Can Democrats Play This Game?  —  Russ Feingold tossed a political grenade at President Bush this week, but it fell into the middle of the Senate Democratic Caucus.  Many Democratic senators ran away.  —  The grenade was the Wisconsin senator's proposal to censure the president for violating …

U.S. Begins Big Assault in Iraq; New Parliament Convenes  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 16 — The American military announced today that it had begun its largest air assault since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, while Iraqi legislators convened the long-awaited first session of the new Parliament in the capital …

Iran Willing to Talk With U.S. About Iraq  —  TEHRAN, March 16 — A ranking Iranian national security official said Thursday that Iran is willing to engage in direct talks with the United States about the political future of Iraq.  —  In Washington, the White House said it was prepared …

Clooney & Huffington's blog of war  —  George Clooney is spitting mad at Arianna Huffington - and the blogosphere is wobbling on its axis.  —  "She said some things that I won't share, but she did tell me that this could be bad for me - bad for my career.  Well, screw you!" …

Right-Wing Blocks Funding For Port Security, Disaster Preparedness  —  Moments ago, the House of Representatives narrowly defeated an amendment proposed by Rep. Martin Sabo (D-MN) that would have provided $1.25 billion in desperately needed funding for port security and disaster preparedness.

IN SADDAM'S ARCHIVES  —  As Scott noted below, the government has finally begun making available a few of the many thousands of documents captured from Iraqi intelligence during and after the 2003 war.  Only a handful are now available on the Foreign Military Studies Office web site …

Peggy Noonan Realizes She Has Conned Herself—and Says That She Wouldn't Have Voted for Bush If She'd Known Who He Was  —  She looks at Bush fiscal policy and joins the Ancient, Occult, and Hermetic Order of the shrill, saying that if she'd known who George W. Bush really was she wouldn't have voted for him:

Saddam Hussein maintained pretense of chemical arms to prevent Israeli attack  —  WASHINGTON - Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein pretended to have chemical weapons because, among other reasons, he feared that Israel might attack if it discovered he did not.

A Familiar Face  —  The Pentagon has just released to the public documents captured in Operation Iraqi Freedom.  They can be accessed here in Adobe Acrobat format.  —  This one's interesting; the synopsis describes it this way: … The document hasn't been translated into English …

Lieberman Takes Issue With Lamont's Tone  —  U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman took issue Thursday with the tone of his Democratic opponent's campaign.  —  Ned Lamont formally announced Monday that he will oppose Lieberman for the party's nomination, becoming Lieberman's first Democratic challenger since …

Once same-sex marriage is OK, polygamy's next  —  The Minnesota Legislature is considering proposing a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.  Many opponents claim that definition is antiquated and discriminatory.

Airline screeners fail government bomb tests  —  21 airports nationwide don't detect bomb-making materials … WASHINGTON -  —  Lisa Myers  —  Imagine an explosion strong enough to blow a car's trunk apart, caused by a bomb inside a passenger plane.  Government sources tell NBC News …

THE FALLACI CODE  —  Oriana Fallaci asks: Is Muslim immigration to Europe a conspiracy?  —  In The Force of Reason, the controversial Italian journalist and novelist Oriana Fallaci illuminates one of the central enigmas of our time.  How did Europe become home to an estimated 20 million Muslims in a mere three decades?

Scalia Rails Against the 'Judge-Moralist'  —  BOSTON — Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia railed against the era of the "judge-moralist," saying judges are no better qualified than "Joe Sixpack" to decide moral questions such as abortion and gay marriage.

Senate Votes to Raise U.S. Debt Limit to Nearly $9 Trillion  —  WASHINGTON, March 16 — The Senate voted narrowly today to raise the national debt limit to nearly $9 trillion, averting what would have been the first default ever on United States Treasury notes and giving Democrats an opportunity …

Gay-vs.-Muslim Soccer Set in Netherlands  —  A Dutch multicultural group is organizing a soccer tournament between gays and Muslims, hoping to counter what a study published on Thursday said was a rising tide of fear among gays.  —  A nationwide survey by the Police Research Academy …

GOP Irritation At Bush Was Long Brewing  —  President Bush's troubles with congressional Republicans, which erupted during the backlash to the Dubai seaport deal, are rooted in policy frustrations and personal resentments that GOP lawmakers say stretch back to the opening days of the administration.

Bush Restates Terror Strategy  —  2002 Doctrine of Preemptive War Reaffirmed  —  President Bush issued a new national security strategy today reaffirming his doctrine of preemptive war against terrorists and hostile states with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, despite the troubled U.S. experience in Iraq.