The Adults take Charge  —  The Reality Based Community Strikes Back in Iraq  —  The professionals take charge.  Bush is bringing in Ryan Crocker, a distinguished career foreign service officer, as the new US ambassador to Iraq.  And Gen. David Petraeus will replace Gen. Casey as top ground commander in Iraq.

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."

Grit and guts for Navy corpsmen in a Fallujah police station  —  WASHINGTON - Editor's note: Blogger Bill Ardolino is embedded with a U.S. Marine unit in Iraq.  He's there to find out the truth about the U.S. war effort on the ground in Iraq.  Unlike the vast majority of mainstream media journalists …

Jubilant Democrats Assume Control on Capitol Hill  —  In a day of transition and pageantry, exultant Democrats on Thursday took control of both houses of Congress for the first time in a dozen years and elected the first woman to be speaker of the House.  —  Representative Nancy Pelosi …

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 …

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.

Negroponte shift is ruffling feathers  —  Some say that his assignment to the State Department will leave the national intelligence office in a lurch.  —  WASHINGTON — The abrupt departure of John D. Negroponte as the nation's spy chief prompted angry responses from Capitol Hill and triggered …

White House Postponing Loss of Iraq, Biden Says  —  Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said yesterday that he believes top officials in the Bush administration have privately concluded they have lost Iraq and are simply trying to postpone disaster …

Gays are a capitalist pollutant: Maoists  —  NEPAL'S hardline Maoist guerillas, on the brink of achieving effective government power in the Himalayan kingdom, have turned their attention to so-called "social pollutants" and denounced homosexuals as "a by-product of capitalism".

DEM LETTER TO BUSH: "WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO REJECT ANY PLANS THAT CALL FOR OUR GETTING OUR TROOPS ANY DEEPER INTO IRAQ"....  Dear Mr. President:  —  The start of the new Congress brings us opportunities to work together on the critical issues confronting our country.

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.

Saddam should have been studied, not executed  —  Sparing Hussein and studying his makeup could have provided valuable research.  —  THE OBVIOUS objections to the execution of Saddam Hussein are valid and well aired.  His death will provoke violent strife between Sunni and Shiite Muslims …

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.

Nominee played big role in outsourcing intelligence  —  WASHINGTON — J. Michael "Mike" McConnell, in line to become the nation's top intelligence official, has been a leading figure in outsourcing U.S intelligence operations to private industry, records and interviews show.