Dissidents' Detainee Bill May Face Filibuster  —  Frist Warns GOP Opponents of Bush's Proposal They Must Accept Two Key Provisions  —  Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist signaled yesterday that he and other White House allies will filibuster a bill dealing with the interrogation and prosecution …

Doubts Increase About Strength of Iraq's Premier  —  Senior Iraqi and American officials are beginning to question whether Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has the political muscle and decisiveness to hold Iraq together as it hovers on the edge of a full civil war.

Carey backs Pope and issues warning on 'violent' Islam  —  THE former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey of Clifton has issued his own challenge to "violent" Islam in a lecture in which he defends the Pope's "extraordinarily effective and lucid" speech.  —  Lord Carey said that Muslims must address …

Allen tells of his Jewish heritage  —  He acknowledges he knew of his lineage when faulting a reporter for her question  —  U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., yesterday acknowledged his Jewish ancestry, a day after angrily ducking a question about possible Jewish forebears in a debate with his Democratic challenger.

McAuliffe to join Clinton  —  Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe has told business associates and Democratic donors that he will chair Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-N.Y.) presidential campaign next year, according to several Democratic sources.

With Premier at U.N., Thai Military Stages Coup  —  Leaders of Thailand's armed forces seized control of Bangkok on Tuesday night, suspended the constitution and declared martial law.  —  They ousted the Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, while he was in New York for a meeting of the United Nations.

At U.N., Chavez Calls Bush 'The Devil'  —  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took his verbal battle with the United States to the floor of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, calling President Bush "the devil."  —  "The devil came here yesterday," Chavez said, referring to Bush's address Tuesday.

Hezbollah cracked the code  —  Technology likely supplied by Iran allowed guerrillas to stop Israeli tank assaults  —  AITA SHAAB, Lebanon — Hezbollah guerrillas were able to hack into Israeli radio communications during last month's battles in south Lebanon, an intelligence breakthrough …

Well beyond satire  —  Michelle Malkin is extremely upset because three convicted Christian terrorists in Indonesia are going to be executed despite — in Michelle's words — "grave doubts raised over the fairness of the trial."  The title of her post is "Muslims will execute Christians" …

The CBS Ambush  —  Remember the "Arab street," that riot-in-the-road featuring flammable Israeli flags, Saddam Hussein posters, clenched fists and chants threatening "Death to America"?  The street may have lacked pavement and a fire hydrant, but it had beaucoup television cameras.

Georgia Law Requiring Voters to Show Photo ID Is Thrown Out  —  Judge Says Some Would Be Disenfranchised; State Plans Appeal  —  A state judge yesterday rejected a Georgia law requiring voters to show government-issued photo identification, writing in his decision, "This cannot be."

Six Questions for Dr. Emile A. Nakhleh on the CIA and the Iraq War  —  Recently retired head of key CIA unit calls for Iraq "exit strategy"; says there was "no evidence" of Saddam-bin Laden links … 1. In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, administration officials claimed that Saddam Hussein's regime …

Another fifth anniversary  —  Today is the fifth anniversary of President George W. Bush's great speech before a Joint Session of the United States Congress following the attacks of September 11, 2001.  The speech (transcript and links to video) names the enemy and declares the tactics that will be used against it.

Goldwater  —  If you haven't had a chance to see the HBO documentary on Barry Goldwater by his grand-daughter, you might want to take the time.  It didn't have enough politics for this junkie, but it certainly brought to life the spirit of a conservatism now almost entirely eclipsed in the Republican party.

BYZANTINE BUDAPEST  —  In Hungary over the past 48 hours it's the Nika riots all over again.  —  Sort of.  —  First, political parties in Hungary do not immediately line up into conveniently-intelligible left-wing/right-wing definitions, though some are easily mappable for Americans (the SZDSZ are basically libertarians).

Bring Them Freedom, Or They Destroy Us  —  The following is adapted from a lecture delivered by Bernard Lewis on July 16, 2006, on board the Crystal Serenity, during a Hillsdale College cruise in the British Isles.  —  By common consent among historians, the modern history of the Middle East begins …