Congressional Leaders Call on President to Reject Flawed Iraq Troop Surge  —  Washington, DC—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi today sent the following letter to President Bush urging him to reject his reported plan to escalate the war in Iraq by increasing troop levels …

In which I annoy you once again with the asssertion that I'm a moderate.  —  I took this test — recommended by Andrew Sullivan — and scored a 21 on a political scale that ran from 0 (100% liberal) to 40 (100% conservative).  Sullivan scored 26, by the way.  —  UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds takes the test and, like me, gets a 21.

Bush to Name a New General to Oversee Iraq  —  President Bush has decided to name Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus as the top American military commander in Iraq, part of a broad revamping of the military team that will carry out the administration's new Iraq strategy, administration officials said Thursday.

The Next Top Spy  —  Negroponte's likely replacement makes civil libertarians nervous.  —  Hand Off: Bush nominates McConnell (right) to replace Negroponte as director of national intelligence  —  John Michael McConnell, the retired vice admiral slated to become America's new top spy, is known as a consummate team player.

Barney Frank accuses Bush of genocide "ethnic cleansing" Major Update  —  There's no other way around it: When you accuse someone of perpetrating "ethnic cleansing" in any way, shape or form, you are accusing them of genocide.  —  Genocide.  Let that word work its way around your mind for an moment.

Jihadist Website: Al-Zawahiri Urges Somalis, Muslims To Fight Ethiopian Forces  —  A jihadist website is observed on 5 January to post several links to 5-minute and 30-second audio message by Al-Qa'ida's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri entitled "Rise up and Support Your Brothers in Somalia."

Cleric gunned down in Gaza after plea for calm  —  GAZA (Reuters) - Unidentified gunmen shot dead a Muslim cleric after he delivered a sermon in the Gaza Strip on Friday calling for an end to fierce factional fighting between Hamas and Fatah, hospital officials and local residents said.

AP's Editor Criticizes Those Who Questioned Iraq Source  —  NEW YORK Associated Press Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll on Friday criticized those who questioned the existence of an AP Iraq source, who was proven this week to be real, saying the scrutiny has now endangered the man's life.

Lott: I May Oppose Troop Escalation  —  Yesterday on MSNBC, Trent Lott (R-MS), the second ranking Republican in the Senate, said that he may oppose troop escalation in Iraq.  Watch it:  —  Lott's comments are particularly significant because, as the Minority Whip, he's responsible for bringing …

American Passports Found on Bodies of Al Qaeda Fighters in Somalia  —  Alexis Debat Reports:  —  A senior official in the Somali government's new Ministry of the Interior told ABC News government forces had recovered "dozens of foreign passports," including several American passports …

CBS: Military Tells Bush It Has Only 9,000 Troops Available For 'Surge'  —  A State Department official leaked word this week that President Bush is considering sending "no more than 15,000 to 20,000 U.S. troops" to Iraq.  "Instead of a surge, it is a bump," the official said.

The Lonely Senator, Update  —  Via InstaPundit, the intrepid reporter whose site insinuated that the photo of John Kerry sitting alone in a chow hall in Iraq was itself bogus, has now verified that the photo is real, but the absence of troops in it is misleading: … And he backs it up by talking to the reporters involved.

White House visitor records closed  —  WASHINGTON - The White House and the Secret Service quietly signed an agreement last spring in the midst of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal declaring that records identifying visitors to the White House are not open to the public.

Two Strategies for Avoiding Truth  —  "Physicists do it...Psychologists do it...Even political scientists do it...Research findings confirming a hypothesis are accepted more or less at face value, but when confronted with contrary evidence, we become "motivated skeptics" …

More Troops = More Targets  —  For months, advisers to President George W. Bush have been trying to convince the commander in chief that more U.S. troops in Iraq will improve prospects for victory.  Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), both recently returned from Iraq …

Leahy Introduces Bills To Combat War Profiteering, Public Corruption  —  Signaling a renewed emphasis on combating corruption at home and abroad, incoming Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), introduced a package of bills Thursday targeting corrupt officials …

"It's Like a Phish Concert for Terrorists"  —  BEIRUT - While Hezbollah occupied the Beirut city center in an attempt to bring down the government, I teamed up with my American friend Noah Pollak, who works as assistant editor at Azure Magazine in Jerusalem, and took a trip to Hezbollah's stronghold in South Lebanon.

The Hanging: Beyond Travesty  —  Of the 6 billion people on this Earth, not one killed more people than Saddam Hussein.  And not just killed but tortured and mutilated — doing so often with his own hands and for pleasure.  It is quite a distinction to be the preeminent monster on the planet.

Iran: Reports supreme leader dead false  —  Iran's ambassador to the United Nations says there is no truth to reports his nation's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-Khamenei, has died.  —  Reports had surfaced on the internet Friday the 67 year-old Khamenei died.  There were reports last month he was seriously ill.