by the sudden departures and fairly low-profile schedule for the not-quite-candidate. What we on the outside didn’t see were the tensions at the top and a sense of confusion over what the next steps were…